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After a sneak preview on February 21, 1964 MGM rolled "Kissin' Cousins" out on March 6th. In the USA and Canada the movie generated rental fees of 2.8 million USD, which indicates a box office gross of 5.6 million USD. In the present (at least according to our rough factor of 15) the studio would have made 42 million USD and the public would have paid 84 million USD for tickets. Besides the commercial success the Writer's Guild Of America nominated "Kissin Cousins" for a Laurel Award in the category "Best Written American Musical".
In Europe MGM released "Kissin' Cousins" after the previously made "Viva Las Vegas". Therefore the German fans didn't get to see "Die Wilden Weiber Von Tennessee" (translated "The Wild Chicks Of Tennessee") until October 1964.
The US army wants to station some rockets at the property of the Tatum family and so they send out Josh Morgan (Elvis), a distant relative of the hillbilly clan, to convince them to agree. The females of the clan all fall for Josh, but his cousin Jodie (also Elvis) can't stand him. To make things worse the Smokey Mountains are also the home of the Kittyhawks, a group of men-eating vamps.
Sam Katzman (producer), Gene Nelson (director), Gerald Drayson Adams und Gene Lelson (script, based on a story by Gerald Drayson Adams), Fred Karger (music), Ellis W. Carter (camera), Ben Lewis (editor).
Elvis Presley (Josh Morgan and Jodie Tatum), Arthur O'Connell (Pappy Tatum), Glenda Farrell (Ma Tatum), Jack Albertson (Hauptmann Robert Salbo), Pamela Austin (Selena Tatum), Cynthia Pepper (Midge) und Yvonne Craig (Azalea Tatum). Elvis' German voice was dubbed by Joachim Ansorge.
Because "Viva Las Vegas" had been gone way over budget, MGM hired Sam Katzman to produce the next Presley flick. In Hollywood he was infamous as "The King Of Quickies", because nobody made movies as fast and cheap as him. And his talent was needed, because after Elvis' fee of $500,000 was paid, he had no more than $800,000 to make the movie!
Therefore everything had to be done quick and dirty. The words were written on cue cards and if everything worked without major mistakes a take was considered successful. Elvis didn't like this kind of movie making at all, but Sam Katzman was able to shoot the whole thing between October 14th and November 8th. Of course there was no money for well known co-stars like Walter Matthau ("King Creole") or Ursula Andress ("Fun In Acapulco"), but some fans might have recognized Arthur O' Conell, who had also appeared in "Follow That Dream". The major part was filmed at the MGM Studios in Cluver City, some exterior scenes were filmed at the Big Bear Lake.
While filming there the breaks of Elvis' camper failed and he raced down the small road of the Big Bear Mountain. Luckily the vehicle stopped on Highway 38 without anybody being hurt. Glenda Farrell (who portrayed Ma Tatum) also faced an accident. She fell and had to wear a medical ruff when not being filmed.
On the silver screen "Kissin' Cousins" had been a tad less successful than "Fun In Acapulco". The records mirrored that and sold 5 million units combined, which was 250,000 less. By tapping on the covers you'll be forwarded to the accordant reviews.
In 2007, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the singer's demise, Warner released a boxed set called "The Hollywood Collection", which also included a digital version of "Kissin' Cousins". For a short review just tap on the cover.
The humor is as cheap as the production and the music can't compete with Elvis' previous soundtracks. But still the double role adds a new element and one cannot deny the king's talent for this kind of comedy.
Movie Posters (C) MGM, DVD Cover (C) Warner Brothers Cover (C) RCA Victor