Girl Happy has the formula for an Elvis Presley film down pat: pretty girls, a tropical setting, and lots of songs for Elvis to sing. This 1965 movie is especially jam packed with tunes; there are six musical numbers before it hits the half hour mark!
Rusty Wells (Presley) and his band (Gary Crosby, Joby Baker and Jimmy Hawkins) are a smash-hit at the Chicago night club owned by Big Frank (Harold J. Stone). Not wanting to lose his best act, Big Frank refuses to let Rusty and the others leave for Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Big Frank has a change of heart, however, when he learns that his beloved daughter Valerie (Shelley Fabares) is herself heading to Fort Lauderdale with some of her college friends. Issuing orders for Rusty and his buddies to keep an eye on Valerie, Big Frank sends them to Florida, all expenses paid.
But what the guys hope will be a relaxing time in the sun, surrounded by pretty college girls, quickly turns into a 24-hour job when Valerie is romanced by Italian playboy Romano (Fabrizio Mioni). Fearing what Big Frank might do to them if he finds out, Rusty and the others do whatever it takes to keep Valerie and Romano apart, even if it means getting her to fall in love with Rusty himself!
As with many of Elvis’s films, there isn’t a whole lot of story in Girl Happy. But it has its charms. Chief among them is the music, which, though it doesn’t feature any of Presley’s better-known hits, boasts energy to spare. Especially catchy are "Spring Fever" (sung by Presley and Fabares), "Wolf Call" (a duet of sorts where Presley is joined by co-star Mary Ann Mobley, who plays his early love interest Deena), and "The Meanest Girl in Town" (where, to keep her away from Romano, Rusty convinces Valerie to join them on-stage when this song is performed).
While the music is absolutely the selling point of Girl Happy, it does offer up a few entertaining non-musical moments as well, including a very memorable scene in a jail house that features both Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester in the ‘60s TV sitcom The Addams Family) as an overzealous cop and Elvis himself… in drag!
Like Blue Hawaii, Girl Happy takes advantage of its tropical setting, and features more than its share of bikini-clad beauties. But make no mistake: it’s Elvis’s golden voice that will keep you watching until the end.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
