Elvis Presley was a hugely influential performer with one of the most distinctive singing voices of anybody. He embarked on a film career consisting of 33 films from 1956 to 1969, films that did well at the box-office but mostly panned critically (especially his later films) and while he was a highly charismatic performer he was never considered a great actor.
'Speedway' is certainly not one of Elvis' worst films, it's much better than the likes of 'Double Trouble', 'Paradise, Hawaiian Style', 'Clambake' and particularly 'Harum Scarum' and 'Stay Away, Joe'. It's also not one of his best either, being nowhere near as good as 'King Creole', 'Flaming Star', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Viva Las Vegas' and 'Loving You', all very good and nearly great films. 'Speedway' has enough to make it watchable, but from the film's tagline you'd expect it to kick high gear from the get go but it never really does.
There are no qualms to be had with Elvis himself here, something that was a good deal of the time not the case in his later films. Here he looks great, actually looking in good shape and energetic without than looking under the influence, and acts with much more engagement and involvement than in some of his late 60s films where he looked like he couldn't be bothered.
Bill Bixby is very entertaining, if at times a bit too manic, and his friendly and charming rapport with Elvis has genuine spark and is one of 'Speedway's' high points. Gale Gordon, William Schallert and Carl Ballantine also give good support. In comparison to the soundtracks of other later Elvis films, 'Speedway' doesn't fare too awfully while also not exceptionally. The title song is catchy, and there are two particularly good songs, "Let Yourself Go" and Nancy Sinatra makes a hit out of the sexy and groovy "Your Groovy Self". There are a few amusing moments too.
Nancy Sinatra however goes through the motions and judging from her indifferent and annoyed-looking presence throughout it looked like she wanted to be elsewhere, only in "Your Groovy Self" does she lighten up. Her chemistry with Elvis is at best icy. Luckily none of the songs here are disposable and there are none also that reach rock bottom status, but two or three songs aside they are rather forgettable and "He's Your Uncle Not Your Dad" epitomises take it or leave it. The children are cute, but their scenes are rather cloying and over-enthusiastic, threatening to slow the momentum down.
Director Norman Taurog has moments where confidence comes through but too often it's unsteady and at best perfunctory. Which does affect the comedy, which mostly falls flat as a pancake due to being at times over-engineered and much of the time undercooked, and the racing, which is mostly unexciting due to the cheap-looking stock look and the crippling predictability. One doesn't see an Elvis film for the story, that was obvious right from the beginning with a few well done exceptions ('King Creole', 'Flaming Star'), but here the story is paper thin and contrived.
Overall, watchable but not much more than that. 5/10 Bethany Cox
