Frankie and Johnny

1966 "ELVIS Turns The Land Of The Blues Red Hot With 11 Great Songs!"
5.5| 1h27m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 31 March 1966 Released
Producted By: Edward Small Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Johnny is a riverboat entertainer with a big gambling problem. After a fortune-teller tells Johnny how he can change his luck, the appearance of a new 'lady luck' soon causes a cat fight with Johnny's girlfriend, Frankie.

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Reviews

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!
Protraph Lack of good storyline.
mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
bigverybadtom Which is arguably the case with most Elvis Presley movies, where he plays himself, sings a few songs, and the movie depends on the rest of the cast. This is a costumer set in the indefinite past, where everyone is first aboard a riverboat and then in New Orleans.Elvis plays a performer in a riverboat musical entertainment show, with a blond girlfriend who acts with him. Trouble is, he is a compulsive gambler in debt to a number of people on the riverboat, including his thuggish boss. Being a superstitious sort, he consults with a gypsy stationed offshore, who tells him he needs a redhead woman companion to start winning at gambling. He finds one...namely the girlfriend of his boss, and the inevitable complications come from that.This is basically like any other such musical, meant to be amusing without pretense of deep meaning. And in that, the movie works.
TheLittleSongbird Elvis Presley was a hugely influential performer with one of the most distinctive singing voices of anybody. He embarked on a film career consisting of 33 films from 1956 to 1969, films that did well at the box-office but mostly panned critically (especially his later films) and while he was a highly charismatic performer he was never considered a great actor.This said, a good deal of his earlier efforts (late 50s-early 60s) were actually pretty good and more, his best being 'King Creole', 'Flaming Star', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Viva Las Vegas' and 'Loving You'. Those films looked good, had great soundtracks, great supporting casts and showed that Elvis could be a very capable actor when his material allowed it, even when the dialogue and stories were in a few of them were not strong suits ('King Creole' was a notable exception though). Am of the opinion that Elvis' film career was an uneven film, while there were good films and performances there were also bad films where he looked bored, where the films had not so good soundtracks and looked cheap, a notable example being his previous film 'Harum Scarum' (widely considered one of his worst for good reason).'Frankie & Johnny' is towards the lesser half of his filmography while not quite among his very worst. It is better than 'Harum Scarum' (then again a lot of things are), but still contains a lot of things that make some of Elvis' mid-60s onwards films not so good.Starting with its good things, most of the songs fare well, especially the title song, "Hard Luck", "Shout it Out" (the most energetically performed of the songs) and "Please Don't Stop Loving Me". Didn't think much of the performances this time around, but a couple of actors come off with flying colours. Best of the bunch is Harry Morgan, who really brings a smile to one's face. Audrey Christie is also a lot of fun, and Donna Douglas is a competent leading lady.The riverboat setting has moments where it's attractive enough, and some of the first half is brightly and breezily paced.However, Elvis spends the whole time looking as if he didn't want to be there despite singing beautifully as always, while the chemistry between him and Douglas lacks spark or passion. Nancy Kovack and Anthony Einsley are on autopilot in very colourlessly written roles, and in general much of the acting is barely half-hearted. Although the soundtrack is mostly good, several of Elvis' 60s films had at least one song that was disposable. In 'Frankie & Johnny's' case, there are two that in no way pass muster as good songs and don't feel necessary, those being "Chesay" and "Petunia the Gardener's Daughter".Dubbing is also an issue, Elvis' lip synchronisation is sloppy, and it was far too obvious that it wasn't Douglas and Morgan singing their own music, the difference between speaking and singing is blatant and distracting and Douglas doesn't look at ease. The way the numbers are staged varies, "Hard Luck", "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" and "Shout It Out" are fine but most of the rest are fairly static and seriously repeating footage of the title number in the reprise of the finale was not clever and just screamed of trying and failing to hide running out of time and budget.Apart from the attractive riverboat setting, 'Frankie & Johnny' is another Elvis film that looks like it was made on the cheap and in haste, with a lot of garish and lurid colours, cheap-looking and anachronistic costumes and a flat made for TV-like look to the photography. The direction is at best lifeless, especially in the very limply paced second half. It is in the second half too where the story becomes increasingly far-fetched and less easy to follow and the dialogue increasingly groan-worthy (even for those expecting that in the first place).Overall, semi-watchable and okay at best time filler but Elvis was worthy of so much more than this. 4/10 Bethany Cox
juliano66 Frankie and Johnny wasn't half bad as Elvis pictures go- which means it was half- watchable as a movie and not just a typical kitchy vehicle to ogle the King. The musical performances we're good and the sets and costumes interesting-the high point in the film is the last performance of Frankie and Johnny--Elvis actually comes off pretty suave at times as a river boat gambler and his character played well off a nubile, young Donna Douglas. Harry Morgan does a good job as Elvis' older, more wary sidekick and the rest of the cast work well and don't detract/subtract from the main action which is of course- Elvis. Not a bad way to kill an afternoon or round off an evening of insomnia.
Michael O'Keefe Elvis plays Johnny, a riverboat entertainer that has a big gambling problem. Donna Douglas, better known as Elly Mae Clampett, is Johnny's girl, Frankie. A fortune teller tells Johnny how he can change his luck. Enter a new lady luck played by Nancy Kovack and the cat fight begins. Costumes range from classy to gaudy. A dozen songs make up the soundtrack featuring "Hard Luck" and "Please Don't Stop Loving Me". This film was directed by Fred de Cordova, director of Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show". Also in the cast are Sue Ane Langdon, Harry Morgan and Anthony Eisley. A fun movie to watch.