elvis Facts, Tickle Me, 1 / 3

Tickle Me, 1 / 3

"Tickle Me" was Elvis's eighteenth film and was made for Allied Artists. This studio, formed in 1946, was in serious financial difficulty at the time and was hoping that they would make enough money from this movie to stay afloat for a while longer. Elvis's manager, Colonel Tom Parker agreed to a cut in Elvis's normal salary of $1,000,000 down to $750,000 plus 50% of the profits. Also in an effort to save money it was decided for the first time that a new soundtrack would not be cut. They would rely on songs previously recorded. The production did not go out on location for this film. It was shot on the studio back lot.

Two of the songs they used charted fairly well. "(Such An) Easy Question" written by Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott stayed on the Hot 100 Chart for 8 weeks and peaked at #11. It hit #1 on the Easy Listening Chart and stayed there for two weeks. "I'm Yours" written by Don Robertson spent 11 weeks on the Hot 100 Chart, peaking at #11, and it made it to #1 during its three-week stay on the Easy Listening Chart.

This was producer Ben Swalb's last film. He had begun his career filming sports documentaries in the 1930s. Elvis was very comfortable working with the director Norman Taurog who would, in total, direct nine of his movies.

The script was written by Edward Bernds and Elwood Ullman. Mr. Bernds had 95 film credits as a director and 86 as a sound engineer, as well as 52 screenplays including his 1957 Academy Award nominated "High Society". He began in radio and quickly moved to "talkies' in the late 1920s. Elwood Ullman also shared in that Academy Award nomination for "High Society" and this Memphis native began writing for films in the 1930s.

Loyal Griggs was the cinematographer on "Tickle Me" as he had been for "G.I. Blues" and "Girls! Girls! Girls!" Starting his career in the mid 1920s in the special effects department of Paramount, he won an Academy Award in 1954 for "Shane." He went on to receive three more Oscar nominations over the years for his work in the movies "The Ten Commandments," "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and "In Harm's Way."

Arthur Lonergan was the art director. He became an Academy Award nominee in 1967 for his work on the movie "The Oscar." The designs of some of the ghost town sets were inspired by a real historical house in Los Angeles that had once belonged to Pio Pico, the last governor when California was under Mexican rule.