60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
5/13/65 – The Elvis Presley film “Tickle Me” opens in Hollywood.
(It will open nationwide two months later)
"Tickle Me" was a hastily put together film by Elvis and Colonel to help save the movie studio Allied Artists Productions. Allied was facing financial difficulties and knew that an Elvis Presley film was guaranteed to make money.
The Colonel struck a deal whereby he agreed to cut Elvis' salary to just $750,000 (instead of his usual $1 million per picture ... the two still shared in 50% of the film's profits, however) and an agreement was made that no new songs would be recorded for the film, thus cutting that part of the budget substantially.
Elvis portrays rodeo cowboy Lonnie Beale, who also moonlights as a handyman at a local beauty spa (assuring that The King would be surrounded by beautiful, scantily-clad women throughout the film.)
There was also a back-story about some gold being stashed in a ghost town nearby that belonged to a girl working at the spa ... she enlists the help of Elvis and his sidekick ... and actually ends up MARRYING him at the end of the film! (OK, yeah, maybe it WAS a little bit weak and far-fetched in the plot area!!!)
It may have panned by the critics ... but the film made money ...
... and Allied Artists was saved ... for at least a little while longer. Allied Executive Steve Brody later commended Elvis for saving his studio ... "You might say they were ready to wheel the patient out when Dr. Presley came in." (With a film budget of just $750,000, it is believe the film made close to $5 million worldwide, with $3 million in box office sales in the US alone.)
It is a VERY light-hearted film ... almost slapstick in some scenes ... but I used to enjoy watching it with the kids when they were little. (Daughter Kristen learned to ride her bike without training wheels by pretending to be a rodeo rider like Lonnie Beale ... by her second trip down our alley, she was riding training wheels free!!!)
Plus, thanks to raiding the vault rather than recording a bunch of new, cheezy material for the film, some GREAT Elvis tunes are featured, including: "Long, Lonely Highway," "It Feels So Right," "(Such An) Easy Question," (one of my all time Elvis favorites), "Dirty, Dirty Feeling," "Put The Blame One Me," "I'm Yours," "Night Rider," "I Feel That I've Known You Forever" and "Slowly But Surely," all culled from previous Elvis releases dating throughout the early '60's.
Although no official soundtrack album was released at the time, "(Such An) Easy Question" and "I'm Yours" were both released as singles, charting at #10 and #9 respectively ... and the EP released in conjunction with the film charted at #70 in Billboard.
