Leopard and Studs

We start off with Elvis in a travel bus singing "(It's A) Long, Lonely Highway". No idea if this was filmed on location or not. Song sounds pretty good. Lip-synching seems to be on point. I'll just mention this here but Tickle Me is a terrible title. I have no idea where they came up with that or why the working title "Isle of Paradise" was changed. There's no song with that name since no new songs were recorded. They should've stuck with the working title or better yet, change it to a song on the soundtrack called "Night Rider". That title fits in with Lonnie's occupation as a traveling rodeo star, the western setting, and the eventual shift into a horror film better.

He arrives at a western town called Zuni Wells. We get what's at first side conversation with a deputy sheriff saying that the sheriff went fishing far away (remember this later). We find out that his name's Lonnie Beale and is trying to find work before rodeo starts. Even though Lonnie got offered a job, the man ended up quitting. I love how we get some world building by having the bartender mention Prescott, Arizona which is one of the most famous rodeo cities in the US. So to make any money he has to sing in the saloon.

"It Feels So Right" is distracting with how obvious it is that Elvis sang this a long time ago. The song’s echo effect is so noticeable too but we do have a Red cameo and a call back to when Elvis was a "dirty hip shaker". Red's girlfriend who is drunk starts flirting with Lonnie and for once a fight starts that wasn't even his fault. He didn’t flirt with her back or throw the first punch. If anything he was trying to make a point that he had no interest in her.

Assuming he’s about to get fired he goes with a woman in charge of the Circle Z ranch. We get some background that Lonnie was raised by his uncle and always had a good time with horses. If only we saw him actually put that to good use instead of just exposition.

Lonnie's shocked to see that this is meant to be a Hollywood type of ranch meant to keep actresses and models thin. Watching how this is portrayed, you can make an argument that there's some social commentary in this movie. When you first meet Pam you wouldn't even notice a difference between her and the other women. It would be one thing if they showed these ladies as being slightly overweight, but that isn't the case at all since all of these ladies have an average body weight and general size indicating good health. It really shows how in their industry, expectations are so specific that these women who are already at a healthy state have to be even smaller and fitter to be beautiful.

Lonnie meets Pam while the women are stretching and I'm amazed they're even allowed in that part of the ranch. In modern day, men likely wouldn't even allowed to work at a place like that unless they're in a position that doesn't have close contact with the female guests. Lonnie then meets Stanley who tells us that the guests have to pay $500 a week just to stay there. The whole process of how these girls get down to "36-38-24" by giving them very little to eat really shows the culture of the 1960s where starving people was seen as the best way to lose weight. I won't get into the complexities of it, but you can see for yourself that the "diet culture" of today has completely shifted.

Lonnie does his job despite getting advances by some of the female clients. He starts making eyes with Pam and you get the idea that they're interested in each other. He goes over to talk to her but she makes it clear that she's only interested in taking care of the guests. only to then immediately get jealous when the guests show interest in him. I don't like this because you don't get to feel jealous when you turned him down. It only makes Pam look bad as a character since this makes her come off as being possessive of Lonnie when they're not at all a couple. Lonnie is single so he should be allowed to interact with other women.

If she's upset because she takes Lonnie singing to the guests as unprofessional, I can understand that. However, her facial expressions don't indicate that all. "(Such an) Easy Question" at least gives you that context that despite Pam turning him down, she can't stand to see him being with other women. As for the song itself, I don’t like the echo effect for the middle of the sandy outdoors. I know that they didn't have the budget to really change the pre-recorded songs, but given that this is supposed to be outside, an echo effect doesn't really work. Brad meanwhile turns into a butt monkey by having his food dumped on him once Stanley stands up. I genuinely feel bad for him because even though he is jealous of Lonnie, he so far hasn't done anything that would deserve this level of punishment.

Even the next day he can't catch a break as a woman he tries to help learn to swim, laps the pool when she sees Lonnie. He gets so upset he hits his hand against the concrete border of the pool. We get "Dirty, Dirty Feeling" as he works in the stables. Once again it doesn’t match the outdoor scenery. It’s actually very distracting to hear a 50s sound coming out of a 60s Elvis. If anything I'm very confused on how he's able to sing so that the entire ranch can hear him. It's not clear just how big or small this place is since it shouldn't seem possible that his voice can carry that far at that same level of clarity.

Lonnie gets in trouble with the other workers because the guests are so distracted by him. Lonnie isn’t doing anything wrong though as he doesn’t intend to interrupt everything. Meanwhile I'm very distracted by how this painting in the background was allowed to stay up since it's clearly a bunch of nude women. I have no idea how no one noticed that since it appears in multiple shots where you can clearly see the whole thing uncovered.

The women all seem to love him despite the fact that he doesn’t seem interested in any of them beyond a professional relationship. As he should since he doesn’t plan on sticking around and it’d be unprofessional of him otherwise. Pam meanwhile goes on this long spiel about how she's figured him out as being this playboy looking for a "millionaire divorcee" and quite frankly she's unlikeable. Lonnie in the audience's eyes hasn't done anything to suggest that and it's unfair of her to think that.

Even when she tries to catch him in a "gotcha" moment, it just feels weird of her to do this. She's not his boss nor his girlfriend, so it's not her job to police his actions. The audience clearly sees that Lonnie isn't the one making these advances and because this is the 60s men aren't allowed to say no yet. It makes you wonder what on earth Pam's doing with her life when she should be working. She makes an innuendo that Vera would "give him an A for effort" and you just feel a little gross because she's making it off like this is his fault. Sexy sax music playing when Vera makes her advances on Lonnie also feels gross given the concept of a workplace relationship between a boss and their employee has become a very problematic issue given the unequal power dynamics that come from it.

We get actual tension with a fight scene that in real life would’ve been genuinely dangerous. Lonnie had full reason to help her when she screamed even though we get a comedic moment of Pam hitting Lonnie by accident. The attacker immediately runs away as Lonnie's knocked silly. We find out it was because the guy was trying to find where her grandfather hid some money and the deputy sheriff advises her to lock all her doors and windows. It's not at all suspicious for the deputy sheriff to blame her for poking around abandoned buildings when she says she's entitled to any money that he left behind. I have no idea how this is such a mystery in their part of the world given that this is a ranch and a small town. The list of suspects shouldn't be astronomically high for anyone to not be able to figure this out. It's almost as if we're not supposed to know who did it until it's the perfect moment or something.

The next day, some men watch Stanley trying to look for footprints only to realize they're his own. Classic Shemp Howard moment. I have no idea who these two guys are but surely they'll have more to do in this movie right? Lonnie accidentally throws water on Brad and of course Brad gets upset. A fight breaks out as somehow all the women know to be there at that exact moment. Lonnie quickly wins and Pam appears out of nowhere to tell him off despite Lonnie literally doing nothing wrong. In an act of karmic justice to prove women are not immune from slapstick in this world, she gets her foot stuck in a bucket and instead of taking the L she keeps walking with it on.

When Lonnie sees her go off on her own, he follows her to an abandoned building. I understand that Pam wants to prove that "she's a big girl", but going to an abandoned building without even telling anyone is just stupid. Especially when you just got attacked not even a day ago by people who want to steal your grandfather's gold. Lonnie following her doesn't even prove that he loves her since he was there when she got attacked. His actions more indicate that he's a good coworker who doesn't want to have Pam make a stupid decision that'll get her killed. It's not as if the letter she's got is all that helpful since we see what's said.

We get exposition that her grandfather once owned the biggest mine in the area, a fantasy scene about the building once being a saloon from the 1800s and an audio change makes me think they used ADR for Pam and Lonnie's lines. This whole scene feels like a love letter to the Shemp era westerns with the jokes that they use, down to the editing techniques they used when Lonnie threw his hat. "Put the Blame on Me" had a similar echo effect, but to me it's fine given that it's a fantasy sequence even though this is also unnecessary filler. We fade back and Pam’s laugh in response to the donkey braying at their almost out of nowhere kiss sounded so fake in what feels like another instance of ADR. I have no idea how we're supposed to believe that now Pam likes her.

We get the luau and apparently Lonnie and Pam are together. I think on paper they wanted to convey that they did like each other and she was playing hard to get, but Lonnie meeting up with her at the abandoned saloon really isn't enough to make her suddenly love him. The Dabney's are upset when one of the female clients tries to steal their chicken because she’s starving. I thought it was funny how she tried to grab more food only to jab Mrs. Dabney. To try to appease them, the boss has Lonnie sing and entertain the guests. "I'm Yours" at least fits with the luau setting so I don't mind the vocal effects this time. In fact it's actually a very sweet song.

Meanwhile Pam almost gets kidnapped again and if I was Vera I'd be seriously considering upping security with how this could impact the other guests. If you have an all girl ranch meant to cater to models/actresses, you need to have security measures in place if it's going to be in the middle of the desert. Lonnie and Stanley try to save Pam and once again she tries to help only to hurt Lonnie. The deputy sheriff goes to find the men only to have an actually shocking twist that he’s in on it. Surprisingly we don't see the two lackeys meant to help him almost as if that's not meant to be revealed until later. Pam and Lonnie read the letter and based on what we see this time I don't get why they're struggling with it. It clearly says you have to pull the crowbar straight toward you to get the money out. Granted the diagram showing the wall isn't all that helpful.

It’s the next day and Lonnie sings "Night Rider" and I have no idea why. This feels like nothing but filler since it comes out of nowhere and is quickly forgotten like it never happened. This should've been the opening song since it clearly doesn't fit here. You could cut right to one of his coworkers wanting him to talk to Vera. At least we don’t have an echo effect on this song.

Vera again tries to hit on him while he tries to turn her down. This is so gross to watch and even Elvis looks at the camera like this is wrong. Lonnie kisses her despite being in a relationship and you got to wonder why he would do that. It isn't as if Vera force herself on him because Lonnie willingly kisses her again. Pam is rightfully upset as she sees Lonnie kiss their boss and for once I'm on her side. Lonnie was in a relationship with her and knowingly kissed Vera back. I know it's a cliche to make it be a misunderstanding but I genuinely would rather have that be the case than to watch Lonnie do this only to try apologizing like he made a mistake.

"I Feel That I've Known You Forever" is surprisingly haunting for a ballad. Him going to every window is so weird and you question why Pam is just as defenseless as before. If she was attacked twice, why would no one think to put some security around her house. This. is meant to be private property so Vera should be able to afford that expense. Pam of course breaks things off and Lonnie just quits the ranch offscreen.

Lonnie joins the rodeo and Pam rightfully doesn’t want to speak to him. If only Pam wasn't so unlikeable in the beginning where we can at least laugh at Lonnie's misfortune. We get a ghostly sound of Pam hearing Lonnie's voice which is pretty spooky. I get that she's meant to struggle with missing him or hating him, but based on the montage of Lonnie calling her for four months only for her to hang up, I don't think it was well executed at all. Stanley somehow knew where to find Lonnie despite not having any update. Lonnie is so down bad for Pam that even though he'd write to her, even his letters were rejected. At this point, I would assume the relationship is over. Four months is long enough to think that she's no longer interested. Stanley meanwhile convinces him that Pam is really playing hard to get and that he should tell her off.

As soon as they get there she drives away. They chase after her and they all think about each other’s relationship. They finally stop at a ghost town when it starts to rain. Lonnie spanks her and I hate it. It doesn't fit with the style of slapstick violence we've seen. The writers don't spare women in their works from getting exposed to slapstick so to me I would've had this be a slap fight until Pam realizes that Lonnie does care about her as someone who's more than just a coworker. That way we get a genuine moment of chemistry between the two.

They end up in an abandoned hotel while it’s raining and keep getting spooked by the storm. It's surprisingly light outside for what's supposed to be a monsoon level storm. We get 3 stooges antics where Stanley keeps getting punched by someone through a hidden door. Even Pam gets scared to the point of screaming bloody murder. This is where the movie turns into a horror film as you feel a level of suspense and upcoming danger. Of course it's still humorous by making Lonnie the straight man and by having Pam make the dumb decision to turn the light off when she's clearly afraid of someone breaking into her room. Since no one is getting hurt, it still keeps the tone light for Lonnie to not believe anything's wrong.

We see guys in masks very akin to some 3 stooges shorts which might also act as a Scooby Doo predecessor. The guy in the wolf mask I'm amazed would even want to be outside in this bad weather. Stanley's very much a tribute to Shemp Howard. Seeing him get spooked by both the guys in masks and Lonnie is something I've seen Shemp do. Lonnie being the straight man by not seeing what Stanley saw adds to it because if you just replace them with Moe and Shemp you'd get the same results and it would still be funny. That's a sign that Elvis clearly understood how to convey that style of comedy. It's actually creative at how some of them even got inside since it's not like anyone knew Pam would be going to that hotel. When one of them gets into her room, Pam, for someone who can take cares of herself, doesn't fight back and instead faints allowing him to steal the letter.

Lonnie of course saves the day in an Elvis vehicle style fight scene. We get the reveal that some of the male staff at the ranch were in cahoots with the deputy sheriff. I don't think this twist was executed well because looking back at previous attempts to capture her, you can't help but raise an eyebrow at how she didn't seem to recognize her coworkers earlier. Sure they had their faces covered but we see how staff wise, it's not that big of a ranch for her to have never met them. Lonnie grabbing the knife only to have the handle come off is hilarious. When the man charges him he opens the door only to reveal nothing on the other side. I genuinely wonder what the purpose of that door was since this is meant to be a restored hotel or if it was just magicked into existence by the writers only to then disappear when it wasn't needed. Stanley falls into the storm shelter in a way that in real life I'm amazed didn't kill him since landing on old wooden furniture wouldn't have softened the fall. When they go to get him, they find a suitcase with Pam's grandpa’s initials on it. Stanley pulls the crowbar out trying to open the suitcase and despite the letter clearly saying that's what you need to do, everyone's shocked to see gold coming out of the wall. Why would they even think it's in a suitcase if grandpa specifically made a diagram of the wall?

The deputy sheriff arrives and they find out he was the mastermind. Lonnie beats him in a fight after the running gag of Pam trying to hit his opponent finally works in his favor. I'm genuinely amazed that he was able to do that since Lonnie's an otherwise normal guy and policemen even in a small town would've had some type of training in physical combat. Brad shows up because Vera somehow knew Pam would be at this hotel and surprisingly had absolutely nothing to do with the deputy sheriff's scheme. It turns out that the two men Stanley was talking to earlier were the same guys trying to kidnap Pam. I'm amazed that we got a rare twist hero in the sense that on first watch you thought for sure that he would try to at least kill Lonnie. The only thing I don't get is what he talking to the cook about when almost Pam got kidnapped since Adolph was part of it too. At least include a line for Brad to explain what they talked about since that's a loose end that was never addressed.

Lonnie and Pam end up getting back together and eventually get married at the ranch. This romance felt so underwhelming and you can tell the writers aren't used to playing it straight. I'm not sure if it's the script or Elvis not having the chemistry with Jocelyn but I just don't see these two getting married. Even though Vera was so into Lonnie, she's apparently not at all upset to see them get married and you just wonder what the point of her making passes at Lonnie was. Nothing changed on her end to suggest she's over him or that she even felt sorry for partially ruining his relationship with Pam for many months. We end with "Slowly But Surely" while Stanley’s getting dragged behind in a wash tub. The lyrics actually fit Lonnie's perspective of trying to win Pam back. Why he's singing this when they're already married is an odd choice, but hey it's been almost a half hour since Elvis' last song so we need to end on one. The rear screen projection is so blatant by having Stanley appear in the rear angle shots but then have him be nowhere to be seen when Lonnie sings. A strange joke to end on as they drive off into the proverbial sunset.

I'm very on the fence with this movie. On the comedy side, this movie is a complete success. Ullman and Bernds were masters of their craft regarding slapstick comedy and Elvis fit into that style well by having him play the straight man. Where they fall flat is the romance as I feel like they were told an Elvis movie has to have a romance so they only added one as an afterthought since an Elvis vehicle romance was never really their style. I wish that the other workers who helped the deputy sheriff had the same level of development Brad had it makes their reveal a little more shocking that Brad was friends with them yet still wasn't part of it.

My rating will likely change next time you ask me but for now it's a 7/10. At this time I don't think the comedy and Brad being the twist hero was enough to overcome a boring romance and awful song placement. If you had simply cut out a lot of songs and use that time to develop the side characters, I think this would've been a great movie. For a movie that really only had $750k to work with, I think they did a great job in capturing that western vibe yet also showcase other parts of the country with the rodeo scene in Phoenix. If you're a 3 Stooges fan that really loves the Shemp Howard era, I highly recommend giving it a watch. Even if you're not, I still think this movie is worth watching as it shows what Elvis could've been if the focus was more on physical slapstick comedy. After all, even Moe got hurt sometimes.

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