It Happened At The World’s Fair
Fun, music and Elvis all happen in this romp boasting one of the best backdrops of any Elvis Presley movie: the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, with its showpiece Space Needle, monorail and more.
The King plays pilot-for-hire Mike, whose hope of starting his own flying business is grounded by the gambling of his co-pilot Danny (Gary Lockwood). The guys hitch to Seattle, where Mike finds romance, Danny finds easy marks and both find problems prior to a Happy Ending. Kurt Russell, star of 1979’s Elvis biopic, plays the child who wallops Mike in the shins. And among the 10 songs are I’m Falling In Love Tonight, Relax and the gold record One Broken Heart For Sale. If he’s selling, we’re buying!The novelty backdrop of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair lends wonderful space-age scenery to this Elvis vehicle. The King co-stars with a pre-2001 Gary Lockwood as freelance pilots stranded in Seattle, where Elvis spends more time babysitting a little kid than panting after ostensible love interest Joan O’Brien. There’s more plot than usual for a Presley picture, which in this case is not a good thing, and the songs are pallid, save “One Broken Heart for Sale.” The real kick is the futuristic look of the World’s Fair, as personified by Seattle’s Space Needle and Monorail (both of which serve as backdrops for EP songs). Just three years out of the Army, Elvis’s persona is thoroughly square and tame, ruffled only by the occasional comic double-take. And yes indeed, that is little Kurt Russell, future star of Elvis, kicking the King in the shins in a couple of scenes. –Robert Horton
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