Blue Miami

Original title: Clambake
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
3.4K
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Elvis Presley and Shelley Fabares in Blue Miami (1967)
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The heir to an oil fortune trades places with a water-ski instructor at a Florida hotel to see if girls will like him for himself rather than for his father's money.The heir to an oil fortune trades places with a water-ski instructor at a Florida hotel to see if girls will like him for himself rather than for his father's money.The heir to an oil fortune trades places with a water-ski instructor at a Florida hotel to see if girls will like him for himself rather than for his father's money.

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    Good Happy movie with reasonable plot, good songs and lots of beautiful girls. Elvis plays the fabulously rich son of an oil tycoon. He fears that girls want him for his money and not for himself, so he switches places with a poor water ski instructor, who pretend to be each other.

    They are at a hotel where the fabulously rich congregate and all the girls are trying to land a rich husband.

    Poor Shelley Fabares is ignored by the man she hopes to land, so she has no choice but to turn to poor Elvis for help. She seems unimpressed by the beautiful songs Elvis sings to her, as she still tries to catch her millionaire. Little does she know what a choice catch Elvis would really be.

    The show-down is a boat race. Elvis, who has been hiding his true identity as a high-level chemical engineer, invents an epoxy resin capable of holding a boat together at high speeds.

    I liked the movie and wondered why critics panned it. I suppose that it lacks depth and soul wrenching internal conflict, but I cannot see how a movie could be better than this one. Sam Sloan
    This movie represents the end of Presley´s cinematic career,because the other "movies" after this one was just a waste of time for him,and he knew it. When you see Clambake,you can smell the 60´s decade,the inocence and childish happiness before the Vietnam War,the death of Kennedy and Martin Luther King. The title song shows what you can expect of it,it´s a fun film,with no intentions to be taken serious by anyone.It´s a party,with lot´s of girls,color and Elvis Presley.The songs are not so bad,"You don´t know me"is a great ballad,"A house that has everything"it´s a little pearl,just like "The girl i never loved". About the plot....well,it´s a quest for find true love,and that great question:"Does she love me,or my money?"... It´s always great to see Elvis,even in his movie decade,because there´s no artist´s like him nowadays,unfortunatelly....I almost forgot to say that this movie is better than:"Gigli"
    As weird as this sounds, I've always preferred the Elvis movies that aren't considered among his best. His best include "Jailhouse Rock," "Loving You" and "Wild In The Country." You know, the heavier, more serious early ones.

    No, I'll take his later films - you got it, the dumb, stupid, oh-so light ones. Films like "Tickle Me," "Girl Happy," "Spinout" and "Double Trouble." And "Clambake." The plots were always mindless fun and "Clambake" is no different.

    Elvis was almost always a moody, brooding loner in the early films. He usually played unappreciative guys with chips on his shoulder the size of the Rock of Gibraltar. The characters in those films are guys I'd have little desire to know.

    However, the guys he played in his later movies aren't that way at all. They're nice, decent, upstanding, fun-loving fellas. I like those guys. I like watching them as heroes, as leading characters in fun, dumb little movies. Hence, I like those movies a lot more. I couldn't give a rat's rear about appraising them as serious films because they're not.

    In his silly mindless mid-'60s films, Elvis always had a goofy main sidekick. Here in "Clambake," it's Will Hutchins, who starred in one of Warner brothers' classic '60s television westerns, "Sugarfoot." And believe me, Hutchins can goof it up with the best of them.

    The two wise, sage, old guys are (1) old pro James Gregory and (2) Bette Davis' ex, Gary Merrill, who, if you really look, often looked as though he hated whatever film he was in.

    Elvis' Number One girl, Shelly Fabares plays the gal Elvis competes for with Bill "My Favorite Martian" Bixby. There are also plenty of Elvis Girls around, as usual.

    Alas, there are no true classics or any memorable songs in the entire film. Tunes like "High Hopes" clone "Confidence" aren't either.

    "Clambake" ain't no "Tickle me," but it's still great fun!
    Although this film is not brilliant and nothing compared to the ingenuity that was "Jailhouse Rock" I enjoyed this film immensely and it is, as many Elvis films are, simple light-hearted fun. I would much rather watch Elvis in this than in the embarrassment of "Live a Little, Love A Little" where even the most devoted Elvis fan finds it hard to watch the icon suffer in such an embarrassing predicament. This film however is fun to watch and I did enjoy it although if you're looking for Elvis at his best or a serious film then this isn't the one for you. The plot, although predictable, was amusing and despite numerous goofs such as the scenery Elvis certainly had an on-screen presence and it was hard to keep my eyes off him!
    Although it has the worst title of any Elvis movie, "Clambake" (1967) is actually one of his better films. Which is surprising as it is one of his last and generally speaking each film seemed a bit worse than its predecessor. "Clambake's" salvation is certainly not in the soundtrack which is at best very ordinary, only the title song has any energy. Although there is an actual clambake scene on the beach about midway into the film, it seems thrown in just to justify the title, more impressive is a cameo of "Flipper" who had his own television show at that time.

    I'm inclined to credit Shelley Fabares for the good vibe I got from this film. She plays "golddigger with a heart of gold" Dianne Carter, Elvis' ultimate love interest. I never cared for her uptight Mary Stone character on reruns of "The Donna Reed Show", and therefore paid almost no attention to her until recently. But since seeing her in "Ride the Wild Surf" and "Clambake" I've had a major attitude adjustment. "Clambake" was the third time she was tapped for the love interest role in an Elvis film so obviously she and the King had grown comfortable working together.

    Their romance is a little different than the Elvis standard. In "Clambake" she does not start out hating or ignoring him. Instead they quickly become friends and she is obviously attracted, but she puts the brakes on any romance because she is hunting for a rich husband and has tycoon J.J. Jamison (Bill Bixby) squarely in her sights. She comes around in the end and their chemistry actually feels real, much like it did with Ann Margret in "Viva Las Vegas".

    The comfort factor is also apparent between Elvis and Will Hutchins, his real-life buddy. Oil tycoon Scott (Elvis) pulls a "Prince and the Pauper" and swaps places with drifter Tom Wilson (Hutchins). He wants to find someone who loves him for himself. Hutchins is supposed to provide the film's main comic relief as he enjoys the life of the rich and famous, driving Scott's "Munsters" inspired convertible and surrounding himself with gorgeous women who can't dance very well. Although the director had Hutchins overplay the part it is so poorly written that they can't squeeze many laughs out of the premise. But having most of his scenes with Fabares and Hutchins seems to have relaxed Elvis considerably, which makes both he and his film more likable.

    Contrary to most, I enjoyed the corny playground scene with the little girl who was afraid of the slide. The "Confidence" song is not a rip off of "High Hopes", the whole scene is a variation on the "Bounce Right Back" number Donald O'Connor did in "Anything Goes". While "Confidence" is not much of a song, this surreal scene is priceless. I wonder what long-time fans thought as they watched Elvis and Hutchins do something so totally "Guffman"? Most entertainers only do embarrassing stuff like this when they are first breaking into the business.

    Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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    • Trivia
      Elvis' red sports car in the film is a one-of-a-kind 1959 Chevrolet Corvette XP-87 Stingray concept car. Originally silver in color, this car was the design inspiration for the "C2" generation of Corvettes (1963 - 1967), which took the name "Stingray" from this vehicle. The Stingray was modified for the film (in addition to the red paint, a hood scoop was added). Since filming, the car has been restored to its original condition and color, and is a museum piece worth several million dollars.
    • Goofs
      While Scott is driving in Miami, mountains are visible in the background.
    • Quotes

      James J. Jamison III:[Discussing Jamison Jammies]We have a new item coming out this year. But I gotta tell you, it's so sheer, you don't know where the jammies stop and the girl starts.

      Bartender:[Salacious chuckling, then a straight face]Forget it. I got six kids already, more I don't need, right?

      James J. Jamison III: Right. How about something in flannel?

    • Alternate versions
      The 1982 United Artists logo appeared in the 1987 VHS while post-1996 VHS prints and 1997 DVD contain the 1994 variant.

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    Details

    • Runtime
      1 hour 39 minutes
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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