Girl Happy
Directed by	Boris Sagal Jack Aldworth (ass't)
Produced by	Joe Pasternak
Written by	Harvey Bullock & R. S. Allen
Starring	Elvis Presley Shelley Fabares
Music by	George E. Stoll
Cinematography	Philip H. Lathrop
Editing by	Rita Roland
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	April 7, 1965
Running time	96 min.
Country	United States language = English
Preceded by	Roustabout
Followed by	Tickle Me

Girl Happy is a 1965 American musical romantic comedy in the beach party film style, starring Elvis Presley.

[edit] Plot

Rusty Wells and his band are just about ready to leave Chicago 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.

[edit] Primary cast

• Elvis Presley as Rusty Wells
• Shelley Fabares as Valerie Frank
• Harold Stone as Big Frank
• Gary Crosby as Andy
• Joby Baker as Wilbur
• Jimmy Hawkins as Doc
• Nita Talbot as Sunny Daze
• Mary Ann Mobley as Deena Shepherd
• Fabrizio Mioni as Romano Orlada
• Jackie Coogan as Sgt. Benson
• Chris Noel as Betsy

[edit] Production notes

Although MGM presented Girl Happy as a beach party film ("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.

Shelley Fabares, Mary Ann Mobley, and Chris Noel had each appeared in a beach party film movie prior to this: Fabares in Ride the Wild Surf and Mobley and Noel both in Get Yourself a College Girl.

[edit] Soundtrack

Girl Happy
Soundtrack by Elvis Presley
Released	March 1, 1965
Elvis Presley chronology
Roustabout (1964) Girl Happy (1965) Elvis for Everyone (1965)

The soundtrack songs were recorded in June 1964 at Radio Recorders Studios in Hollywood, California. The music album with the same title was released in April 1965 to coincide with the film's debut. According to Roy Carr & Mick Farren in Elvis The Illustrated Record (Harmony Books, 1982, p. 97), an error in mastering resulted in Presley's voice being sped up on several of the recordings, most notably the title track. RCA finally released a corrected version of the title track in its 1990s compilation Collectors Gold from the Movie Years. "The Meanest Girl in Town" by Joy Byers was not written for the film; as "Yeah, She's Evil!" the song had been previously recorded in June 1964 by Bill Haley & His Comets and released on Decca Records.[1]

The soundtrack album featured the bonus track You'll Be Gone, which was not in the movie. "You'll Be Gone" was recorded in 1961 and is notable because it is co-written by Elvis Presley, with Red West and Charlie Hodge. The other song that Elvis Presley composed in 1961 was "That's Someone You Never Forget", which was the final track on the Pot Luck LP released in 1962. "You'll Be Gone" was released as an RCA Victor 45 picture sleeve single in 1965 with "Do the Clam", as RCA Victor 47-8500. "Do the Clam" reached no.21 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and remained on the chart for 8 weeks while "You'll Be Gone" charted at no.121.

Red West recalled that "You'll Be Gone" was written based on an idea or suggestion by Elvis to write new lyrics for Cole Porter's 1935 song "Begin the Beguine", from the musical Jubilee: "Elvis recorded 'It's Now Or Never' and he wanted to take another old standard that was a great song and change the lyrics. ... He said 'I like the song 'Begin the Beguine'. I like the melody but I'd like to put new lyrics on it." When Cole Porter denied permission to alter the lyrics, Elvis, West, and Charlie Hodge worked on creating new lyrics and new music for a song that would be entitled "You'll Be Gone".

[edit] Track listing

Side 1

1. "Girl Happy" (Doc Pomus, Norman Meade)
2. "Spring Fever" (Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye)
3. "Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce" (Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper)
4. "Startin' Tonight" (Lenore Rosenblatt, Victor Millrose)
5. "Wolf Call" (Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye)
6. "Do Not Disturb" (Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye)

Side 2

1. "Cross My Heart and Hope to Die" (Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne)
2. "Meanest Girl in Town" (Joy Byers)
3. "Do the Clam" (Ben Weisman, Dolores Fuller, Sid Wayne)
4. "Puppet on a String" (Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper)
5. "I've Got to Find My Baby" (Joy Byers)
6. "You'll Be Gone" (Elvis Presley, Charlie Hodge, Red West)

[edit] Recording musicians

• Elvis Presley - vocals
• The Jordanaires - background vocals
• The Jubilee Four - background vocals
• Carol Lombard Trio - background vocals
• Scotty Moore, Billy Strange, Tommy Tedesco - guitar
• Bob Moore - bass
• D. J. Fontana, Buddy Harman, Frank Carlson - drums
• Floyd Cramer - piano
• Boots Randolph - saxophone

[edit] Home media

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.

[edit] See also

• List of Elvis Presley films
• Elvis Presley discography

[edit] External links

• For Elvis Fans Only Website decitated to Elvis Presley's Movies.
• Girl Happy at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] DVD reviews

• Elvis - The Hollywood Collection (Kissin' Cousins/Girl Happy/Tickle Me/Stay Away, Joe/Live a Little, Love a Little/Charro!) Review by Stuart Galbraith IV at DVD Talk, September 11, 2007.
• Review by Mike Noyes at The DVD Lounge, 08.07.2007.