Spinout

Love these types of movies more than the trashy sex and violence riddled movies being made today. .

source: Spinout

It's Elvis doing what Elvis always does, with a few,very few twists in turn. The best part of this movie however are the cars. A 427 Cobra is featured (although the car that gets wrecked early is a double). The car known as a fox five is a Mclaren Elva and a nice example. You won't see many of these around. In the racing scene you will also see a variety of sports racers including a Bill Thomas Cheeta which was a direct competitor for the Cobra. Really nice to see these cars on the screen. As for the rest, Well its just typical Elvis stuff, if you've seen Girl Happy or Roustabout or any of the rest then just fast forward to the car scenes.

If you haven't been dissuaded, as I was, by early impressions of Elvis Presley films, this one might come close to doing the trick. Posturing, posing, and phoniness make it clear why generations later, Presley's films seem like such malarkey. Despite all of this, the man could sing, and "Am I Ready" is one song that makes the movie worth watching. But how Shelley Fabares kept a straight face while Elvis sang into it, I'll never know. Although this is not the best of the King's films, it really gives you a taste of the absurdity of pop culture that led to their creation (or was it the other way around?). By the end of the 1960s, Presley films seemed hopelessly dated and silly in the face of the Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, and the sexual revolution. ---from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013

This wasn't shown in time for the 30th anniversary from Elvis Presley's passing, but it did turn up on TCM UK some time later; still, it took me this long to watch and, as a matter of fact, only opted to check the film out alongside two contemporary vehicles by fellow singers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin – that said, it can't really compare with them! It's the second of three Presley titles with a racing milieu, though this element isn't as much to the fore here as in the others; conveniently, he doubles as a swooning singer/guitarist with a band – and most of the running-time sees him dodging a couple of marriage proposals from eminent figures in the community! It transpires that even the tomboyish female drummer in his outfit secretly pines for him…but, given the film's jejeune nature, everything is neatly sorted out by the end – as a writer researching The Perfect Male eventually hitches up with Presley's proposed racing employer (played by a U.S. TV stalwart who was completely unknown to me but is a real dead ringer for Darren McGavin!), the latter's young daughter (Shelley Fabares, from the star's earlier vehicle GIRL HAPPY [1965]) realizes she loves her father's goofy secretary after all, and the drummer (who's something of a gourmet) finds a like-minded soulmate in, of all things, a highway policeman! Not that it matters much given their thankless roles but two veteran character actors from Hollywood's Golden Age - Cecil Kellaway and Una Merkel - also appear in this film. The songs aren't exactly memorable either and, while the film's certainly harmless in itself, it's also not engaging enough to warrant more than a cursory viewing (I, for one, was greatly surprised to learn that it was co-scripted by Theodore J. Flicker – who, soon after, would write and direct the cult political satire THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST [1967] with James Coburn)…

remove 2-3 very silly songs...add some funny jokes...and it's watchable. but no...reality says, another Elvis coulda-shoulda mediocrity, utilizing 40% of his talent. gonna cut to the chase...in this case, a racing car track: has a lot of groovy stuff: (it appears) that RCA insisyed Elvis use a Producer to oversee his recording sessions, which were yielding less and less good stuff (Elvis stuck with picking the best of mediocre demos). here we can actually hear the band, and there are some nice touches by running a guitar through a Leslie speaker here and there. we have a real rock and roll song called STOP, LOOK, AND LISTEN, also recorded by fellow '50s rockers, BIll Haley & Ricky Nelson. a terrible tune, SMORGASBOARD is somehow made audible by a great bass arrangement, well mixed. Elvis' voice is too far forward again but there's some real "pop" to the soundtrack on film and on record. we also have a real hit record AL THAT I AM...a huge hit in UK, a modest B-sider here...but it was pretty darn good, and the violins actually worked! I read that Tony Bennett even covered it...can't find any evidence yet. I'LL BE BACK was arranged by Charlie HOdge and it captures some real '50s walking blues flavor, not dissimilar to MONEY HONEY, from 1956! to the frames: great to watch under rated Debbie Waley as the girl drummer and the sensuous Shelly Fabares (like Elvis) playing a not very hip 20 year old. there's even a real Duesenberg on hand....great performance....sorry yes we have CArl Betz , Shelly's real TV Father from the Donna Reed show, playing her Dad here. of course he's the backer for Elvis' racing gigs...and she's the sorta spoiled rich kid...but guess what? the ending is NOT what you might expect!

Elvis Presley was a hugely influential performer with one of the most distinctive singing voices of anybody. He embarked on a film career consisting of 33 films from 1956 to 1969, films that did well at the box-office but mostly panned critically (especially his later films) and while he was a highly charismatic performer he was never considered a great actor. As far as Elvis films go, 'Spinout' belongs in neither extreme of best or worst. It's average fare that serves as a serviceable enough one-time watch, but not particularly distinguished and one for completests intent on checking out all of Elvis' films (like me). It's no 'King Creole', 'Flaming Star', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Viva Las Vegas' and 'Loving You', but it is far better than 'Kissin' Cousins', 'Frankie & Johnny', 'Paradise Hawaiian Style' and particularly 'Harum Scarum' as well as his later efforts. 'Spinout' benefits in particular from the climactic big race, an incredibly fun scene that is the most energetic everything gets, and a generally polished supporting cast (with Shelley Fabares, Diane McBain, Dodie Marshall and Carl Betz lighting up the screen and Cecil Kellaway and Una Merkel nearly stealing the show). It is a decent looking film, there are better-looking Elvis films but it is a long way from cheap apart from the racing footage looking artificial but the photography and sets are fine. The soundtrack is generally unimpressive (though there are far worse Elvis film soundtracks), but there are a few standouts, such as the title song, "I'll Be Back" and "All That I Am". Usually a hit and miss director, Norman Taurog gives some of his most enthusiastic directing of his numerous collaborations with Elvis. However, there are exceptions with the supporting cast and they are Jack Mullaney and Deborah Walley, both very annoying in roles written in a way that grates on the nerves fast. Most of the soundtrack is forgettable at best, with "Beach Shack" and "Smorgasbord" being disposable songs that one can easily do without. Regarding Elvis himself, he has certainly been far more disengaged before and since but he has also been much more enthusiastic and it was like he didn't trust the material. Not that one can blame him, because the script is more cringe-worthy than funny and flags in energy. The story has its slow spots, but also suffers from being too busy. Overall, you can certainly do with far worse but Elvis and the cast did deserve better. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Spinout is somewhere in the middle of the pack of the Elvis Presley cinema output. It's an amiable comedy with the King about a singer with a group who is a celebrity racer. Along the lines of Paul Newman before and Tom Cruise afterwards. I don't include Steve McQueen because that man was serious about the sport and had he entered it earlier might have had that as a career. Anyway Elvis is the target of three women with matrimony on their minds. Rich girl Shelley Fabares, Jacqueline Susann like author Diane McBain, and the drummer in the King's own group, Deborah Walley who is a gourmet cook on the side. As usual Colonel Tom Parker got quality help for his boy behind and in front of the camera. Norman Taurog ended his career directing a series of Presley pictures and this is one of them. Such movie veterans as Frederic Worlock and Cecil Kellaway have small roles and this is the farewell big screen appearance of Una Merkel. Also in the cast is Carl Betz once again playing Shelley Fabares father as he did on the Donna Reed Show. Will Hutchins, television's Sugarfoot is also around as a policeman who appreciates good cooking and Jack Mullaney and Jimmy Hawkins are the other members of Elvis's group. Note that they play electric guitars or simulate playing them while Elvis sticks with a regular model. Of course Spinout ends with the Big Race and I don't think I have to tell you who wins, but the race itself is 3/4 of the fun. No big songs came out of the score for Elvis, but he acquits himself in the vocal and comedy department. Spinout should please his fans.

This movie was better than Paradise Hawaiian Style. It had a better plot and better songs. This was not a great movie and certainly not one of his better ones. the plot was a little hokey I thought, with three women chasing one man and he does not want to married. The songs were better. This movie is a cardboard movie, very predictable. Nothing bad, but nothing spectacular either.

Elvis juggles a career as singer/race car driver in this typical but harmless '60s Presley vehicle. Looking more pudgy than usual, he is an unmarrying kind of guy contending with the attentions of three beautiful women. Shelley Fabares is one delicious cutie I could stare at all day long, and Diane McBain exudes sophisticated beauty. But putting up with the over-animated antics of Deborah Walley as Presley's jealous tomboy drummer wears on my nerves. This one's got a ton of Elvis songs, none of which are great but range from pretty good ("Spinout" "All That I Am") to unbearable ("Beach Shack", "Smorgasbord").