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After two MGM releases it was Paramount's turn again. On November 11, 1964 "Roustabout" hit the cinemas and earned 3.3 million USD of rental fees from the North American and Canadian markets. That means the public had paid 6.6 million USD for tickets. According to our factor 15 the movie would have made 49.5 million USD for Paramount today and the people would have paid 99 million USD to see it at the cinemas. With the exception of "Viva Las Vegas" it was the most successful Presley film since 1961! "Roustabout" was also nominated by the Writers Guild Of America for a Laurel Award in the category "Best Written American Musical".
In Germany the movie hit the cinemas on December 25, 1964. Here it was named "Koenig Der Heissen Rhythmen", which could be translated with "King Of The Hot Rhythms".
After loosing his job due to a fight the singer and biker Charlie Rodgers (Elvis) meets a broke bunch of carnies. He joins the gang, generates visitors with his golden voice and wins the heart of Cathy. When he is suspected of theft, he leaves and works for a competitor.
Hal B. Wallis (producer), John Rich (director), Anthony Lawrence und Allan Weiss (script, based on a story by Allan Weiss), Joseph J. Lilley (music), Lucien Ballard (camera), Warren Low (editor).
Elvis Presley (Charlie Rodgers), Barbara Stanwyck (Maggie Morgan), Joan Freeman (Cathy Lean), Leif Erickson (Joe Lean), Sue Ane Langdon (Madame Mijanou), Marianna Hill (Viola), Raquel Welch (beautiful woman) und Richard Kiel (strong man). The German voice of Elvis was dubbed by Rainer Brandt.
Before the shooting started Hal Wallis wrote a letter to Colonel Parker. He had seen "Viva Las Vegas" and wasn't pleased with the look of his star. The face was too chubby and the hair looked like a bad, somewhat too black wig. Wallis recommended to work on Elvis' looks and suggested to leave the styling of his hair to Paramount's own barbers. But despite all the effort Elvis didn't look like a rocker at all. Back in 1956/1957 he had been a believable rebel, but now he looked like an angry office clerk on a motorbike.
According to the contract with Paramount from 1961 the singer didn't even get half of what MGM was paying him and besides that there was no profit share. So Elvis had to do the whole thing for a paltry $200,000. The production went from March 9th to April 20th, 1964 and included shootings in Potrero Valley. With Barbara Stanwyck "Roustabout" even featured a well known actress, the movie also includes early performances of Raquel Welch and Richard Kiel. Mrs. Welch was to become one of the most famous vamps of the 1960s and Kiel would portray Jaws in the James Bond movies "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977) and "Moonraker" (1979).
The soundtrack album made it all the way up to the number one of the Billboard Charts and sold 3.75 million copies. A tap on the cover leads to the review.
Back in 2007 Paramount included "Roustabout" in their "Elvis - 8 Movies DVD Collection". For a short review just tap on the cover.
Hal B. Wallis moves Elvis from exotic locations to the fairgrounds and tries to add some edges to his character. The result is as supplied before: A well produced, conservative musical. It outsold The Beatles' "A Hard Days Night", but one cannot deny that the debut of the Fab Four had more drive, more wit and much better songs.
Movie Posters and DVD Cover (C) Paramount, Collector's Box (C) ElvisUnlimited, Record Cover (C) RCA Victor