Roustabout is a 1964 American musicalfeature film starring Elvis Presley as a singer who takes a job working with a struggling carnival. The film was produced by Hal Wallis and directed by John Rich from a screenplay by Anthony Lawrence and Allan Weiss. The screenplay was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for best written American musical. The New York Times noted that Elvis was "perfectly cast"[3] although Roustabout received a lukewarm review in Variety.[4] The film's soundtrack album was one of Elvis Presley's most successful, reaching no. 1 on the Billboard Album Chart.[5]Quentin Tarantino called Roustabout one of Presley's most entertaining films and said that it had the best soundtrack of all of Presley's color films.[6] It was filmed in Techniscope at Paramount Studios, with carnival and road rage sequences shot in Thousand Oaks, California. Filming began in March 1964.[7][8]
Singer Charlie Rogers is enjoying his life and delivering successful performances at a busy restaurant in California. But when a group of female students in the audience became very happy cheering the singer, their male companions turned very jealous and angry. After the show, several angry students set up an attack on Charley in the parking lot. After brawling, Charlie in fired from his job and arrested by police. After a night in jail, Charlie hits the road on his Honda 305 Superhawk motorcycle. On the road, he spots Cathy Lean in a car driven by her erratic father, Joe, with their employer, Maggie Morgan. When Charlie tries to become friendly with Cathy, Joe makes an erratic move with his car and forces Charlie's bike off the road, so Charlie falls while the bike is wrecked after crashing into a wooden fence.
Maggie offers him a place to stay and a job with her struggling traveling carnival while the bike is being repaired. Charlie becomes a "carnie", a roustabout. Maggie recognizes his musical talents and promotes him to feature attraction. His performances soon draw large crowds and bring an increasing income to the carnival. Charlie romances Cathy, which causes jealous animosity with Joe and the two men repeatedly clash. However, Charley helps Joe in a difficult conflict with a customer who was sent by a rival to cause problems for the carnival. The tricky customer places their wallet under the curtain and accuses Joe of stealing. Charlie later finds the wallet, but now he is accused of holding back a customer's lost wallet that Joe was accused of stealing. After his bike is repaired, Charlie leaves the carnival to star in the much better-financed show of rival producer Harry Carver.
Now Charlie is performing with a big band and the audiences are happy with his new songs. Once again, he is a great success, but producer Harry Carver plays hardball with the artist, and Charley is forced to sign a tough contract. However, when Charlie learns that Maggie is facing bankruptcy, he returns. Charlie gives Maggie all the cash he earned and saves her carnival from bankruptcy. Jealous Joe takes another swing at Charlie, and Charlie defends himself. Maggie witnesses the fight and asks Charlie to tell the real reason for his comeback and to be honest for once. Charlie admits he returned both to save the carnival and because he loves Cathy. In the musical finale, he and Cathy are happily reunited.
Roustabout reached #8 nationally at the box office in 1964 based on the Variety survey. The film finished as #28 on the year-end list of the top-grossing movies of 1964 and earned $3 million at the box office.
The New York Times writer Howard Thompson complained about "little in the way of dramatic substance" and that the movie wasn't "nearly so trim a package" as Fun in Acapulco or Viva Las Vegas, but noted that Elvis was "perfectly cast" and "surprisingly convincing in his role."[3]Variety was lukewarm, faulting mainly a script "loaded with clichés", but noted the film would likely be a box-office hit based upon its star names, songs, and "Technicolor, Techniscope frame."[9] John L. Scott of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a trite, cliche-ridden story that has been thrown together to showcase Elvis Presley and his vocalizing. It serves its purpose well, and probably will prove a box office bonanza for producer Hal Wallis."[10]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "Presley vehicles have sadly deteriorated since the days of Follow That Dream, and this amiable but uninspiring piece does nothing to halt the process, despite curiosity value provided by Barbara Stanwyck, back with Paramount for the first time in ten years."[11]
Quentin Tarantino in one his reviews, noted Roustabout as "Elvis’ superior vehicle" and stated that "Roustabout is one of Elvis’ most entertaining pictures of that era of Elvis Presley movies. He enters the film on a motorcycle, dressed head to toe in black motorcycle leathers (like Brando in The Wild One)."Quentin Tarantino pointed that for Elvis "It’s the only film where he gets to demonstrate his Ed Parker taught karate. It includes a small bit part early on with Raquel Welch. And contains the best soundtrack of songs of all of his color movies, including a rarity for Elvis on film, a cover of somebody else’s rock and roll hit, The Coaster’s Little Egypt."[6]
Roustabout was released on VHS in the 1980s and later on DVD in various packages during the 1990s and 2000s, it is also included in the "ELVIS 5 MOVIES" collection released by Paramount Pictures in 2020.
1 2 Tarantino, Quentin (March 7, 2020). "Carny - (1980)". The New Beverly. Archived from the original on 2020-04-01. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
↑ Cotten, Lee (1987). The Elvis catalog: memorabilia, icons, and collectibles celebrating the king of rock 'n' roll. Doubleday. Page 115. ISBN9780385237055.
↑ DeNight, Bill and Sharon Fox (2003). Elvis: Commemorative Edition. Publications International, Limited. Page 186. ISBN9780785348900.
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