Back in Hollywood, after a two-year stint in the US army, Elvis Presley (as Tulsa McLean) is a stationed-in-Germany singing soldier out to bed sexy dancer Juliet Prowse (as Lili). This tailor-made film set the standard for the successful "ELVIS" movie. Presley spent the 1960s swinging and singing through "Top Ten" box office and record charts. "G.I Blues" propelled Elvis back into Quigley Publications "Box Office" ten most profitable movie stars, where he stayed through 1966. The RCA soundtrack went platinum, and was #1 for ten of its amazing 111 weeks on the LP chart. RCA planned no 45 RPM singles (which helped album sales),but "Wooden Heart" and "G.I. Blues" became hits anyway.

Unfortunately, the musical's trend-setting success overshadowed Presley's superior studio recordings from the time (listen to "Elvis Is Back!"). Also note, the re-recording of "Blue Suede Shoes" is a pale imitation of the 1956 original. So, a creative cancer was being forged. But, it's not fair to fault "G.I. Blues" for the sight and sound of Elvis Presley singing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" in "Double Trouble" (1967). And, although everyone (including Presley) longed for him to be a great dramatic actor, he shows up in "G.I. Blues" as a charming and natural light performer. Herein, Presley introduces many of the playful mannerisms used throughout the remainder of his career, in musicals and on stage.

****** G.I. Blues (8/18/60) Norman Taurog ~ Elvis Presley, Juliet Prowse, Robert Ivers, James Douglas

Elvis' first post army movie is about what? A G.I. in West Germany wants to buy a nightclub in Oklahoma. Tulsa McLain (Elvis) takes on a wager that he hopes will solve his money problems. He is to stay the night with ice cold, leggy dancer, Lili(Juliet Prowes). Girl dances for boy; boy sings for girl. But baby sitting becomes the problematic solution to the plot. A more grown up look for Elvis and a great soundtrack that is more pop than rock.

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.

Personally am of the opinion that some of his early stuff is actually pretty good (a few even more so than that),the writing and stories weren't always a strong suit but they had good supporting performances, great soundtracks with some iconic songs, they didn't look like they were made on the cheap and Elvis actually showed himself to be a decent enough actor when the songs and material allowed it. The later films when Elvis was past prime not only had those story and script problems but did have problems with production values, less good supporting cast and Elvis being past prime and didn't even have the benefit of having good soundtracks.

After a two-year break for military service, Elvis makes a return to the screen with 'GI Blues'. While it is not quite one of his very best films, being somewhat of a disappointment after 'Jailhouse Rock' and 'King Creole' (his two best, 'Loving You' is high up too),it does fare significantly better than pretty much every film he did afterwards and when ranked it would still rank around the top half of his filmography.

'GI Blues' is not perfect, its somewhat overlong length and the bland and corny script (then again the script has rarely been a strong suit in an Elvis film, with the odd exception like 'King Creole') being its two main drawbacks. The story is also pretty thin and formulaic.

However, Elvis, even in a substantially changed image, once again looks natural and is charismatic and charming. The sultry Juliet Prowse is likewise appealing and Robert Ivers steals scenes with some amusing moments. The soundtrack is terrific also, standouts being the title song, "Wooden Heart", "Didya Ever" and particularly "Doin' the Best I Can", as well as inspired use of one of Elvis' best known songs "Blue Suede Shoes".

Norman Taurog, a hit and miss director for me, directs assuredly, and of his nine features with Elvis 'GI Blues' is one of their better collaborations easily and one where Taurog's direction actually rises above just competent. 'GI Blues' is a good-looking film, being nicely shot in particular.

All in all, pretty good fifth feature for the King of Rock and Roll. 7/10 Bethany Cox