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Girls! Girls! Girls! 3 - 3
Elvis's eleventh movie was the story of Ross
Carpenter and his dream to own the sailboat his late father had built.
In this quest to buy the boat, Ross is busy by day working on a fishing
boat and by night as a nightclub singer, leaving little time for the
"girls" who are pursuing him. He does manage a brief trip to visit
his adopted family, the Yungs of Paradise Cove.
Kin Yung, the wise family patriarch, was played by
Benson Fong. Mr. Fong, a native of California may be best
remembered for his long running role as Tommy Chan, son of the famous
detective Charlie Chan, in the popular movie series made in the 1940s.
He also had roles in films such as "Flower Drum Song," "Our Man Flint,"
and "The Love Bug," as well as in TV series such as "Kung Fu."
The son of a wealthy Sacramento merchant who had lost everything
in the Depression, Mr. Fong had no plans to become an actor. He
had planned to open a grocery store. But, one night while he was
out to dinner, a talent scout approached him and his thirty-year career
as an actor soon was underway. He also owned a chain of popular
California restaurants called Ah Fong's.
Beulah Quo played the even wiser Yung matriarch.
Ms. Quo's career garnered her an 1978 Emmy Award nomination for
Outstanding Supporting Actress for "Meeting of Minds." She had
many roles on TV, including a long-running role on the TV series
"General Hospital." Her movie career included films such as
"Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," "Flower Drum Song," "The Sand
Pebbles" and "Chinatown."
Guy Lee played Chen Yung. Mr. Lee also had
roles in the films "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" and "Flower Drum Song,"
among others. He appeared in guest roles on a number of TV series,
including "Bonanza," "Honey West," "The Wild, Wild West" and the "The
Odd Couple."
The Ling children that Elvis's character sings to in
this film were played by the Tiu siblings. Ginny Tiu played Mai
Ling, Elizabeth Tiu played Tai Ling and their brother Alexander Tiu
played the unnamed little brother. Their sister Vicky Tiu would
play a leading role in the next Elvis movie "It Happened at The World's
Fair." Their father William was a teacher from Hong Kong. The
children were musically gifted and appeared on stage and in a number of
variety shows on television.
Mary Treen played Mrs. Figgot and Marjorie Bennet
played Mrs. Dicks, the two women customers in the hat store. Both
ladies were long-time character actresses with hundreds of roles between
them. Mary Treen had roles in films like "It's A Wonderful Life"
and "The Errand Boy" as well as roles in the Elvis films "Fun In
Acapulco" and "Paradise Hawaiian Style." Marjorie Bennett's career
included parts on many TV series, as well as in movies such as "What
Ever Happened To Baby Jane?," "Sail A Crooked Ship" and "My Fair Lady."
She was also the voice of Duchess in the original version of the
animated film "101 Dalmatians."
Gavin Gordon played the hat shop manager. He
was near the end of a three-decade career in films, having had roles in
such movies as "White Christmas," "High Society," "The Ten
Commandments," "The Matchmaker" and "The Nutty Professor," among many
others.
Linda Rand played a village woman in "Girls! Girls!
Girls!" and also can be seen in the Elvis films "Fun In Acapulco" and
"Roustabout".
Kenneth Becker was Mack, the drunk in the Pirate's
Den. You can also spot him in the Elvis films "G.I. Blues" and
"Roustabout."
While Frank Atienza (Ito in the Elvis film
"Blue Hawaii's") plays an unaccredited role.
Look closely and you'll see Red West from Elvis's
entourage as a bongo playing crewman on the tuna boat. And
entourage member Alan Fortas catches a tuna that Elvis's character
throws his way. Elvis's recording session drummer Hal Blaine is
seen as a drummer in the lounge band, Elvis's stand-in Lance
LeGault is playing the bass.
Principal photography wrapped by June 8, 1962 and
Elvis was done with looping and his publicity stills by June 12th.
The movie premiered in Honolulu on October 31st. and opened nationwide
on Nov. 21st., peaking at #6 on the Variety National Box Office Survey.
Even though it only came out a few weeks before the year's end, it was
#31 for the year on the list of the 50 Top Grossing Films of 1962.
Elvis was voted that year as "Top Box Office Draw" by the movie industry
of America, having three of the top grossing films that year.
Besides "Girls! Girls! Girls!" at #31, "Kid Galahad" was #37 and "Blue
Hawaii" was #14.
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