Kid Galahad is directed by Phil Karlson and written by Francis Wallace and William Fay. It stars Elvis Presley, Gig Young, Lola Albright, Joan Blackman and Charles Bronson. Music is by Jeff Alexander and cinematography by Burnett Guffey.
Out of the Amy, Walter Gulick (Presley) heads to his home town of Cream Valley looking for work as a mechanic. Unable to find employment in that field, Walter stumbles upon Willy Grogan's (Young) boxing operation and accepts an offer to spar with one of the fighters for five dollars. Though raw and taking far too many punches, Walter shows himself to have some skill and a knock out punch that flaws the local fighter. This catches the eye of Willy who spies a chance to get himself out of the debt he is in. With romance also in the air, in the form of Willy's sister Rose (Blackman), Cream Valley is about to become a hive of activity; both good and bad!
A musical remake of the 1937 film that starred Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart, Karlson's Kid Galahad is what it is, a star vehicle for Presley to sing some tunes, fight some guys and win the heart of some dusky beauty. However, in the context of Presley's 60s movie output this is a good one. It has a strong support cast, a more than capable director and a superb cinematographer bringing out the beauty of Idyllwild, California. The King is not in the best of shape, the songs are disposable (with the exception of I Got Lucky) and the finale has a gigantic loose end that annoys greatly. But the songs don't dominate the story, Presley is playing a normal and decent guy and there's a genuine feeling of warmth about the whole thing (though Bronson and Presley didn't see eye to eye apparently).
Safe, enjoyable and looking terrific visually, Kid Galahad is a more than adequate time waster for Presley film seekers. 7/10
