Elvis Presley's 30th feature film, The Trouble with Girls is a 1969 comedy musical directed by Peter Tewksbury.
In 1927, Walter Hale (Presley) becomes the new manager of a traveling Chautauqua company. As the company sets up shop in the sleepy town of Radford Center in Iowa, Walter is faced with the problem of his dissatisfied Story Lady, Charlene (Marlyn Mason), wanting to rally her colleagues into forming a union. Charlene is impressed with the talent of a local girl, Carol (Anissa Jones), whose mother, Nita (Sheree North), despairs of leaving Radford Center for greener pastures. Nita works for drugstore owner Harrison Wilby (Dabney Coleman), whom she also sleeps with. Wilby then turns up dead and one of the Chautauqua members is accused of murder, creating another problem for Walter.
Tropes:
- Anachronism Stew: Most of the music seems in line with the 1927 setting, but the centerpiece song "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard" is very much a 1969 Blues/Rock/Country Music piece. Also, it contains the phrase "armchair quarterback", which didn't originate until the rise of American Football on television in The '50s (though the similar "Monday morning quarterback" was around in The '30s).
- Asshole Victim: Wilby is a thoroughly repugnant lecherous Smug Snake, whose relationship with his employee Nita borders on Questionable Consent. While everyone is up in arms over a murder happening in their town, not many tears are shed for Wilby in particular.
- Author Appeal: Colonel Tom Parker had actually worked in a Chatauqua company in his youth, and that almost certainly played a big part in his agreeing to a deal for Elvis to star in the movie.
- The Cameo: Among the Chatauqua headliners are Vincent Price and John Carradine as lecturers and Major League Baseball legend Duke Snider as a
baseball star. - Continuity Nod: The medley of college songs Walter takes part in includes "Violet (Flower of NYU)", which is sung to the tune of "Aura Lee", which famously is also the melody source of the earlier Elvis hit "Love Me Tender".
- Either/Or Title: The full title is The Trouble With Girls (And How To Get Into It).
- Fireworks of Love: Played for laughs when Carol and Willy leave a box of fireworks near a tent where Walter and Charlene try to hash things out. Walter accidentally chucks a cigarette into the box and when he tries to seduce Charlene (to which she responds violently), the fireworks go off. Outside, his coworkers think they are getting down and dirty and when they see the fireworks, wonder what exactly he is doing to her.
- Hypocrite: The story climaxes with Walter singing a song called "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard", chastising the people of Radford Center for their self-righteousness, with the "drugstore cowboy" verse specifically being a "The Villain Sucks" Song about the late Harrison Wilby.Come closing time most every night
He locks up tight and out go the lights
And he ducks out of sight and he cheats on his wife
With his employee - "Mister Sandman" Sequence: The film opens with a narrator who references various things (such as the possibility of Calvin Coolidge running for president again) to signify that the story takes place in 1927.
- Monochrome to Color: The film opens in black-and-white and changes to color when Walter makes his entrance.
- Never Trust a Title: The Trouble With Girls (And How To Get Into It) is sort of vaguely justified, since Charlene and Nita are the main complication drivers in the plot, but the title implies this is yet another wacky musical with Elvis Presley singing countless songs while romancing a bunch of beauties, when it's actually a Period Piece drama that includes a Murder Mystery element, and there are only a handful of Elvis songs, which are all done diegetically as part of the Chatauqua performances (or rehearsals).
- Small Town Boredom: Nita is depressed with living in a town as sleepy as Radford Center and gets her hopes up very high when Charlene tells her Carol has a talent for showbiz, fantasizing about moving to New York and Paris and such.
