König der heißen Rhythmen

Hot-headed singer who's prone to getting into fights gets a hankering for the daughter of a woman who runs a traveling carnival, eventually finds himself with a guitar working the run-ways. Good Elvis Presley musical, although the King himself is awfully pouty throughout. He sings several mediocre tunes in-between romantic bouts with pretty but bland Joan Freeman (who resembles both Susan Dey and a young Dorothy McGuire). Barbara Stanwyck is typically mercurial as Freeman's no-nonsense mother, and she gives the movie some kick. There are the usual carnival rowdies, a dim sub-plot involving a missing wallet, but the cinematography is colorful and the rural locations are well captured. There's a sensational tracking shot at the end done in one take, with the camera up and over the heads of the crowd, down along the run-way with the attractions and then onto the stage. A brunette Raquel Welch has a bit part at the very beginning, and Teri Garr is one of the carny dancers. An enjoyable star-vehicle for E.P.'s fans. **1/2 from ****

Welcome to 1964. Elvis is still stuck in movie limbo, the Beatles are ready to conquer America, and this movie pops up. Elvis has one of his better roles since Flaming Star, as he plays a angry young man named Charlie Rogers, who is not that likable at all. After Charlie gets sprung for getting in a fight with some college students, he heads down the road to nowhere for the next gig. That's when he meets Maggie, Cathy, and Joe. Joe runs him off the road and destroys the Big E's guitar and 'cycle in the process. Maggie offers him a job as a roustabout in her carnival until his bike is repaired.

Elvis sheds the family friendly 60s image for this role. He is a cross between likable and a jerk. He has the benefit of working with a fine supporting cast. Barbara Stanwyck shines as Maggie, who lives and breathes the carnival life (She also keeps this film from being just average). Joan Freeman is great as Cathy, a love interest that plays much harder to get than any other Elvis movie femme fatale. Even Billy Barty shows up in a short role. Steve Brodie and Iris Adrian show up again to reprise their loud, annoying husband/wife roles (they just have different names and backgrounds in this one).

The King manages to belt out 11 forgettable songs that include his better than average take on "Little Egypt". This film also shows an era when the carnival was a profitable business (I laughed at seeing an orchestra pit inside a carnival tent). The 'Wall of Death' scene was also the basis of the Irish film, Eat The Peach. All in all, a better than average performance for Elvis in a standard formula film.

During the years of entertainment history there have been a plethora of stars who have left a trail of distinction in this world with their inimitable prowess in the arts, but nobody has ever reached the legendary status that Elvis Presley attained.

In 1964, Elvis Presley was cast in the role of Charlie Rogers in Roustabout, a film which starred him alongside acting veteran Barbara Stanwyck in her second last motion picture.Roustabout was directed by John Rich and produced by Hal Wallis with the screenplay by Anthony Lawrence and Allan Weiss.

By the time Roustabout was made, Barbara Stanwyck's motion picture career was in decline. That same year she starred in The Night Walker alongside her ex husband Robert Taylor, which served as her final film role.Raquel Welch makes an early appearance as one of the college kids at the Tea House.

Elvis Presley performed his own stunts in the movie.With a plausible plot and musical numbers that epitomizes the incomparable talents of Elvis, Roustabout is the true definition of a perennial classic from the 1960's.

Conclusion - It's not a great movie but it's a good movie and it's worth watching! Rated this 7/10

Most people don't think too much of this Elvis romp compared to any other, but for me it stands out as one of the better "formula" movies the man made in the '60s. As club singer Charlie Rogers, Elvis is a little different from his usual stock characters from this period because the young man has a chip on his shoulder. He's a reckless person who never had a family and is prone to being self-centered and dismissive. After getting fired from a gig one day, he and his motorcycle are smacked up by a threesome of small-time carnival owners driving in their car, so they invite him to stick around their modest fairgrounds and work as a "roustabout" for a little cash while waiting for his bike to get back from the repair shop. Rogers is able to boost business with his singing to lure customers to the Fair.

Barbara Stanwyck plays the strong-willed carnival chief who breathes the carny lifestyle, but she's saddled with a crotchety and hard-headed partner (Leif Erickson) who once caused a tragedy to a customer by not safely securing one of the rides at the fair, and who tries to keep Charlie away from his daughter Cathy (Joan Freeman). It's refreshing to see a leading girl who can hold her own and not easily succumb to Elvis' whims. There are a few decent songs here and there, if no great ones. Raquel Welch can be spotted in the beginning of the film as one of a group of young folks going to see Charlie Rogers perform at the club. *** out of ****

Once again, this is an above-average Elvis Presley star vehicle but which, at the end of the day, offers nothing really new; still, I feel that the star’s own performance here is near the best that I’ve seen him give as he is well up to the challenge of playing a relatively complex character: alternately selfish, cocky, rebellious but, eventually, compassionate and even shrewd.

Presley, however, is let down by the plot which, as I said, is not only formulaic and, therefore, entirely predictable but rather sentimental as well, what with Barbara Stanwyck’s carny show forever on the brink of foreclosure; one other definite thorn in the film’s side is the one-dimensional nature of Leif Erickon’s grumpy characterization. On the other hand, Stanwyck’s participation adds undeniable distinction to the film (her role had previously been offered to Mae West!) and lovely Joan Freeman projects the right mix of independence and vulnerability as the heroine.

At least, the vivid carnival setting does provide plenty of opportunity for color, action, thrills, romance, comedy (courtesy of Sue Ane Langdon as a flirtatious fortune-teller) and, of course, songs which are not too bad – “Poison Ivy League”, “One Track Heart” and, especially, the Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller penned “Little Egypt” – though, again, Elvis has certainly sung better ones in his Fifties heyday.

For the record, an uncredited Raquel Welch can be glimpsed among the college kids in the film’s very first sequence and, unless they didn’t hit it off here, it seems rather strange now that they were never paired together when she became a star in her own right a couple of years later!