Live a Little, Love A Little (1968)

Live a Little, Love a Little is a strange little entry in the Elvis Presley canon. It's a bad movie from start to finish, but it has a certain interest as an attempt to remake the "wholesome" Elvis of the films into a more contemporary (for 1968) character. The attempt doesn't work, as it takes more than a "damn" or two and a job as a "Playboy"-type photographer to do the job; even the sequence of Elvis actually in bed with a woman gets the guts cut out of it by the barrier placed between them. The screenplay is just plain bad, even for an Elvis film of the period, but it does have some weird moments, such as a dream sequence complete with talking dog, and a little bit of psychedelia, that are fun. There's not much that the cast can do with this script, and even those who try pretty hard don't get very far. The best thing about Live/Love, as in many other of the King's pictures, is the music. Elvis only sings 4 songs, but those - "Edge of Reality," "A Little Less Conversation," "Wonderful World" and " Almost in Love" are all keepers. They can't make Live/Love good -- not by a long shot -- but they provide some sorely needed high spots. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide