The King gets together with fast cars and Nancy Sinatra in this romantic comedy about the exciting worlds of stock car racing and tax evasion. In "Speedway," Elvis plays Steve Grayson, a successful race car driver who's generous to a fault. Bill Bixby plays the girl-chasing manager/best friend who gambles away all their winnings. Nancy plays Susan Jacks, an IRS agent who's assigned to collect the astronomical taxes that have accrued. But the fun never begins.
"Speedway" came out a year after Nancy's Number One hit "Somethin' Stupid," a duet with her famous dad Frank. But this film's attempt to pair her with Elvis fails miserably. Nancy's parched personality and juiceless acting makes Elvis look like Brando. And there should have been more than enough cinematic proof by this point that stock car racing never looks interesting on the big screen. It's hard to believe that this rather passive Elvis is on the verge of making his celebrated '68 comeback. On a more pleasant note: This was Nancy's swan song to feature film making.
"Speedway" came out a year after Nancy's Number One hit "Somethin' Stupid," a duet with her famous dad Frank. But this film's attempt to pair her with Elvis fails miserably. Nancy's parched personality and juiceless acting makes Elvis look like Brando. And there should have been more than enough cinematic proof by this point that stock car racing never looks interesting on the big screen. It's hard to believe that this rather passive Elvis is on the verge of making his celebrated '68 comeback. On a more pleasant note: This was Nancy's swan song to feature film making.