Python Hyena It Happened at the World's Fair (1963): Dir: Norman Taurog / Cast: Elvis Presley, Joan O'Brien, Gary Lockwood, Vicky Tiu, Yvonne Craig: Boring drivel about life experiences such as making a film this stupid. Elvis Presley and Gary Lockwood play a couple of morons who owe a large dept and must get their plane back after the police take it. Before "never talk to strangers" became the norm, a man who will never win Father of the Year allows his Asian daughter to go to the fair with two strangers. They turn out to be Elvis Presley and Gary Lockwood but who cares. It is creepy as hell. Elvis Bonds with this girl who doesn't know any better. Joan O'Brien plays a nurse who ends up the victim of Presley's antics particularly when he pays a kid to kick him in the knee to fake an injury. She is the standard airhead who is subdued into believing his crap because the screenplay is predictable tripe. Vicky Tiu as the Asian kid is about as bad as a child actor can get. She cannot even convincingly whine. Norman Taurog seems to have a knack for making horrible Elvis films because he has made many and this is about as bad as they get. Even the sets look about as fake as the average episode of Mr. Dressup. Fans are advised to celebrate the music of Presley because it is obvious that the one thing that didn't happen at the world's fair is doing a film that is any better than horse sh*t. Score: 1 / 10

Poseidon-3 Even at this fairly early stage in The King's film career, he was beginning the embalming process, mired down as he was in predictable, substandard, cookie-cutter musical romps with banal songs and curvy female co-stars. The spin here was that his chief co-star is an Asian ankle-biter who adores him in a different way than most. Crop-dusting pilot Presley and his ne'er-do-well partner Lockwood find themselves without two dimes to rub together and hitchhike, for no real reason, to Seattle where the World's Fair of 1962 is taking place. Their ride, apple farmer Tong, entrusts Presley with his little niece Tiu so that she can enjoy the fair. However, by the end of the day, Tong is gone and Presley has little choice but to keep the little girl as he waits for her uncle (and only relative) to return for her. Meanwhile, Presley falls for prim nurse O'Brien and Tiu does her best to encourage and enable it. However, Lockwood, who suffers from bad judgment in practically every department, allows Presley to become involved in a shady business proposition which threatens even more trouble for everyone. Presley looks pretty good and sings a plethora of songs nicely, though few of them are memorable or add anything much to the film. He does have a moderately amusing number as he's trying to canoodle with local girl Craig. O'Brien, all bouffant hair and teeth, is pretty, but rather stiff and inanimate (projecting an image that is at odds with her reportedly sultry private life!) and she shares precious little chemistry with Presley. Lockwood isn't given a lot to do except occasionally mess things up, but he's attractive and reasonably effective. Tiu, an automatic scene-stealer in her little braids and dragging along an over-sized, red, plush dog, is charming, though she comes close to overstaying her welcome after a while. In a startling development, she would grown up in real life to become First Lady of Hawaii and an active advocate for teen alcohol awareness. Russell, who would later play Elvis in a much-lauded TV-movie, has a small role as a child who comes across Presley twice at the fair. Fans of Presley enjoy watching him in practically all of his films, but the chief attraction here for most people is the chance to see some stunning footage of the 1962 World's Fair. It's hard to believe how pristine, spotless and gleaming the structures are here and how equally spiffy the people attending are. Though some sequences were recreated or otherwise augmented back at the studio, a large portion of filming took place amid the buildings and attractions in Seattle and it's a rare treat to see them as they were at the time.

Neil Doyle ELVIS PRESLEY gets to sing several non-memorable songs, the best of which is "One Broken Heart for Sale", but IT HAPPENED AT THE WORLD'S FAIR is strictly standard Presley stuff wherein the guy has his eye on a pretty gal (JOAN O'BRIEN) and makes a pitch, the sort that turns her off at first. Predictably, after a few misunderstandings involving a small girl abandoned at the fair, a happy ending is soon in sight.The music by Leith Stevens is pleasant enough and the fair grounds at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair make colorful backgrounds for the slight story. GARY LOCKWOOD is Elvis' pilot pal, both of them down on their luck but seeming to spend plenty of money on the fair and decent lodgings. The sub-plot involving both bachelors entrusted with the care of a seven year-old by a complete stranger is more than a little improbable, especially given today's public awareness of children being taken advantage of by adults with criminal behavior.Presley shares some effective scenes with the little girl but has his standard "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl" routine with leading lady O'Brien, a pert blonde who plays a nurse who suspects him of feigning illness as a part of his wolf routine. Naturally, the little girl is responsible for bringing them together again after a few silly misunderstandings keep them apart.Nothing special, but passes the time pleasantly whenever Elvis sings, which is pretty often.

george-devlin I watched this movie with my best friend, a HUGE Elvis fan. Truthfully, It Happened At The World's Fair, was my first Elvis flik, and I'm sure, just positively sure, that Elvis has movies in his repertoire that are actually entertaining. This was a real snoozer. It's unfortunate that the child actress used in this film didn't continue in a film career, because she stole every scene that she and Elvis were in. In fact, I wondered why Elvis was even cast in this role, because it doesn't appear that his heart was in it. By '63 the guy was probably tired of burning it at both ends, and it shows. My buddy and I actually laughed out loud at some of the very hokey scenes, which weren't necessarily written nor acted to be humorous. All in all, the movie's greatest contribution was its footage of the world's fair circa early 1960's and the on screen appearance of a couple of members of his real life entourage. I look forward to viewing other Elvis films, its all uphill from here (I'm sure!).