G.I. Blues[]
Plot[]
U.S. Army Specialist Tulsa McLean is a tank crewman with a singing career. Serving with the 3rd Armored Division in West Germany, McLean dreams of running his own nightclub when he leaves the army, but such dreams don't come cheap. Tulsa and his buddies have formed a band and perform in various German "Gasthauses", night clubs, and on an Armed Forces stage.
In one bar, he even discovers the record "Blue Suede Shoes" on a jukebox – sung by some guy named Elvis Presley.
To raise money, Tulsa places a bet that his tank commander, Dynamite, can spend the night with a club dancer named Lili, who is rumoured to be hard to get since she turned down another soldier, Turk. Dynamite and Turk have vied for women before when the two were stationed in Hawaii. When Dynamite gets transferred to Alaska, Tulsa is brought in to take his place in the bet. He is not looking forward to it, but must go through with it.
Tulsa uses his Southern charm and calls Lili "ma'am." She at first sees Tulsa as another Occupation Duty GI. Then after a day on the Rhine, Lili begins to fall for him. Tulsa's friend Cookie, meanwhile, falls in love with Lili's roommate, Tina from Italy. In the end, Rick's and Marla's baby son Tiger helps Tulsa win the bet for the outfit – and Lili's heart.
Cast[]
Elvis Presley as Spec. 5 Tulsa McLean Juliet Prowse as Lili Robert Ivers as PFC Cookie James Douglas as Rick Letícia Román as Tina Sigrid Maier as Marla Arch Johnson as MSG McGraw Mickey Knox as Jeeter John Hudson as CPT Hobart Ken Becker as Mac Jeremy Slate as Turk Beach Dickerson as Warren Trent Dolan as Mickey Carl Crow as Walt Fred Essler as Papa Mueller Ron Starr as Harvey Erika Peters as Trudy Ludwig Stössel as puppet show owner
Additional Cast[]
In addition, in uncredited roles, Edson Stroll appears as Dynamite, while Presley's real band mates, Scotty Moore and D. J. Fontana, and his regular backup singers, The Jordanaires, perform onscreen in those same roles.
Background[]
Elvis Presley's Army career began in 1958, and by 1960 it had been two years since Presley had made his last film, King Creole. Despite his previous three films being mostly slammed by the critics, they warmed to King Creole and its star. Presley felt confident that he had a future in acting after this praise and he was looking forward to returning to Hollywood after his time in the army.
The script was written by Edmund Beloin and Henry Garson, who had done the final revisions for Hal Wallis on Don't Give Up the Ship. In 1958 they came up with an original treatment for an Elvis Presley movie called Christmas in Berlin. It was later known as Cafe Europa before becoming GI Blues.
Eight months prior to Presley being discharged, in August 1959, producer Hal Wallis visited with him in West Germany to go over the script for G.I. Blues and film some on-location scenes.[5] Although some scenes were used in the final film, Presley did not film at any time during his time there.
Elvis' double, Private First Class Tom Creel, was used for some shots.
The U.S. Army supplied tanks and vehicles on manoeuvres to be used in the filming, and appointed public information officer John J. Mawn as technical advisor for the film. Mawn had presided over Presley's military press conferences.
Presley returned to the U.S. in March 1960 and began work on the film in late April.
Hal Wallis originally wanted Michael Curtiz to direct but eventually selected Norman Taurog. Dolores Hart, Joan Blackman and Ursula Andress were all tested to play the female lead before deciding on Juliet Prowse.
Soundtrack[]
The G.I. Blues soundtrack album was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1960 in the categories Best Sound Track Album Or Recording Of Original Cast From A Motion Picture Or Television and Best Vocal Performance Album, Male. Edmund Beloin and Henry Garson were both nominated in 1961 by the Writers Guild of America for G.I. Blues in the category of Best Written American Musical.