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It Happened At The World's Fair - 3
Elvis's twelfth movie was set at the World's Fair that took
place in Seattle, Washington in 1962.
Edith Atwater played the head nurse at the first aid station. She
had just finished working on the film "Sweet Bird of Youth" and
would go on to have roles in "Strange Bedfellows", "True Grit", and
many more films. She also had recurring roles in several TV series
including Aunt Gertrude Hardy in the "Hardy Boys Mysteries," Dr.
Lillian McCary in "Knots Landing" and Dr. Jane Barrett in "Hart to
Hart."
Guy Raymond played Barney Thatcher. He had roles in films and TV
including "Marjorie Morningstar,", "Sail A Crooked Ship," "Gypsy,"
"The Reluctant Astronaut," "Green Acres," "Dynasty" and many others.
Several stuntmen/actors had roles in "It Happened At The World's
Fair" and they also had roles in other Elvis movies. George Cisar
was in "Jailhouse Rock," "Viva Las Vegas," "Girl Happy" and
"Speedway." John Daheim was in "Jailhouse Rock." John Indrisano was
in "Jailhouse Rock" and "Fun In Acapulco." Troy Melton was in
"Change of Habit." Hal Riddle had roles in this film as well as
"Speedway" and "Live A Little, Love A Little." Tom Greenway was the
paymaster in "Love Me Tender." Pete Kellett was an extra in "Viva
Las Vegas." Mike Mahoney was also in "Loving You" and "Roustabout."
Robert Williams was in "Viva Las Vegas" and "Frankie and Johnny."
Wilson Wood was in "Jailhouse Rock."
Appearing in the film and on the soundtrack with Elvis was a singing
quartet called The Mello Men, which was comprised of Thurl
Ravenscroft, Bill Lee, Bill Cole and Max Smith. They were not only
singers, but also provided the voices for many beloved cartoon
characters in such productions as "Alice in Wonderland," "Lady and
the Tramp," "Tom and Jerry," "Yogi Bear," "Peter Pan," "Sleeping
Beauty" and "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" among others. Thurl
Ravenscroft indivual credits for cartoon voice work include "The
Sword In The Stone," "Mary Poppins," "The Jungle Book," "The Cat In
The Hat," "The Aristocats" and "Winnie
the Pooh." His voice has also been used for many of the recorded
voices in the attractions at Disneyland and Disney World.
Ted Richmond was the producer of "It Happened at the World's Fair."
He began his career as a writer in the late 1930s, but he soon
turned to producing.
Most notable among his films could be 1973's "Papillon" starring
Steve
McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.
Actress/songwriter Dolores Fuller began her career as a child when
she was an extra in the Clark Gable film "It Happened One Night."
Although she never had a part in any of Elvis's films, she did write
songs for a number of them including the song "Beyond the Bend" for
this movie. Often working with Ben Weisman and Fred Wise, she wrote
music for "Blue Hawaii," "Kid Galahad," "Fun In Acapulco," "Kissin'
Cousins," "Roustabout," "Girl Happy," "Spinout," "Easy Come, Easy
Go" and "Change of Habit. She also wrote some songs for Elvis that
were not movie-related. She also known for her one-time romance with
producer/director Ed Wood, although she is said to have objected to
Sarah Jessica Parker's depiction of her in the 1994 film about him.
Scoring was provided by composer Leith Stevens. Stevens's long
career was highlighted by three Academy Award nominations and a
Golden Globe nomination for work in the movies "Destination Moon",
"Julie", "The Five Pennies" and "A New Kind of Love."
The film's cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg was nominated ten times
for Academy Awards, winning for the films "Gigi," "Somebody Up There
Likes Me," "Mrs. Miniver" and "The Great Waltz." He also won a
Golden Globe Award for "Brigadoon."
E. Preston Ames was the art director. He garnered eight Academy
Award nominations and won for "Gigi" and "An American In Paris." In
addition to "It Happened at the World's Fair," Ames worked on the
Elvis films "Wild In The Country" and "Live A Little, Love A
Little."
George W. Davis also worked as an art director for this "It Happened
at the World's Fair." He also worked on the Elvis films "Kissin'
Cousins," "Viva Las Vegas," "Girl Happy," "Harum Scarum," "Spinout,"
"Double Trouble," "Speedway" and "Live A Little, Love A Little." He
too was a multiple nominee for Academy Awards - 17 nominations,
winning for "The Robe" and "The Diary of Anne Frank."
Sydney Guilaroff was the hair stylist. He was chief hairstylist for
MGM from 1934 - 1978 and the first hair stylist to be listed in the
credits of a film. He is credited with giving a number of actors and
actresses their signature look. He worked on a good many of Elvis's
films.
Award-winning makeup artist William Tuttle was head of the makeup
department at MGM for over 20 years. He worked on "It Happened at
the World's Fair" and a good many other Elvis films. He began his
show-business career as a musician at age fifteen, but, by eighteen,
switched to the artistry of makeup.
Choreography was designed by Jack Baker who also worked on the Elvis
movies "Spinout" and "Live A Little, Love A Little."
On November 8, 1962, Elvis's father and then Memphis Mayor Loeb
visited the set of this film where the mayor accepted Elvis's annual
donation of $50,000 to Memphis charities. On November 9th, Elvis
completed his work on this movie and traveled to Las Vegas where he
vacationed before returning to Memphis.
"It Happened at the Wprld's Fair" premiered in Los Angeles on April
3, 1963 and opened nationally on April 10. It was ranked #55 for the
year on "Variety's" list of movies.
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