Clambake is a 1967 musical film starring Elvis Presley, and co-starring Shelley Fabares and Bill Bixby—the last of his four films for United Artists^[1]. The movie reached no. 15 on the national weekly box office charts.

Plot[link]

Scott Heyward (Elvis Presley) rebels against the plans and expectations of his father, extremely rich oilman Dusty Heyward (James Gregory). He drives off (in a Chevrolet Corvette) to find himself. When he stops for some food, he runs into Tom Wilson (Will Hutchins), on his way to take a job as a water-skiing instructor at a Miami hotel. A chance remark by Tom gives Scott an idea: he switches identities with Tom so he can find out how people react to him rather than his money. Tom has fun staying at the same hotel and pretending he is rich.

Hotel guest Dianne Carter (Shelley Fabares) insists on taking a lesson minutes after Scott checks in with his new "employer". However, once they are out on the water, she proves herself to be an expert skier, performing fancy maneuvers to gain the attention of wealthy young playboy James J. Jamison III (Bill Bixby). Later, she confesses to Scott she is a gold digger, assuming he is one too. He agrees to help her land Jamison, but in the process falls for her.

Scott persuades boat builder Sam Burton (Gary Merrill) to let him rebuild a damaged high-performance boat and drive it in the annual Orange Bowl race, which Jamison has won the last three years in a row. Scott sends for some "goop", an experimental coating his father spent a lot of money trying (and failing) to perfect. Between his day job and work at night as a chemist, Scott is run ragged, but manages (he hopes) to fix goop's major flaw: losing its strength in water. With no time for testing before the race, he applies it to the boat's hull and prays it will hold the Raw Hide together.^[2][3] Duster learns where his son is, and comes to see what he is doing. To Scott's surprise, his father is enormously proud of what he has accomplished.

Meanwhile, Jamison proposes to Dianne. Scott barges into the suite before she can give Jamison an answer, but the playboy informs Scott they are getting married right after he wins the race.

In the race, Jamison takes the lead in The Scarlet Lady, but Scott passes him at the finish line. Dianne decides to give up her scheme and return home. Scott offers to give her a lift. On the drive, he gives her an engagement ring he bought with the winnings from the race. She insists he take it back, but agrees to marry him. When he tells her who he really is, she faints.

Cast[link]

• Elvis Presley as Scott Heyward/"Tom Wilson"
• Shelley Fabares as Dianne Carter
• Will Hutchins as Tom Wilson/"Scott Heyward"
• Bill Bixby as James J. Jamison III
• Gary Merrill as Sam Burton
• James Gregory as Duster Heyward
• Suzie Kaye as Sally
• Harold Peary as Doorman (as Hal Peary).
• Marj Dusay as Waitress
• Jack Good as Hathaway
• Olga Kaya as Gigi
• Angelique Pettyjohn as Gloria
• Sam Riddle]] as Announcer
• Wallace Earl as Ellie (as Amanda Harley)

In uncredited appearances: one of the dancers is Teri Garr; among the kids during the "Confidence" scene is a young Corbin Bernsen; and the little girl afraid to go down a playground slide, to whom Elvis sings, is Lisa Slagle, who later joined the Joffrey Ballet.

Production[link]

This was the last film for which Presley was able to demand and receive a $1,000,000 salary. The relative lackluster box office performance of this movie, combined with his desire to do more serious, less commercial films, meant that studios were no longer willing to guarantee him a seven figure paycheck for his performance.

In her 1985 book Elvis and Me, Priscilla Presley writes that by the time filming was to begin on Clambake, Elvis's growing distress with the quality of his films led to a despondency accompanied by overeating that saw his weight balloon from his normal 170 lb (77 kg) to 200 lb (91 kg). A movie studio executive ordered him to lose the weight in a hurry,^[4] marking the introduction of diet pills to his already excessive regimen of medications.

During this time, Presley was growing increasingly interested in religious studies and spirituality, and reading a great deal on the subjects. Colonel Tom Parker felt these pursuits were distracting Elvis from his performance, and while he ordered the singer to not read any books while the film was being shot, there is no evidence that Presley complied with the directive.

Production was halted for nearly two weeks in the middle of filming when Elvis fell and hit his head in the mansion he was living in during the shooting, resulting in a mild concussion.^[5]

Although set in Florida, only some second unit stock footage was shot there. Virtually the entire film was shot in southern California (resulting in the scene with the sun seemingly setting over the ocean in the east). Several exterior "Florida" scenes also have very conspicuous California mountains in the background. The boats in the boat garage have registration numbers starting with "CF" (California) and not "FL" (Florida).

Soundtrack[link]

The soundtrack album reached No. 40 on the Billboard album chart.

Reception[link]

Theatrical release[link]

The film premiered in October 1967, but did not have a wide release until December. The New York Times' Howard Thompson called the film "a real Christmas clinker" and a "silly, tired little frolic," remarking "even staunch Presley admirers — and we're one of them when he delivers the likes of Fun in Acapulco and Viva Las Vegas — will have to strain to justify this one." Thompson's review dismisses everything in the film, including the co-stars, music, predictable finale, the overuse of rear-screen projection and the obvious West Coast location shots.^[6]

Contemporary reviews[link]

• Review by Barrie Maxwell at DVD Verdict, October 26, 2001.
• Review by Mark Zimmer at digitallyOBSESSED!, October 11, 2001.
• Review by J. Bannerman at Stomp Tokyo, 2003.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Clambake at the Internet Movie Database
• Clambake at the TCM Movie Database
• Clambake at AllRovi