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Elvis' twenty-third film
was 'Easy Come, Easy Go'. Other titles that were
considered for this film were 'Port of Call', 'A Girl In
Every Port', 'Nice and Easy' and 'Easy Does It'. The
story was written by Allan Weiss, who had written the
scripts for five other Elvis movies. This film centered
around Elvis' character Ted Jackson, a former Navy diver
who helps a free-spirited woman find a lost sunken
treasure.
Elvis, as marine-diver this time, searches for a treasure together with dancer
Joe Symington (Dodie Marshall). But his final treasure
is the dancer...
'Easy Come, Easy Go' was Elvis'
last film for Paramount and producer Hal Wallis as the
business relationship Elvis and his manager
Colonel Tom Parker had with Wallis and Paramount
drew to a close. Elvis no longer had his heart in his
movie career or the
music soundtracks he had to record for them.
Colonel's associate Freddy Bienstock was in charge of
gathering the material for recording and even Colonel
Parker, not known for worrying about artistic matters,
was not impressed with the selection. He was aware of
Elvis' disillusionment and became concerned about record
sales given the lack of usable material. Colonel Parker
pushed Mr. Bienstock to come up with better songs.
Wallis was no longer anxious to please Elvis and he
demanded that Elvis record at Paramount Studio's
cavernous soundstage, even setting up daytime sessions -
both factors uncomfortable to Elvis with his preference
to have the intimacy of a recording studio and to record
in the evening.
Despite the end of
Elvis' association with Wallis and Paramount, Elvis
remained the tenth highest paid movie star in 1966 and
would go on to make eight more feature films as an actor
and two theatrically released concert documentaries.
 On September 28, 1966,
Elvis reported late for wardrobe fittings and then was
late to the recording session that day and the one the
next day. Although this annoyed the Paramount executives
and Elvis was making his point, he still was recording
much earlier in the day than normal and the material was
still less than desirable. He detested the song 'She's A
Machine' and it eventually was dropped from the movie.
He got entourage member
Red West,
who had done some song writing, to change the lyrics of
'Stop, You're Wrong' and it became 'You Gotta Stop',
which was used in the film. Backing tracks were laid
down for 'Leave My Woman Alone', but Elvis never
recorded the vocal for it. Two instrumentals also were
used in the movie - 'Freak Out' and 'Go-Go Jo'. The
resulting six-song extened-play single never charted and
sold only 30,000 units. It was the last extended-play as
that format was phased out and it was the least
successful soundtrack of Elvis' career.
Principal photography
began for Elvis' twenty-third film 'Easy Come, Easy Go'
on October 3, 1966. The production began location
shooting on October 10th at such sites as the Long Beach
Naval Station, the Santa Monica pier and harbor and at a
home in the Hollywood hills. The Navy ship used in the
opening scenes was the U.S.S. Gallant, a mine sweeper.
Dodie Marshall played Elvis' love interest Jo
Symington. You might remember her brief appearance at
the end of the Elvis movie 'Spinout'
when she becomes the band's new drummer. She retired in
the late 1960s. Watch for a continuity blooper with
Marshall in 'Easy Come, Easy Go' - a scene in which she
gets into Elvis' car wearing an orange blouse and then
gets out wearing a white top and striped jacket.
 played the lovely villainous Dina Bishop. This Utah
native, the daughter of Ivy Baker Priest who served as
United States Treasurer (1953-1961) and California State
Treasurer (1966-1974), won beauty titles while living in
Washington, DC. She then became a model and actress in
California, winning her most famous role as Marilyn
Munster, the beautiful 'normal looking' member of an
eerie family on the television series 'The Munsters'.
She retired from acting and lives in Idaho.
Pat
Harrington, Jr. played nightclub owner Judd, a buddy of
Ted Jackson (Elvis). Among the better known roles in Mr.
Harrington's is providing the voice for Inspector
Sergeant Deux-Deux in the animated 'Pink Panther'
series. Surely, he is best known for his Emmy Award
winning and Golden Globe winning portrayal of Dwayne F.
Schneider on the hit TV series 'One Day At A Time'.
Frank McHugh played Captain Jack and this was the last
film of his very long career as a character actor. His
parents had been performers and Mr. McHugh was a child
actor, first appearing in vaudeville and then on
Broadway. Ironically, his movie career included a role
in the 1947 movie 'Easy Come, Easy Go', which had a
totally different plot line about gambling and horse
racing.
 In this film
Elsa Lanchester played Madame Neherina,
a 1960s yoga practitioner. Twice nominated for Academy
Awards, Ms. Lanchester won a Golden Globe Award in 1958
for her role in the movie 'Witness for the Prosecution'.
She also had roles in such films as 'Alice In
Wonderland', 'Bell Book and Candle', 'Mary Poppins' and
'That Darn Cat!' She also is remembered for her TV role
as Aunt Henrietta on the series 'Nanny and The
Professor'. Another interesting tie to Elvis is that it
was her husband Charles Laughton who introduced Elvis on
his first 'Ed Sullivan Show' appearance in 1956. Mr.
Laughton was substitute host for the show while Ed
Sullivan was recovering from an automobile accident the
month before.
Skip Ward played the villain Gil
Carey. He went on to become the producer of the TV
series 'The Dukes of Hazzard' and recently produced
their reunion show and TV movie. You might watch for the
continuity blooper with him in 'Easy Come, Easy Go' -
after fighting underwater with Ted (Elvis), he surfaces,
changes out of his wet suit into dry clothes and has his
hair dried and styled before Ted has time to surface
from the sea.
 Tom Hatten had an
uncredited role as a Navy officer. Baby boomers who grew
up in Los Angeles might remember him as the
picture-drawing host of the afternoon cartoon show
'Popeye'. Today he is still a radio personality in the
Los Angles area.Principal photography for 'Easy Come,
Easy Go' was finished by November 7, 1966. However,
producer Hal Wallis in another show of power wouldn't
release Elvis until November 22, 1966. 'Easy Come, Easy
Go' opened nationwide on March 22, 1967 and was #50 on
'Variety' magazine's list for the year 1967. 'Variety'
wrote in their review, 'Elvis looks great and ageless'.
The 'Los Angeles Herald-Examiner' called Elvis 'a darn
good actor'.
'Easy Come, Easy Go' was
directed by Emmy Award winner John Rich, who had
directed Elvis in the film 'Roustabout'.
Mr. Rich has had an highly successful career producing
and directing numerous TV series such as 'Our Miss
Brooks', 'Gunsmoke', 'The Rifleman', 'The Andy Griffith
Show', 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', 'Gilligan's Island', 'I
Spy', 'The Brady Bunch', 'All In The Family', 'Maude',
'Good Times', 'The Jeffersons', 'Barney Miller',
'Newhart' and 'Murphy Brown'.
Soundtrack
Easy Come Easy Go
The Love Machine
Yoga Is As Yoga
Does
You Gotta Stop
Sing You Children
I'll Take Love
She's A Machine
Recorded at:
Radio Recorders Studios, 7000, Santa Monica Boulevard,
Hollywood. September 1966.
Musicians:
Elvis Presley (vocals), Scotty Moore, Tiny Timbrell,
Charlie McCoy (guitars), Bob Moore, Jerry Scheff (bass),
D.J. Fontana, Buddy Harman, Hal Blaine (drums), Michael
Rubini (piano),Anthony Terran, William Hood, Mike
Henderson, Butch Parker (horns) the Jordanaires (vocals)
Another session where Elvis overdubbed most of the songs
onto previously recorded material. Jerry Scheff, who was
to be part of Elvis' live band made his debut on bass at
this session.
Directed
John Rich
Writing Credits Allan Weiss,
Anthony Lawrence
Producer Hal Wallis
Cast Overview:
Elvis Presley .... Ted Jackson, Dodie Marshall .... Jo
Symington,
Pat Priest
.... Dina Bishop, Pat Harrington Jr..... Judd Whitman,
Skip Ward .... Gil Carey, Sandy Kenyon .... Schwartz,
Frank McHugh .... Captain Jack, Ed Griffith .... Cooper,
Reed Morgan .... Lieutenant Tompkins, Mickey Elley ....
Lieutenant Whitehead, Elaine Beckett .... Vicki, Shari
Nims .... Mary, Diki Lerner .... Zoltan, Robert Isenberg
.... Artist, Elsa Lanchester .... Madame Neherina.
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