We watched the DVD It Happened at the World’s Fair on Thursday, September 29, 2011. It stars Elvis Presley and it first came out in 1963. It’s the second of the DVDs from the Elvis 75th Anniversary collection that we saw after watching Jailhouse Rock the week before (see earlier review). Unlike Jailhouse Rock, It Happened at the World’s Fair was in color and also a much lighter film. We liked it better. It also features at least twice the number of songs all sung by Elvis than in the earlier film. We could relate to the setting because much of it takes place at the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle, Washington. There are several major characters other than Elvis’ that contribute to a complicated but still fairly light and enjoyable story.
It Happened at the World’s Fair stars Elvis Presley as Mike Edwards, a singing, girl-chasing, carefree crop-duster pilot and slight ne’er-do-well. Gary Lockwood plays his even more roguish partner with a gambling problem and gangster connections. Joan O’Brien plays Mike’s love interest, Nurse Diane Warren, and child actress Vicky Tiu almost steals some scenes as the 7-year-old Sue-Lin. A preteen Kurt Russell has a small but important uncredited role as a boy at the fair. This isn’t the first time we saw Elvis play a character whose real life namesake would go on to become famous in the entertainment industry. Mike Edwards is the name of the lead singer of the band Jesus Jones. Coincidentally, Diane Warren is the name of an accomplished songwriter. In Change of Habit, the late 1960s Elvis Presley film that we watched in August (see earlier review), Elvis plays inner-city doctor John Carpenter now the name of a famous horror movie director. What’s very interesting is that in 1979 or 1980, Kurt Russell starred as Elvis in a TV movie about Elvis’ life that was directed by John Carpenter.
All the actors do a great job even the children Kurt Russell and Vicky Tiu as Sue-Lin. Gary Lockwood’s Danny is still likeable despite being so easily corruptible. He’s not a bad guy, just someone you have to watch out for. Joan O’Brien's Diane Warren has the sense to see through Mike’s girl-chasing nature but also not to dismiss him as merely shallow. Elvis again exhibits good acting ability. This time he exhibits much comedic ability starting with the opening scene as Mike and Danny are crop-dusting a potato field. When Mike sees some pretty women driving by in a car, he says, “Nice scenery here.”
Danny answers, “You see one potato field, you’ve seen them all.”
Mike then remarks, “I see a couple of sweet potatoes.” Elvis also has some great scenes with child actress Vicky Tiu as Sue-Lin displaying his rapport with young children. Those scenes are fun.
Much of the film takes place at the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle. I recognized many landmarks of Seattle Center such as the Space Needle, of course, the tall arches outside the Pacific Science Center, the concrete walkways, and possibly even some of the fountains and standing water. I saw one building that looked just like Key Arena. That was probably the same building, just called something else. I didn’t recognize any other parts of Seattle, not even the path of the monorail track. It was a different city in 1962. I think Mike mentioned something about staying at a place on Lakeview Road. Another indication of the time was that a 7-course Chinese dinner cost 99 cents. The film includes fighting, comedy, romance, family fun and a bit of suspense. It never gets too serious or tense. One escape scene is a bit reminiscent of Les Miserables. It is well-paced, easy enough to follow and never seems too long for its 96 minutes.
Elvis sings 10 songs in the film, enough for an entire album. The first is sung during the opening credits as Mike and Danny are crop-dusting. “Around the Bend” is an easygoing and uplifting song that looks ahead to the future. The opening credits mention the Jordanaires as contributing to the music and Colonel Tom Parker as a Technical Adviser. The next song, “Relax” is a sultry number and an unnecessary song for an unnecessary scene. Mike sings the third song, “Take Me to the Fair” to Sue-Lin as they ride to Seattle in the back of her uncle’s truck. He plays the ukulele. Mike Edwards doesn’t actually sing the next song. It is playing in the monorail as Mike and Sue-Lin head back from spending the day at the fair. “Remind Me Too Much of You” is a slow song, relaxing music from Elvis. The next song is sung in the grounds of their Seattle housing. “One Broken Heart for Sale” has a sad topic with upbeat music. The other tenants of the housing help Mike out as he plays his guitar. We saw a totem pole on the grounds.
Mike sings the next song “I’m Falling in Love Tonight” while on his first date with Diane in the restaurant of the Space Needle. After he’s done singing everyone in the restaurant claps. The next song, “Cotton Candy Land” is a lullaby for Sue-Lin, though I thought it had a bit of blues rhythm. The next song is another romantic one, “A World of Our Own” that he sings to Diane. He alternates back to a kids’ song for the next one with “How Would You Like to Be.” He uses some clown music boxes for accompaniment and Sue-Lin helps sing some verses. They also dance that includes waltzes. The last song, “Happy Endings” is naturally sung by both Mike and Diane. It’s a celebratory song that they sing with the marching band among the concrete walkways of Seattle Center.
The DVD only includes an Elvis Trailer Gallery in addition to the feature presentation. We watched the trailers for Jailhouse Rock and Harum Scarum before the film and watched the one for It Happened at the World’s Fair afterward. We enjoyed It Happened at the World’s Fair and not just because it starred our “cousin” Elvis and not just because most of it took place in Seattle. It’s a good film in its own right and we believe it was very much underrated just like Change of Habit.
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