Kissin' Cousins (1964)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Gene Nelson

Writers:

Gerald Drayson Adams (story)
Gerald Drayson Adams (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 March 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Plot:

An Army officer returns to the Smoky Mountains tries to convince his kinfolk to allow the Army to build a missile site on their land. Once he gets there, he discovers he has a lookalike cousin. |

Plot Keywords:

Foot Fetish | Actor Playing Multiple Roles | Hillbilly | Beautiful Woman | Elvis Presley

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Elvis Presley	...	Josh Morgan / Jodie Tatum
Arthur O'Connell	...	Pappy Tatum
Glenda Farrell	...	Ma Tatum
Jack Albertson	...	Capt. Robert Jason Salbo
Pamela Austin	...	Selena Tatum (as Pam Austin)
Cynthia Pepper	...	Cpl. Midge Riley
Yvonne Craig	...	Azalea Tatum
Donald Woods	...	Gen. Alvin Donford
Tommy Farrell	...	MSgt. William George Bailey
Beverly Powers	...	Trudy
Hortense Petra	...	Dixie Cate
Bobby Stone	...	General's aide (as Robert Stone)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Sweden:Btl | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Four-Leaf Productions

Trivia:

Elvis Presley supposedly loathed the "strawberry blond" wig he had to wear as the hillbilly cousin in this film, in part because it made him look as he had before deciding to dye his hair black in the mid-fifties.

Quotes:

Capt. Robert Jason Salbo: Madam, words fail me. Your culinary talents supersede the most exotic cuisine.
Ma Tatum: You don't like it.
Capt. Robert Jason Salbo: Oh, no, no, no, on the contrary...
Josh Morgan: He means he'd like some more, Ma.
Ma Tatum: Oh, that's good.
Pappy Tatum: Good! Good! I like to see a young fella who's a good eater.
Capt. Robert Jason Salbo: I must say, in all my travels, I never tasted anything quite like it.
Ma Tatum: You ain't never?
Capt. Robert Jason Salbo: Unh-uhnmm!
[meaning "No"]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Elvis in the Movies (1990)

Soundtrack:

(It's a) Long Lonely Highway)

KISSIN’ COUSINS (Gene Nelson, 1964) **

It should come as no surprise to anyone that, before now, I was only familiar with the two best-regarded of Elvis Presley’s films, namely JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957) and FLAMING STAR (1960). However, since this year marks the 30th anniversary of his death, I made it a point to watch as many of his movies I could lay my hands on…a sort of “it’s now or never” type of situation, if you will!

Actually, I had caught the beginning of this one on local TV several years ago, where it was shown as part of a mini Elvis retrospective. The “citizens vs. missile-base” plot line here is basically the rural version of Leo McCarey’s RALLY ‘ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS! (1958) but, as it turns out, the hillbilly antics get tiresome pretty quickly – especially whenever the man-chasing Kittyhawks turn up, which is too often for my tastes!

The best gag, then, is when Captain Jack Albertson suddenly leaves the farmers’ dinner table – after “Ma” Glenda Farrell describes the stomach-turning contents of the “delicious” meal he has just partaken of, and “Pappy” Arthur O’Connell asks his soldier kin Elvis if something has come up, to which the latter matter-of-factly quips, “Not yet, but I think it might”! For what it’s worth, the songs are variable and unmemorable (except, perhaps, for the title tune) and even Farrell gets her own maudlin number!

This film is perhaps best-known for offering a dual role for The King, one of whom is a brown-haired layabout, but this eventually leads to an unintentionally hilarious ending where the two characters share the screen doing a number, but every time one sings, the other conveniently turns his back to the camera and a longshot exposes Elvis’ double all-too-clearly!