Follow That Dream (1962)

A family of ragtag vagabonds sets up a makeshift home on a Florida beach after becoming marooned there, prompting an uptight local bureaucrat to attempt to evict them.

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Charles Lederer (screenplay), Richard P. Powell (novel) (as Richard Powell)

Stars:

Elvis Presley, Arthur O'Connell, Anne Helm

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Elvis Presley	...	Toby Kwimper
Arthur O'Connell	...	Pop Kwimper
Anne Helm	...	Holly Jones
Joanna Moore	...	Alisha Claypoole
Jack Kruschen	...	Carmine
Simon Oakland	...	Nick
Roland Winters	...	Judge
Alan Hewitt	...	H. Arthur King
Howard McNear	...	George
Frank DeKova	...	Jack (as Frank de Kova)
Herbert Rudley	...	Mr. Endicott
Gavin Koon	...	Eddy Bascombe
Robin Koon	...	Teddy Bascombe
Robert Carricart	...	Blackie
Barry Russo	...	Al (as John Duke)

Storyline

When the Kwimper family car runs out of gas on a new Florida highway and an officous state supervisor tries to run them off, Pop Kwimper digs in his heels and decides to do a little homesteading. He and his son Toby and their "adopted" children - Holly, Ariadne and the twins - start their own little community along a strip of the roadside. The fishing is good and the living is easy until the mob sets up a gambling operation and the state supervisor sics a sexy social worker on the Kwimpers in an effort to take away Ariadne and the twins.

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Plot Keywords:

florida | land claim | singer | based on book | based on novel | 

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Taglines:

Want a Lift? Elvis Presley's Funniest... Happiest... Dreamiest... Motion Picture!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Herman Raucher was hired to adapt the book "Pioneer, Go Home!" into a movie. The studio heads were displeased with the script he handed to them, saying that the dialogue didn't seem to fit the characters. Raucher told them that since the book didn't feature much dialogue for him to work with, he had to make up most of it up himself, and since he'd grown up in a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, he had no idea what farm people sounded like. Raucher refused to re-write the dialogue, and an argument erupted between Raucher and the studio heads, with Raucher being fired from the project. Another writer, Charles Lederer, was called in to re-write the dialogue for Raucher's script, and Raucher received no credit for the work he'd done. In 1963, the script that Raucher had written was adapted into the play "Pioneer, Go Home!" Raucher recounts the story of his work on the movie and eventual firing in his book "There Should Have Been Castles."

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Goofs

When the tarpon is shown in the water during the fishing battle from the bridge, it's clearly out in open choppy water with the wake of a boat partially visible and the water rushing by as from a moving boat. But the water when viewed from the bridge is calm bay water.

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Quotes

Toby Kwimper: That's why I use my education against 'em.
Holly Jones: Your education?
Toby Kwimper: Sure. Whenever some pretty girl starts to bother me I just close my eyes and say, "One times one is one. One times two is two. One times three is three, and all the through to the eights. Usually, I only get the sixes and they get disgusted and walk away."

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Connections

Referenced in Jesus' Son (1999)

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Soundtracks

Angel
by Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett (as Roy Bennett)
Performed by Elvis Presley (uncredited)

User Reviews

Surprisingly Entertaining

Elvis usually made movies that were utterly shallow puffs of fluff. This one is completely different. For one thing, unlike his usual efforts here his part is anything but a one-dimensional stereotype and in his portrayal he proves he really could act. In fact, it is a shame he never did more of this kind of thing, because if you take this seriously you find that his character actually comes across as intriguingly ambiguous. Here he plays an utterly guileless, humble, unassuming "down-home" or "good-ole-boy" type (entirely different from his usual flashier persona) which really does look like some kind of combination not only of Jethro Bodine but also of Andy Taylor -- someone who is simultaneously naive and wise, as well as utterly cool, even-tempered and unflappable. In fact, the whole production can't help but remind you of the Beverly Hillbillies and the Andy Griffith Show, but with the intriguing sense that there is more going on than meets the eye. Moreover, the writing compares favorably with either of those shows, with quite a few clever lines of dialog and situational incongruities. As a lawyer I was similarly impressed with the treatment of the judge in the film, who proved pompous and yet also clear-headed and conscientious, a combination of contradictions such as you really can encounter in real life on occasion, and I'm inclined to think the writers had a better sense of characters than one expects in a B-movie of the era. Anyway, there isn't much on TV these days that is any better, so you would not waste your time to check this out in preference to yet another episode of *The King of Queens.* In fact, I actually agree with what another reviewer or message board poster said about this -- while watching it, it actually occurred to me that I would rather watch this than another screening of *Star Wars*.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 April 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Here Come the Kwimpers

Filming Locations:

Crystal River, Florida, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Mirisch Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1