Girl Happy
Encyclopedia
Girl Happy is a 1965 American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...

 musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

 romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...

 in the beach party film
Beach Party film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...

 and spring break style, starring Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

.
This was the last mega-successful Elvis Presley film at the box office, finishing at #25 on the Variety year-end top-grossing films of 1965 chart and making $3 million, although all of his subsequent films would still be profitable. The movie won a fourth place prize Laurel Award in the category Top Musical of 1965. The movie featured the Top 40 Billboard hit "Puppet on a String", which reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart and in Canada, and was certified Gold by the RIAA.

Plot

Rusty Wells and his band are just about ready to leave Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 for their annual spring break trip to Fort Lauderdale. That is, until Big Frank extends their stay at his club. Big Frank's daughter decides to go to Lauderdale with her friends for spring break, so he gets Rusty and his band to look after her and to make sure she stays out of trouble. While he attempts that, Rusty has to contend with a good-time girl, Deena, who has no patience for guys who stand her up or keep her waiting.

Primary cast

  • Elvis Presley
    Elvis Presley
    Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

     as Rusty Wells
  • Shelley Fabares
    Shelley Fabares
    Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares is an American actress and singer. Fabares is known for her roles as Donna Reed's oldest child, Mary Stone, on The Donna Reed Show , and as Craig T. Nelson's love interest and eventual wife, Christine Armstrong Fox, on the sitcom Coach. She also was Elvis...

     as Valerie Frank
  • Harold Stone as Big Frank
  • Gary Crosby as Andy
  • Joby Baker
    Joby Baker
    Joby Baker is a Canadian born actor and painter.He was born in Montreal, Quebec. In the early 1960s he made guest appearances in TV series including Dr. Kildare and The Dick Van Dyke Show and appeared in the Elvis Presley movie Girl Happy...

     as Wilbur
  • Jimmy Hawkins
    Jimmy Hawkins
    James F. Hawkins , known as Jimmy Hawkins, and later, Jim Hawkins, is an American actor and film producer whose career began as a child actor to such Hollywood stars as Lana Turner, Spencer Tracy, James Stewart, and Donna Reed...

     as Doc
  • Nita Talbot
    Nita Talbot
    Nita Talbot is an American actress. Talbot was a leading lady who spent the first decade or so of her career playing "slick chicks" and sharp-witted career girls, but is perhaps best known for her role as Marya, the White Russian spy in the 1960s sitcom, Hogan's Heroes, as well as Sheila Fine in...

     as Sunny Daze
  • Mary Ann Mobley
    Mary Ann Mobley
    Mary Ann Mobley is a former Miss America, actress, and television personality.-Career:After serving her reign as Miss America 1959, Mobley embarked on a career in both film and television...

     as Deena Shepherd
  • Fabrizio Mioni as Romano Orlada
  • Jackie Coogan
    Jackie Coogan
    John Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...

     as Sgt. Benson
  • John Fiedler
    John Fiedler
    John Donald Fiedler was an American voice actor and character actor in stage, film, television and radio. He was slight, balding, and bespectacled, with a distinctive, high-pitched voice and a career lasting more than 55 years.He is best remembered for four roles: as the nervous Juror #2 in 12...

     as Mr. Penchill
  • Chris Noel as Betsy
  • Beverly Adams
    Beverly Adams
    Beverly Adams is a Canadian-born actress and author.-Early life and career:Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Adams moved to Burbank, California as a child. As a teen, she competed in and won beauty contests before becoming an actress. During her career, Adams appeared in various guest roles in television...

     as Girl #2 (uncredited)
  • Dan Haggerty
    Dan Haggerty
    Dan Haggerty is an American actor, best known for the title role in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams....

     as Charlie (uncredited)
  • Red West
    Red West
    Red West is an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter.West was born Robert Gene West in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Lois and Newton Thomas West. He was a close high school friend of rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. An excellent athlete and former U.S...

     as Extra in the Kit Kat Club (uncredited)

Production notes

Although MGM presented Girl Happy as a beach party film
Beach Party film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...

 ("Elvis brings his beat to the beach!" "Elvis jumps with the campus crowd to make the beach 'ball' bounce!") and while Presley had previously appeared shirtless in films prior to this, he never appears without a shirt at anytime throughout his many scenes at the pool and on the beach, even wearing long sleeves for most of the film.

Alternate titles considered were The Only Way to Love and Girl Crazy. Joe Pasternak had produced the similar spring break movie Where the Boys Are
Where the Boys Are
The kind of cool modern jazz popularized by such acts as Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, and Chico Hamilton, then in the vanguard of the college music market, features in a number of scenes with Basil...

, which was also set in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1960.

Shelley Fabares
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares is an American actress and singer. Fabares is known for her roles as Donna Reed's oldest child, Mary Stone, on The Donna Reed Show , and as Craig T. Nelson's love interest and eventual wife, Christine Armstrong Fox, on the sitcom Coach. She also was Elvis...

, Mary Ann Mobley
Mary Ann Mobley
Mary Ann Mobley is a former Miss America, actress, and television personality.-Career:After serving her reign as Miss America 1959, Mobley embarked on a career in both film and television...

, and Chris Noel had each appeared in a beach party film
Beach Party film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...

 movie prior to this: Fabares in Ride the Wild Surf
Ride the Wild Surf
Ride the Wild Surf is romantic drama in the beach party style. It was filmed in 1963 and distributed in 1964. Unlike most films in the genre, it is known for its exceptional big wave surf footage – a common sight in surf movies of the time, but a rarity in beach party films...

and Mobley and Noel both in Get Yourself a College Girl
Get Yourself a College Girl
Get Yourself a College Girl is a 1964 Metrocolor film comedy in the style of a beach party movie. The plot involves a college co-ed who tries to balance her time writing songs and dealing with her publisher who tries to pursue her. It was directed by Sidney Miller and written by Robert E...

. Shelley Fabares and Nina Talbot sing the song "Read All About It". This would the first of three movies in which she would co-star with Elvis Presley. Dan Haggerty, who plays Charlie, would later appear in the The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams movie and TV series.

Home media and DVD reviews

The film made its home video debut in 1988, being released on VHS. When it was reissued on VHS in 1997, the song "Startin' Tonight" was deleted. It was eventually reinstated back into the film when it made its DVD debut in 2007.

DVD reviews


External links

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