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Spinout 1
Elvis's
22nd film was "Spinout" (MGM, 1966), the tale of a race car
driver/entertainer who is chased by three different women,
all with marriage on their mind. The story was written by Theodore J.
Flicker and George Kirgo.
Theodore J. Flicker was a director for TV series such as "The Andy
Griffith Show", "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and "I Dream of Jeannie" when he
also began to write scripts.
He went on to be nominated for Best Written American Screenplay by the
Writer's Guild for the 1968 work "The President's Analyst."
Co-writer George Kirgo was a TV writer who was president of the Writer's
Guild from 1987 to 1991. "Spinout" was produced by Joe Pasternak,
who had also produced Elvis's film "Girl Happy. " His credits include four
Academy Award nominations and ten Golden Laurel Awards.
The associate producer was Hank Moonjean, who had been an assistant
director on the Elvis film "Jailhouse Rock."
He went on to receive a 1989 Oscar nomination for Best Picture for
producing "Dangerous Liaisons."
The director was Norman Taurog, who was one of Elvis's favorites to work
with.
Choreographer Jack Baker had worked with Elvis on "It Happened At The
World's Fair" and later worked with him on "Live A Little, Love A Little."
Shelley Fabares was one of Elvis's favorite leading ladies. This film
marked the second of three movies that they made together.
She went on to receive two Emmy Award nominations for her long-time role
on the TV series "Coach."
"Spinout" reunited Ms. Fabares with two of her previous co-stars from the
popular TV series "The Donna Reed Show" - Carl Betz and Jimmy Hawkins.
Carl Betz had played Fabares's character's father Dr. Alex Stone on "The
Donna Reed Show" and in this film he played her character's father Howard
Foxhugh. Betz,
a graduate of Carnegie Tech. (today known Carnegie Mellon), played in the
1938 Sugar Bowl football game and made his acting debut on stage.
He received an Emmy Award in 1969 for his TV series "Judd For The
Defense." Jimmy Hawkins, who played Larry in "Spinout" and had played Doc in
Elvis's movie "Girl Happy,"
was also a co-star of Fabares's on "The Donna Reed Show." He began acting
as a child and had the role of Tagg Oakley on the "Annie Oakley" TV series.
He might be best known as Tommy Bailey in the film "It's A Wonderful
Life."
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