Clambake (1967)

The heir to an oil fortune trades places with a water-ski instructor at a Florida hotel to see if girls will like him for himself, rather than his father's money.

Director:

Arthur H. Nadel

Writer:

Arthur Browne Jr. (story and screenplay)

Stars:

Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Will Hutchins

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elvis Presley	...	Scott Hayward / 'Tom Wilson'
Shelley Fabares	...	Dianne Carter
Will Hutchins	...	Tom Wilson / 'Scott Heyward'
Bill Bixby	...	James J. Jamison III
Gary Merrill	...	Sam
James Gregory	...	Duster Heyward
Suzie Kaye	...	Sally
Harold Peary	...	Doorman (as Hal Peary)
Marj Dusay	...	Waitress
Jack Good	...	Hathaway
Olga Kaya	...	Gigi
Angelique Pettyjohn	...	Gloria
Sam Riddle	...	Announcer
Wallace Earl Laven	...	Ellie (as Amanda Harley)
Sue England	...	Cigarette Girl

Storyline

Scott Heyward, whose the son of a millionaire, is tired of woman fawning over him because of his wealth, meets Tom, who's on his way to his new job as a water skiing instructor at a hotel. They envy each other's life and decide to switch places. So Scott pretends to be Tom and Tom lives it up pretending to be Scott. Scott meets Dianne who is trying to land a rich guy and when playboy James Jamison catches her eye, she asks Scott to help her snag him. Scott agrees to but finds himself attracted to her. Scott also decides to build a boat for a speedboat race that's going to take place in the hotel but he's using a new experimental chemical which doesn't hold in water, which his father forbade him to use.

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Plot Keywords:

speedboat | wealth | florida | water skiing | chemical | 

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Taglines:

It's Elvis!..cooking up a storm!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 December 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cambalache

Filming Locations:

Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Levy-Gardner-Laven, Rhodes Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Riffing on the similarity of every Elvis movie to every other Elvis movie, a studio executive once quipped: "Why do we bother to give his movies titles - couldn't they just be numbered?"

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Goofs

As Scott drives along the highway at the end of the movie, he reveals his true identity and shows his driver license. As he shows evidence of his true name, his eyes are listed as brown (brn) when they are bright blue.

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Quotes

James J. Jamison III: Hey, you know something? You really have lousy timing. Of course, born losers usually do.
Scott Heyward: Now look, if you're talking about the race...
James J. Jamison III: I'm talking about you sticking your nose in where it doesn't concern you. I hope you know how to take care of yourself. I call... karate!
Scott Heyward: Oh, shut up!
[Scott belts James with a Kid Galahad K.O. punch that knocks him over the sofa and out cold]

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Daniel Radcliffe/Mike Tyson/Sturgill Simpson (2014)

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Soundtracks

The Girl I Never Loved
Written by Randy Starr
Performed and Sung by Elvis Presley

User Reviews

Getting a bit thin

By 1967 with the Beatles leading the British invasion of new musical performers, the King of the Sixties was in decline at least in his film career.

You can tell with Clambake. The plot is essentially the same story as Blue Hawaii and not half as good. Once again he's the son of a rich man who wants to make it on his own. This time though he changes places with happy-go-lucky water skiing instructor Will Hutchins. They're both headed to the same Florida resort now with each other's identities.

Well of course being he's the King, he does find a girl who falls for him without knowing he's a millionaire. For the rest of it you'll have to buy or rent the film.

He does have some nice songs. Two songs Who Needs Money is the kind of stuff Bing Crosby used to do in a lot of his films, the upbeat philosophical number and the song Confidence is a ripoff of Frank Sinatra's High Hopes. But Elvis does well by both.

He also reprises a song he missed the first time around. You might remember that the original artist who sang the song, Jerry Vale, got to reprise it in Goodfellas. You Don't Know Me sold a whole lot of platters for Mr. Vale, but the big seller of that song was done by Ray Charles. Presley does very well by it, a pity it did not become a big hit for him like it was for the other two.

As usual Elvis gets a nice supporting cast and a pretty leading lady in Shelley Fabares. In the cast we have Bill Bixby, Will Hutchins, Gary Merrill and James Gregory all of whom do a good job.

Still it's all been done before.