Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

beauzee the pearl was never fully finished and the polish wears off quickly...but here we have a very credible remake of a 1937 boxing flick, livened up by some really terrific songs.there's a lot of the expected Elvis: moody, two fisted stranger, with a good heart...a lot of talent...and interest in pretty ladies. yes, there's the older lady, Beverly Garland, girlfriend of struggling manager Gig Young, and there's the early 20ish JOan Blackman, who is immediately enchanted by the 27 year old "killer". we even get an incredibly embarrassing singing-in-the-car sequence...notice Charles Bronson in the backseat...obviously in pain, as Elvis croons "Riding the RAinbow".what really sends this movie above the mediocre mark is that we have just six songs, spaced out nicely...and a very strong performance from Elvis. Even when he yells out, "I'm a grease monkey who doesn't slide so easily" he is locked in and convincing. He also adds some needed nuance...he finds he can fight as good as he can change spark plus n' sing...and he hates it.a nice companion to FOLLOW THAT DREAM...which was a real comedy with music; here we have a real light drama with music. one of about 7 Elvis pictures which sustains nicely past the millennium.

blanche-2 Elvis Presley is a mechanic turned fighter in "Kid Galahad," a 1962 film with Presley playing the role originally essayed by Wayne Morris in the '30s. He has strong support from Gig Young, Lola Albright, Joan Blackman and Charles Bronson.Elvis plays an ex-GI named Walter Grogan, who is taken on as a fighter by a man (Gig Young) who runs a resort but owes money to mobsters due to gambling debts. What he doesn't count on is the Kid falling for his sister (Joan Blackman, Bette Davis in the original).This is early Elvis, when the production values were high and the songs fresh. Later on, Colonel Parker would tighten up on the budgets, since the cheaper he could get the films made, the more money he made for himself and Elvis. And Elvis' parents had naively signed a contract giving Parker 50%. I think Elvis would have been happier with better movies, such as "King Creole," and less money."Kid Galahad" is quite good, though, with fine music and a relaxed performance by Elvis, who looks great. He doesn't have the jet black hair and while he's not as thin as he would eventually get from using amphetamines, he's still in great shape.It became more and more difficult for Elvis to be Elvis, but here, he's a boyish, mellow guy who seemed to be enjoying what he was doing. Unfortunately, he didn't stay that way.

vchimpanzee At the start, Walter is fresh from the army and hitchhiking on the back of a moving van (not something anyone should attempt in real life, but it looks good here). And he's singing! Walter arrives in the small scenic New York community of Cream Valley, where he was born. After his parents died he was raised by an aunt in Kentucky (which explains the accent). In the army he worked in the motor pool, and he loves restoring cars, so he hopes to get a job as a mechanic.Unfortunately, the only job available is sparring partner for one of several boxers training in the community. At least Walter boxed in the army. He isn't that good, until ...Willy runs Grogan's Gaelic Gardens, which is trying to compete with Lieberman's Shangri-La as a tourist attraction. But Willy has a gambling problem, and Otto and his goons constantly remind him he needs to pay up. Dolly, who used to sing at Lieberman's, is Willy's impatient fiancée, and she helps take care of the place. And Rose is Willy's younger sister and business partner. The minute Walter sees Rose, we all know what's going to happen with them. Of course, Willy turns out to be quite overprotective.Walter's boxing talent just may turn out to be the solution for Willy's problems. The usual formula for movies like this applies, though, and it won't be that easy.I haven't seen but a few Elvis Presley movies. But I didn't know what I was missing. Even Elvis admitted (as portrayed on TV by Jonathan Rhys Meyers) that his movies were fluff, but this one was just a little more.Elvis gives us his usual impeccably polite all-American boy, and shows his singing talent in a few scenes (though this is not what I would call a musical). He is also good at looking tough in the boxing ring, and he really seems to be able to take a punch or two or three. But in the scenes where he loses his temper (because women shouldn't be treated that way), it becomes clear Elvis was hired for his popularity, not his acting ability.What makes this film more than ordinary is the talent surrounding the King. Lola Albright as Dolly, Robert Emhardt as Maynard, and David Lewis as Otto in particular. I wasn't that impressed with Gig Young as Willy, but he was easy to like.And I have to single out Charles Bronson as boxing trainer Lew. When he was in pain in one scene, it was truly disturbing. And that's what put this movie over the top and made it more than just the usual.Ed Asner (from the Manhattan district attorney's office) had a bald spot even way back then! I've liked him for years. I didn't see much from him here to be impressed with, though.I did like the music, and the classic cars, which of course were brand new or only a few years old. Walter himself liked the vintage car he restored better than I did.I would call this good, clean family fun, but of course Elvis does get beat up a lot and he does bleed. And there is some violence even outside the boxing ring. But in the early 60s, violence wasn't as big a concern as it is today.If you like Elvis, this is certainly one to watch.

dbdumonteil Presley's first movies were arguably the best he made.Some of them were eminently watchable:"love me tender" "jailhouse rock" "king creole" "flaming star" -probably his very best- and at a pinch "Wild in the country".In almost all these movies ,there's a mother's loss (or absence).This permanent feature comes back in "Kid Galahad":the hero lost his parents when he was an infant.Besides ,as it is a remake ,we have at least a script ,which will cruelly lack in films to come."Kid Galahad" is never exciting though.The songs always come at the most awkward moment ,and as only Elvis sings -his female partners contenting themselves with looking languorously at the star-,one can hardly call that (and all Presley's subsequent flicks)musicals.And the songs are not particularly memorable;only the peppy "I got lucky" and the romantic " Home is where the heart is" stand out.Whereas songs make sense in "jailhouse rock" or " king creole" ,where Elvis portrays singers ,they do not fit in a boxer's tale .Watchable because of the lovely pictures and the good -but wasted-supporting cast including Gig Young,Charles Bronson,Lola Allbright.Love interest consists of an affair between Elvis and Young's kid sister .Willy (what a naughty boy!) does not want Rose to marry Walter!