Fantastic!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I would probably have never watched this film if it were not for a little old lady who often calls to the film archive where I work and asks for movies starring French actor Maurice Ronet (who is her favorite star), and strange choices as Don Sharp's "Rasputin, the Mad Monk" or this Elvis Presley's vehicle. Surprisingly I enjoyed watching it as "zero degree style" as it is, and now I believe that this is one of Presley's best vehicles of the early sixties. It has a formulaic story that does not demand much from viewers, most of the songs are forgettable and corny, and back projection and sound stage decors do not match well with such a magnificently sunny location as Acapulco. But somehow it works: Presley, kid Larry Domasin and leading ladies Ursula Andress and Elsa Cárdenas all seem to enjoy what they are doing (and make fun of themselves, as in the musical number in which Presley finishes a ridiculous song with a matador cape wrapping his head) , and screenwriter Allan Weiss surely knows how to keep us viewers smiling at every new move by orphan Raoul (Domasin) to get trapeze-artist- in-crisis Mike (Presley, that is) back in shape. Richard Thorpe (who also directed "Jailhouse Rock") moves things efficiently until the grand finale in which the trapeze artists sings... "Guadalajara" in Spanish. I could not understand a word, but it was fun to watch "The King" (at his handsomest) trying hard.

After being fired as a yacht crew member thanks to an obnoxious teenaged girl, sexy Elvis Presley gets to swing those hips to a Latin beat in a local nightclub. There, he becomes the object of affection of two beautiful women, Ursula Andres and Elsa Cardenas while dealing with old fears as a high diver after an incident as a trapeze artist. With the help of the adorable Larry Domasin, Elvis is able to solve his problems, all the while wondering sardonically if Domasin is a 40 year old midget. As W.C. Fields warned older actors, cute children, especially ethnic ones, are scene stealers. Fun and frivolous, this has some great musical moments, especially a bike riding duet entitled "Mexico" with the scene stealing Domasin. But even with his dark hair and tan, it's obvious that Presley is as Caucasian as they come, his southern drawl a dead giveaway. The romantic subplot is rather unimportant, although Cardenas is quite striking in her matador outfit. But it's obvious that this is Hollywood's dream ideal of a friendly, tourist loving Mexico, no social issues and no reflection on the real issues of the 60's. Poor Paul Lukas is wasted in a minor role as Andres's papa, looking like a Hungarian chef Boyardee. But oh that scenery...so gorgeous, you can practically taste it!

One of Elvis' best films...well, certainly one of my favourite Elvis films anyway! I'd place this second behind Viva Las Vegas in my list of favourite Elvis flicks. Unfortunately, for some reason Elvis wasn't allowed into Mexico during the filming of 'Fun in Acapulco', and in this day and age with first colour Television and then bigger screens, the fake backgrounds and body stand ins are all too obvious. Nevertheless, it has no influence on the enjoyment or entertainment of the movie. 'Fun in Acapulco' also features two stunning "Elvis Girls" in Elsa Cardenas as a sexy Mexican Bullfighter, and the glorious Ursula Andress a year after her appearance in Dr. No as the ultimate "Bond Girl." After losing his job as a sailor for the rich around the beautiful port of Acapulco, Elvis (as Mike Windgren) under the guidance of a wily 8 year old wannabe Agent ("are you sure you're not a 40 year old midget?") Elvis performs as a singer at one Club while other Clubs managers watch his performances and attempt to hire him. In the process, Elvis is chasing beautiful "Hilton Acapulco" Hotel employee Andress...and having to fend off the attention of Cardenas. Tough life, eh. Throughout the film, Elvis has an obvious fear of heights following the death of a family member "The Flying Windgrens" in a trapeze act accident in which Mike (Elvis) holds himself responsible for. But after feeling guilty for injuring a jealous clifftop diver "Moreno" in a fight, and also being branded a coward by Cardenas for his fear of heights, Mike decides to settle things once and for all. Combat his demons, kill off the coward claims and bury his guilt for wounding Moreno The King entertains the masses by leaping into the ocean from the clifftops...and they all live happily ever after! Moreno gets Cardenas, Elvis gets Ursula Andress AND a job. This is an enjoyable film, and Acapulco looks a beautiful, picturesque place that it's hard to see why it seems to have lost it's pull in recent decades, with tourists flocking to Cancun instead. The soundtrack is good too. Aside from the dodgy "Bullfighter Was a Lady" and "No Room to Rhumba in a Sportscar" the other songs are fabulous. "Vino Dinero Y Amor" is Dean Martin-esque while the arrangement sounds like "Viva Las Vegas" and was recorded just 6 months before the famous Vegas song. The stand out tracks are "Fun in Acapulco" , "Bossa Nova Baby" and "Marguerita". Not only are they good songs but The King is in fine voice too!

.....You can see Garr in a few scenes, yer basic bikini/dancer gal as she was in all these Elvis flix-Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout, etc. She is listed here as being born in '49 (yeah guys...)-but Leslie Halliwell had is right-1944. Hello!!!!! Do yer homework IMDB.As for the flick-this is a FUN Elvis meets Mexico meets Ursula movie, typical travelogue, see him dance, rumbha, romance Ursula, etc. All the usual things he did-but here he seemed to be having fun doing it. The movie does have 'Bossa Nova Baby', his last top 10 before the British invasion too.**1/2