The ultimate site about the king of the analogue age
The next Presley flick reached the cinemas on April 11, 1962 and made it to number 5 in Variety's weekly list movie chart. I didn't find any figures about rental fees or box office grosses, but it's safe to say that "Follow That Dream" didn't make nearly as much as "Blue Hawaii" or "G.I. Blues".
The German edition was called "Ein Sommer In Florida", which can be translated as "A Summer In Florida". As usual it took some time to prepare the movie for the foreign audience, so it was not until August 10, 1962 before it hit the cinemas.
Out of gas the Kwimpers, a man and his more or less legally adopted children, opt to settle on a beach next to the street. When it turnes out, the government has no power over this small piece of land, more settlers appear. Soon a bunch of gangsters joins them to open a casino. Toby Kwimper (Elvis) has to deal with all that, on top a social worker appears regarding his "sister" Holly, who also feels more than just friendship for him.
David Weisbart (producer), Gordon Douglas (director), Charles Lederer (script, based on the novel "Pioneer, Go Home!" by Richard Powell), Hans J. Salter (music), Leo Tover (camera), William B. Murphy (editor).
Elvis Presley (Toby Kwimper), Arthur O'Connell (Pop Kwimper), Anne Helm (Holly Jones), Joanna Moore (Alicia Claypoole) Jack Kruschen (Carmine), Simon Oakland (Nick) und Herbert Rudley (Endicott). Rainer Brandt was back to dub the German voice of Elvis.
In November 1960 Elvis had signed with the Mirisch Brothers Production Company for two movies. Each of them was paid with $500,000 plus 50% of the earnings. Using the factor of 15 we can estimate that his fee would have been 7.5 million USD today - plus half of the earnings.
The script was based on the novel "Pioneer Go Home!" by Richard Powell and written by Herman Raucher. When Mirisch demanded several changes, Raucher refused, so Charles Lederer was hired to make the changes. The movie itself was shot between July 11 and August 28, 1961 in Crystal River, Inverness Ocsala and Yankeetown.
Mirisch tried to find a happy medium between Paramount (little storyline, many songs) and 20th Century Fox (real storyline, few songs) and presented a comedy with a noteworthy plot and some songs. Elvis also didn't portray Mr. Perfect (Paramount) or Mr. Troublesome (Fox), but a nice, if somewhat simple minded guy. It should also be mentioned that Mr. Presley appears with his natural haircolor.
Even though the format was dying RCA Victor released an extended player with four of the five songs from the movie. The result wasn't too bad as the record sold 1.2 million units. By tapping on the cover you'll be forwarded to the accordant reviews.
A German blu ray with a hd version of "Follow That Dream" was released in 2018. For a short review just tap on the cover.
The audience wanted to see Elvis as Elvis (or the idea they had of him) and hear many songs. Therefore "Follow That Dream" didn't get the attention it deserved. To me it's a good, entertaining movie with some nice songs and a leading actor, who handles his part very well.
Movie Posters (C) Mirisch, BluRay Cover (C) Explosive Media, Record Cover (C) RCA Victor