Stay Away, Joe | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster by Robert McGinnis | |
Directed by | Peter Tewksbury |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | Stay Away, Joe 1953 novel by Dan Cushman |
Produced by | Douglas Laurence |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Fred J. Koenekamp |
Edited by | George W. Brooks |
Music by | Jack Marshall |
Color process | Metrocolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1,500,000 (US/ Canada) [1] |
Stay Away, Joe is a 1968 American comedy western film with musical interludes, set in modern times and starring Elvis Presley, Burgess Meredith, Katy Jurado and Joan Blondell. Directed by Peter Tewksbury, the film is based on the 1953 satirical farce novel of the same name by Dan Cushman. The film reached number 65 on the Variety weekly national box office chart in 1968.
Native American rodeo rider Joe Lightcloud is a Navajo whose family still lives on the reservation. He returns to the reservation in a white Cadillac convertible that he uses to drive cattle.
Joe persuades his congressman to give him 20 heifers and a prize bull so that he and his father can prove that the Navajos can successfully raise cattle on the reservation. If their experiment is successful, the government will help all the Navajo people. But Joe's friend Bronc Hoverty accidentally barbecues the prize bull, while Joe sells the heifers to buy home improvements for his stepmother Annie Lightcloud.
Joe is able to borrow a bull named Dominick, but the bull is old and shows no interest in the heifers. Mamie Callahan, the daughter of shotgun-toting tavern owner Glenda Callahan, can't seem to stay away from the girl-chasing Joe. Joe trades in his horse at a used car dealership for a red convertible automobile from which he sells off the parts to obtain cash from a salvage yard. After almost all of the usable car parts are sold, Joe rides around on a beat-up motorcycle.
Joe's younger sister Mary, a bank teller in town, has a chance to marry into the reasonably wealthy Hawkins family. When the prospective mother-in-law visits the Lightcloud's rundown shack, things go well until Glenda Callahan chases Joe through the house firing her shotgun. Mrs. Hawkins promptly faints. The couple eventually reconciles.
To raise money, Joe organizes a contest in which riders have to ride Dominick the bull. Joe has to ride Dominick and hang on in order to win the prize money, which he does. At his father's house, Joe and his friends are involved in a large fight that destroys the house that they have been building.
Burt Kennedy was originally announced as director. [2]
Presley was paid $850,000 plus 40% of the profits. [3]
The screenplay was adapted from the failed Broadway musical Whoop-Up and retained many of the same plot devices and characters, including Joe's grandfather who refuses to live in a house, preferring his ancestral teepee.
For the first time since Wild in the Country , neither an LP record nor an extended-play single was planned for a Presley film soundtrack. Three songs were written for the film by the team of Sid Wayne and Ben Weisman, who had already contributed close to 50 songs for various Presley movies in the decade. [4]
Although released before Speedway , this film and its soundtrack were made after the first of Presley's last five films in the 1960s in which musical numbers were kept to a minimum. [5] The recording session took place at RCA Studio B in Nashville on October 1, 1967. At the end of the session, Presley made his record producer Felton Jarvis promise to never release "Dominick," the song written for him to sing to the bull. However, the song is actually sung to two women in the movie without the bull present. [5] "Dominick" would eventually make its first official CD appearance on the Kissin Cousins/Clambake/Stay Away, Joe soundtrack compilation in 1994 (long after the deaths of Presley and Jarvis); it had previously been released, unauthorized, as "Dominick the Impotent Bull" on the 1982 bootleg compilation Elvis' Greatest Shit . The other two songs, "Stay Away, Joe" and "All I Needed Was the Rain," were not even featured on a promotional single for the film premiere, but instead respectively appeared on the budget albums Let's Be Friends in 1970 and Elvis Sings Flaming Star in 1969.
Two additional songs related to the film were recorded at sessions on January 10 and 11, 1968 at the same studio. "Goin' Home" by Joy Byers would not be used, surfacing on the soundtrack to the next Presley film, Speedway , while a different song entitled "Stay Away," rewritten from the tune of "Greensleeves" by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett, would appear as the B-side to the #28 hit single "U.S. Male." [6] Released as catalog item 47-9465b on February 28, 1968, the B-side "Stay Away" would peak at #68 on the Billboard Hot 100 independently of "U.S. Male." [7] The producer in charge of the recordings for MGM was Jeff Alexander. [8]
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "... could scarcely seem more embarrassingly tasteless or ill-timed than right now. In an unintentionally patronizing way it projects an image of the Indian as happy-go-lucky, immoral and irresponsible just when the public is becoming aware of how truly tragic his plight is. No amount of good-naturedness—and 'Stay Away, Joe!' undeniably has plenty of that—can compensate for humor based on stereotypes so offensive to minority-group sensitivities." However, Thomas suggested that if it had been made in a different time, "... it would seem a pretty good picture. It has plenty of bounce, a strong cast ... some spunky songs and good color photography of natural locales." [9]
A review in Variety reported "generally flat comedy" with "many forced slapstick situations", and echoed Thomas's review by stating that the story was "... out of touch with latterday appreciation of some basic dignity in all human beings ... At best, film is a dim artistic accomplishment; at worst, it caters to outdated prejudice. Custer himself might be embarrassed — for the Indians." [10]
The Monthly Film Bulletin reported: "Meandering Elvis Presley comedy, rather short on invention except for an amiably hectic finale ... The musical offerings are if anything even less memorable than usual." [11]
Roustabout is a 1964 American musical feature 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 although Roustabout received a lukewarm review in Variety. The film's soundtrack album was one of Elvis Presley's most successful, reaching no. 1 on the Billboard Album Chart. It was filmed in Techniscope at Paramount Studios, with carnival sequences shot in Thousand Oaks, California. Filming began in March 1964.
Sid Wayne was an American songwriter, lyricist and composer, who wrote a number of well-known songs from the 1950s to the 1980s. Almost every Elvis Presley film contained one or more works written by Wayne and his partner Ben Weisman.
Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 is a greatest hits album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3921, in January 1968, with recording sessions taking place over an eight-year span at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, and at RCA Studios and Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It is a compilation of hit singles released between 1961 and 1967, peaking at number 33 on the Billboard 200. It was certified Gold on March 27, 1992, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star and Others is a compilation album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Records on October 1, 1968. It spent five months available only at select retail stores featuring products by the Singer Sewing Machine Company as a promotional tie-in with Presley's upcoming Christmas television special on the NBC network, which Singer had sponsored. It was reissued for normal retail channels as Elvis Sings Flaming Star in April 1969, becoming the first Elvis Presley budget album on the RCA Camden label, catalogue CAS 2304. The 1969 release peaked at number 96 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It was certified Gold on July 15, 1999, and Platinum on January 6, 2004, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Jailhouse Rock is an EP by American singer Elvis Presley, featuring songs from the movie of the same name. It was released by RCA Victor, with catalogue EPA 4114, on October 30, 1957. Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood on April 30 and May 3, 1957, with an additional session at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Soundstage in Hollywood on May 9 for "Don't Leave Me Now". It peaked at #1 on the newly inaugurated Billboard EP chart where it remained at #1 for 28 weeks. The EP album was the best selling EP album of 1958 according to Billboard.
Double Trouble is the fifteenth soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3787, in June 1967. It is the soundtrack to the 1967 film of the same name starring Presley. Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders and at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in Hollywood, California, on June 28, 29, and 30, 1966. It peaked at number 47 on the Billboard 200.
"Do the Clam" is a pop song recorded by Elvis Presley for his 1965 feature film Girl Happy. It was written by Sid Wayne, Ben Weisman, and Dolores Fuller.
Girls! Girls! Girls! is the fifth soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2426, in November 1962. It accompanied the 1962 film of the same name starring Presley. Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood on March 26, 27, and 28, and May 23, 1962. It peaked at number three on the Top LPs chart. It was certified Gold on August 13, 1963 by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Kissin' Cousins is the eighth soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2894, in April 1964. It is the soundtrack to the 1964 film of the same name starring Presley. Recording sessions took place at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 26 and 27, and September 29 and 30, 1963. It peaked at number six on the Billboard Top LPs chart. The album was certified Gold on March 27, 1992 by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Frankie and Johnny is the twelfth soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3553, in April 1966. An excursion into Dixieland and ragtime music, it is the soundtrack to the 1966 film of the same name starring Presley. Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California, on May 12, 13, and 14, 1965. It peaked at number 20 on the Top LP's chart. It was certified Gold and Platinum on January 6, 2004, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Paradise, Hawaiian Style is the thirteenth soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3643, in June 1966. It is the soundtrack to the 1966 film of the same name starring Presley. Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California, on July 26 and 27, and August 2, 1965. It peaked at number 15 on the Top LP's chart.
Spinout is the 14th soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3702, on October 31, 1966. It is the soundtrack to the 1966 film of the same name starring Presley. Recording sessions for the film songs took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California, on February 16 and 17, 1966. The album was augmented with three non-film songs recorded earlier in the year. It peaked at number 18 on the Top Pop Albums chart.
Clambake is the sixteenth soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3893, in October 1967. It is the soundtrack to the 1967 film of the same name starring Presley. He entered RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee on February 21, 1967, for recording sessions for his twenty-fifth film. Supplemental material sessions took place on September 10 and 11, 1967. It peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200.
All I Needed Was the Rain is a song by Elvis Presley. It was written by Sid Wayne and Ben Weisman. It was recorded on October 2, 1967, at RCA's Nashville Studios. It featured in his 1968 film Stay Away, Joe. In the film version Elvis talks at the end and dogs howl in the background. Gerry McLafferty describes the song as "being bluesy, a welcome addition to the film".
Elvis' Greatest Shit is a bootleg recording of Elvis Presley, released in July 1982. It assembles a number of studio recordings, live recordings, and outtakes intended to represent the worst recordings that Presley made in his career.
Follow That Dream is an EP by American singer Elvis Presley, containing four songs from the motion picture of the same name. The EP was released by RCA Victor in May 1962.
Easy Come, Easy Go is an EP by American singer Elvis Presley, containing songs from the motion picture of the same name, released by RCA Victor on March 1, 1967.
Tickle Me is an extended play by Elvis Presley containing songs from the motion picture of the same name. It was released by RCA Victor in 1965.
"Stay Away" is a song first recorded by Elvis Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1968 motion picture Stay Away, Joe.
"Stay Away, Joe" is a song first recorded by Elvis Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1968 motion picture Stay Away, Joe.