The cinematic worlds of science fiction, horror and intense action, which are admittedly three of the most exciting film categories, would be missing one of their big names if it were not for the ingenuity of John Carpenter and the likes of Halloween, The Thing and Escape from New York.
There’s undoubtedly an air of guilty pleasure that surrounds the work of Carpenter, even if he has made significant strides in the cinema world in the process. Carpenter is, of course, no stranger to the nature of the guilty pleasure himself, having once named his 17 favourite movies in such a category.
One of those guilty pleasures is one of Elvis’ motion pictures, 1962’s Blue Hawaii, which Carpenter called “the first great Elvis movie, and still the best”. The musical romantic-comedy-drama film was directed by Norman Taurog from a screenplay by Hal Kanter, who was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for his work.
Elvis plays Chadwick ‘Chad’ Gates, a young released Army soldier who wants to turn to Hawaii and spend the rest of his days surfing, but his mother wants him to take over the family’s fruit distribution business. Chad doesn’t accept his mother’s advice and takes a job at his girlfriend’s agency instead.
As Carpenter puts it, the film’s plot is, “Angela Lansbury is Elvis’s mother, who wants him to join the family business. Elvis wants to go his own way as a tour guide.” The director then admitted that he gets teary when he sees Elvis sing one of his most famous songs in the classic musical film.
He said: “I still get misty when he sings ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love’ before adding, “Elvis finally marries Joan Blackman in a pointless but ornate Hawaiian wedding. The King at his best.” Elvis’ films were never acclaimed for their genuine artistic quality, but they were widely popular at the box office, so it’s easy to see why someone like John Carpenter considers Blue Hawaii a “guilty pleasure”.
Elvis had starred in a number of motion pictures, beginning with 1956’s Love Me Tender, which was released just before he was drafted into military service. When he returned, he made Jailhouse Rock and Viva Las Vegas, but when it came to the best of the best, for John Carpenter at least, it doesn’t get any better than Blue Hawaii.
