A look at the movie "Easy Come, Easy Go" - Part 1 of 3:
Elvis's twenty-third film was "Easy Come, Easy Go." Other titles that were
considered for this film were "Port of Call," "A Girl In Every Port," "Nice and
Easy" and "Easy Does It." The story was written by Allan Weiss, who had written
the scripts for five other Elvis movies. This film centered around Elvis's
character Ted Jackson, a former Navy diver who helps a free-spirited woman find
a lost sunken treasure.
It was directed by Emmy Award winner John Rich, who had directed Elvis in the
film "Roustabout." Mr. Rich has had an highly successful career producing and
directing numerous TV series such as "Our Miss Brooks," "Gunsmoke," "The
Rifleman," "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "Gilligan's
Island," "I Spy," "The Brady Bunch," "All In The Family," "Maude," "Good Times,"
"The Jeffersons," "Barney Miller," "Newhart" and "Murphy Brown."
"Easy Come, Easy Go" was Elvis's last film for Paramount and producer Hal Wallis
as the business relationship Elvis and his manager Colonel Tom Parker had with
Wallis and Paramount drew to a close. Elvis no longer had his heart in his
movie career or the music soundtracks he had to record for them. Colonel's
associate Freddy Bienstock was in charge of gathering the material for recording
and even Colonel Parker, not known for worrying about artistic matters, was not
impressed with the selection. He was aware of Elvis's disillusionment and
became concerned about record sales given the lack of usable material. Colonel
Parker pushed Mr. Bienstock to come up with better songs. Wallis was no longer
anxious to please Elvis and he demanded that Elvis record at Paramount Studio's
cavernous soundstage, even setting up daytime sessions - both factors
uncomfortable to Elvis with his preference to have the intimacy of a recording
studio and to record in the evening.
On September 28, 1966, Elvis reported late for wardrobe fittings and then was
late to the recording session that day and the one the next day. Although this
annoyed the Paramount executives and Elvis was making his point, he still was
recording much earlier in the day than normal and the material was still less
than desirable. He detested the song "She's A Machine" and it eventually was
dropped from the movie. He got entourage member Red West, who had done some
song writing, to change the lyrics of "Stop, You're Wrong" and it became "You
Gotta Stop," which was used in the film. Backing tracks were laid down for
"Leave My Woman Alone," but Elvis never recorded the vocal for it. Two
instrumentals also were used in the movie - "Freak Out" and "Go-Go Jo." The
resulting six-song extened-play single never charted and sold only 30,000
units. It was the last extended-play as that format was phased out and it was
the least successful soundtrack of Elvis's career.
Principal photography began for Elvis's twenty-third film "Easy Come, Easy
Go" on October 3, 1966. The production began location shooting on October 10th
at such sites as the Long Beach Naval Station, the Santa Monica pier and harbor
and at a home in the Hollywood hills. The Navy ship used in the opening scenes
was the U.S.S. Gallant, a mine sweeper.
Dodie Marshall played Elvis's love interest Jo Symington. You might remember
her brief appearance at the end of the Elvis movie "Spinout" when she becomes
the band's new drummer. She retired in the late 1960s. Watch for a continuity
blooper with Marshall in "Easy Come, Easy Go" - a scene in which she gets into
Elvis's car wearing an orange blouse and then gets out wearing a white top and
striped jacket.
Pat Priest played the lovely villainous Dina Bishop. This Utah native, the
daughter of Ivy Baker Priest who served as United States Treasurer (1953-1961)
and California State Treasurer (1966-1974), won beauty titles while living in
Washington, DC. She then became a model and actress in California, winning her
most famous role as Marilyn Munster, the beautiful "normal looking" member of an
eerie family on the television series "The Munsters." She retired from acting
and lives in Idaho.
Pat Harrington, Jr. played nightclub owner Judd, a buddy of Ted Jackson
(Elvis). Among the better known roles in Mr. Harrington's is providing the
voice for Inspector Sergeant Deux-Deux in the animated "Pink Panther" series.
Surely, he is best known for his Emmy Award winning and Golden Globe winning
portrayal of Dwayne F. Schneider on the hit TV series "One Day At A Time."
Frank McHugh played Captain Jack and this was the last film of his very long
career as a character actor. His parents had been performers and Mr. McHugh was
a child actor, first appearing in vaudeville and then on Broadway. Ironically,
his movie career included a role in the 1947 movie "Easy Come, Easy Go," which
had a totally different plot line about gambling and horse racing.
In this film Elsa Lanchester played Madame Neherina, a 1960s yoga
practitioner. Twice nominated for Academy Awards, Ms. Lanchester won a Golden
Globe Award in 1958 for her role in the movie "Witness for the Prosecution."
She also had roles in such films as "Alice In Wonderland," "Bell Book and
Candle," "Mary Poppins" and "That Darn Cat!" She also is remembered for her TV
role as Aunt Henrietta on the series "Nanny and The Professor." Another
interesting tie to Elvis is that it was her husband Charles Laughton who
introduced Elvis on his first "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance in 1956. Mr.
Laughton was substitute host for the show while Ed Sullivan was recovering from
an automobile accident the month before.
Skip Ward played the villain Gil Carey. He went on to become the producer of
the TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard" and recently produced their reunion show
and TV movie. You might watch for the continuity blooper with him in "Easy
Come, Easy Go" - after fighting underwater with Ted (Elvis), he surfaces,
changes out of his wet suit into dry clothes and has his hair dried and styled
before Ted has time to surface from the sea.
Tom Hatten had an uncredited role as a Navy officer. Baby boomers who grew up
in Los Angeles might remember him as the picture-drawing host of the afternoon
cartoon show "Popeye." Today he is still a radio personality in the Los Angles
area.
Principal photography for "Easy Come, Easy Go" was finished by November 7,
1966. However, producer Hal Wallis in another show of power wouldn't release
Elvis until November 22, 1966. "Easy Come, Easy Go" opened nationwide on March
22, 1967 and was #50 on "Variety" magazine's list for the year 1967. "Variety"
wrote in their review, "Elvis looks great and ageless." The "Los Angeles
Herald-Examiner" called Elvis "a darn good actor."
Despite the end of Elvis's association with Wallis and Paramount, Elvis remained
the tenth highest paid movie star in 1966 and would go on to make eight more
feature films as an actor and two theatrically released concert documentaries.