''Spinout'' is a 1966 American musical comedy film starring
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
as the lead singer of a band and part-time
race car
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
driver. The film was #57 on the year-end list of the top-grossing films of 1966. It was titled ''California Holiday'' in the UK.
Plot
Mike McCoy (
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
), the lead singer for a traveling band who is also a part-time race car driver, enjoys his carefree single life, which is threatened by three different women who seek to marry him.
Enter Cynthia Foxhugh (
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom '' The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitco ...
), a spoiled heiress and "daddy's girl," who is determined to get what she wants, no matter the cost. Such as was the case when Cynthia's millionaire father Howard (
Carl Betz
Carl Lawrence Betz (March 9, 1921 – January 18, 1978) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in a variety of television series, including the CBS soap opera '' Love of Life''; he is best remembered for playing Don ...
) tricks Mike and his band into interrupting their music tour to travel to Santa Barbara and serenade Cynthia with "
Am I Ready" for her birthday. Cynthia becomes first of the three women who want to marry Mike. Also, apparently knowing about Mike's racing skills, Howard is determined to hire Mike to drive Howard's Fox Five car in an upcoming road race, but Mike prefers to race his own car, a
Cobra 427 sports car, which he tows around the region with his 1929 Model J
Duesenberg
Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company, Inc. was an American racing and luxury automobile manufacturer founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, by brothers Fred and August Duesenberg in 1920. The company is known for popularizing the straight-e ...
.
Meanwhile, Mike is stalked and spied upon by Diana St. Clair (
Diane McBain), an author of books for women about men. Diana is in the process of writing her new book, ''The Perfect American Male'', and uses Mike as one of her subjects. Actually, she later reveals to Mike that he is the "perfect American male," thereby planning on Mike to marry her—to the point of already making wedding arrangements.
The female drummer of Mike's band, Les (
Deborah Walley
Deborah Walley (August 12, 1941May 10, 2001) was an American actress noted for playing the title role in '' Gidget Goes Hawaiian'' (1961) and appearing in several beach party films.
Early years
Walley was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Ice ...
), is looked upon by Mike and the other band members as a
tomboy
A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...
, and becomes fed up with such treatment. Mike and his other band members are taken aback when at a party, Les picks her moment and reveals her true feminine side, walking back out from a room dressed up in an evening dress. She reveals herself as the third woman who wishes to marry Mike.
Faced with this predicament, Mike must decide which of the three women he will marry—after the race (which Mike wins in a car he does not even own). So, he decides to marry all three of them—to other men. Mike marries Cynthia to Phillip (
Warren Berlinger
Warren Berlinger (August 31, 1937 – December 2, 2020) was an American character actor, with Broadway runs, movie and television credits, and much work in commercials.
Early life
Warren Berlinger was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, ...
), a nervous employee of Howard's who is prone to fainting (he had a secret crush on Cynthia since he has known her, which he finally picks up the nerve to tell her). Next, Mike marries Diana to Howard, who fell in love with each other after they met at one of Mike's parties. And finally, Mike marries Les to Lt. Tracy Richards (
Will Hutchins), a police officer whom Les won her way to his heart through his stomach (he likes her gourmet cooking). This allows Mike to reclaim his single and carefree life, which he dearly enjoys.
Cast
*
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
as Mike McCoy
*
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom '' The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitco ...
as Cynthia Foxhugh
*
Diane McBain as Diana St. Clair
* Dodie Marshall as Susan
*
Deborah Walley
Deborah Walley (August 12, 1941May 10, 2001) was an American actress noted for playing the title role in '' Gidget Goes Hawaiian'' (1961) and appearing in several beach party films.
Early years
Walley was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Ice ...
as Les
*
Jack Mullaney as Curly
*
Will Hutchins as Lt. Tracy Richards
*
Warren Berlinger
Warren Berlinger (August 31, 1937 – December 2, 2020) was an American character actor, with Broadway runs, movie and television credits, and much work in commercials.
Early life
Warren Berlinger was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, ...
as Philip Short
*
Jimmy Hawkins as Larry
*
Carl Betz
Carl Lawrence Betz (March 9, 1921 – January 18, 1978) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in a variety of television series, including the CBS soap opera '' Love of Life''; he is best remembered for playing Don ...
as Howard Foxhugh
*
Cecil Kellaway
Cecil Lauriston Kellaway (22 August 1890 – 28 February 1973) was a South African character actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, for '' The Luck of the Irish'' (1948) and '' Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ...
as Bernard Ranley
*
Una Merkel
Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress.
Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s. She went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film ...
as Violet Ranley
*
Frederick Worlock as Blodgett
*
Dave Barry
David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comi ...
as Harry
Production
The film was shot from February 21 to April 7, 1966.
Presley was paid $750,000 plus 40% of the profits.
[Michael A. Hoey, ''Elvis' Favorite Director: The Amazing 52-Film Career of Norman Taurog'', Bear Manor Media 2013]
The racing scenes were shot at
Paramount Ranch Raceway.
The script was written by Theodore Flicker and George Kirgo. They originally pitched the idea of a film based on Presley's life, but this was vetoed by Col. Parker. Working titles include ''Never Say No'', ''Never Say Yes'', and ''The Singing Racing Car Driver''. Flicker eventually left the project to work on ''
The President's Analyst
''The President's Analyst'' is a 1967 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Ted Flicker and starring James Coburn. The film has elements of political satire and science fiction, including themes concerning modern ethics ...
'' and Michael Hoey worked on the script uncredited with Kirgo.
There is a scene in the film where Mike was discussing with his band members the pitfalls of marriage and settling down, and Mike mentions being on the ''
Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night M ...
''. This line was likely written as an inside joke to Presley's 1956 appearances on ''Ed Sullivan''.
Jack Mullaney, who also appeared with Presley in ''
Tickle Me'' (1965), plays Curly, one of the male band members.
Jimmy Hawkins, who plays Larry, the other male band member, also appeared with both Presley and Fabares in ''
Girl Happy'' and coincidentally portrayed one of Presley's band members in that film, as well.
Carl Betz
Carl Lawrence Betz (March 9, 1921 – January 18, 1978) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in a variety of television series, including the CBS soap opera '' Love of Life''; he is best remembered for playing Don ...
(Howard) and
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom '' The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitco ...
(Cynthia) had played father and daughter before, on ''
The Donna Reed Show
''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children, Mary ...
''.
Soundtrack
Reception
A. H. Weiler
Abraham H. Weiler (December 10, 1908 – January 22, 2002) was an American writer and critic best known for being a film critic and motion picture editor for ''The New York Times''. He also served a term as chairman of the New York Film Critics ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called the film a "minor variation" on Presley's previous pictures. ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' declared it "an entertaining Elvis Presley comedy-tuner ... Well-produced by Joe Pasternak and directed with verve by Norman Taurog." Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' called it "perhaps
resley'sbest picture yet," with a "first-rate" cast, while writers Theodore J. Flicker and George Kirgo "have managed to parody the typical Presley plot so deftly that they neither insult Elvis nor alienate his devoted fans." ''
The Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' wrote that the film was "delivered with sufficient ''joie de vivre'' to make its nonsensical compound of ballad and beat, car racing and unlikely romantic complication, entertaining enough in its own way," though the review noted that Presley "largely maintains a rather morose demeanour" throughout the film and that "even his singing style seems to have lost some of its old bounce and energy."
''Filmink'' felt Presley and Fabares had none of the chemistry they showed in ''Girl Happy''.
The film was included in the 1978 book, ''
The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and How They Got That Way)'', by Harry Medved, Randy Dreyfuss, and Michael Medved.
See also
*
List of American films of 1966
This is a list of American films released in 1966.
'' A Man for All Seasons'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A–B
C–H
I–R
S–Z
See also
* 1966 in the United States
References
External links
1966 filmsat the Internet ...
DVD reviews
Reviewby Jeff Rosado a
digitallyOBSESSED! August 4, 2004.
Reviewby Bill Treadway a
DVD Verdict August 3, 2004.
Reviewby Stuart Galbraith IV a
DVD Talk July 16, 2004.
Reviewby Betsy Bozdech a
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Norman Taurog
1966 films
1966 musical comedy films
Films directed by Norman Taurog
American auto racing films
1960s English-language films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Films produced by Joe Pasternak
American musical comedy films
Films shot in California
1960s American films