Kissin' Cousins (1964)

Lack of good storyline.

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Fresh and Exciting

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Gene Nelson's "Kissin' Cousins" qualifies as an average Elvis musical. The two things, however, set it apart from the usual nonsense. First, Elvis plays dual characters, something that he had never done and would never repeat. He is black-haired Air Force Lieutenant who flies F-84s, and later he is a blonde hillbilly. Mind you, Elvis was an adequate actor, but this duality is a genuine stretch for the King of Rock and Roll. Second, despite its cornball comedy plot, "Kissin' Cousin" acknowledge the perils of the Cold War. Now, this is something that you won't find in any other contemporary Elvis movie. Moreover, the idea that the setting of an Elvis movie is nothing but rainbows, which describes all his efforts, except "Love Me Tender," "Flaming Star," and "Charro." All those epics were westerns. Unfortunately, these two strengths don't overwhelm the general air of frivolity that permeates "Kissin' Cousins." More often than not, it amounts to just another silly, stupid, and shallow Elvis opus. Furthermore, it borrows a trope from the movie "Lil Abner" with aggressive women it hot, hormonal pursuit of men. All the women-except Ma Tatum-are lively little dishes in need of a man. The songs are all substandard, and the film itself looks rushed. Indeed, producer Sam Katzman produced it after Colonel Parker saw the excesses of "Viva Las Vegas." It is also interesting to note that "Kissin' Cousins" was finished before George Sidney's "Viva Las Vegas" illuminated movie screens. Katzman was known for making film not only quickly but as cheaply as possible. Nevertheless, the idea of negotiating with moonshining hillbillies who own land in the Great Smokey Mountains for the site of an ICBM missile base puts the entire fracas into a different category. The deployment of Elvis in to roles was done mostly in camera as the filmmakers relied on the old technique of over-the-shoulder shots rather than employing expensive special effects. You see Elvis talking to the other Elvis, but neither are shown face to face. Often, the stunt guys look too old to be Elvis. At the end, however, director Gene Nelson uses a long shot so that we can see both Elvis characters in the same image looking at each other. This was probably ambitious, considering that the notoriously frugal Sam Katzman produced this goofy nonsense. The predictable plot finds Elvis eventually getting Pappy Tatum to sign a lease for the Pentagon to install the ICBM missile base. "Kissin' Cousins" winds up better than most of the other contemporary Elvis movies because it reflects the tension that existed during the Cold War between Soviet Russia and the United States.

Hey its an Elvis movie you know it will be a bit hokey but also entertaining with songs and at least for the guys lots of eye candy. Elvis plays mirror image cousins that the Air Force lieutenant side only discovers when he goes to a Smokey Mountain mountain to try and set up a missile base. Yvonne Craig plays one of the hill clan's nubile daughter's. The daughters are interested in latching on to husbands. There is a valley clan that runs to only girls so when the Air Force shows up with nothing but men they go nuts. They ambush the men as they run about the mountain looking to save the head of the mountain clan. The men are very glad to cooperate with their ambushers. Of course all ends well with women finding husbands, the Air Force gets its lease

Glenda Farrell was in some of the greatest films of the early 1930's, including, "Little Caesar," "I Was Fugitive From a Chain Gang," "Mysteries of the Wax Museum," and "Gold Diggers of 1935". It was delightful to see her as a hillbilly mammy in this film. The director, to his eternal credit, even gave her a song to sing without Elvis. It was the best song in the film. I wonder if anybody else ever got to sing a solo in an Elvis picture?It was also nice to see Yvonne Craig, she because famous a couple of years later when she became a regular on the "Batman" television series as "Batgirl". It was a gimmick that helped save the rapidly fading series for a short while. She was rather adorable and perky in the role, as she was in this movie. Unfortunately, her career went nowhere, except for occasional television guest spots. Pam Austin also looked great in this film. She became famous for a Dodge television commercial a couple of years later, inviting people to join the "Dodge Rebellion." She starred in "the Perils of Pauline" with Pat Boone two years later. It was quite an amusing and sweet movie, but sadly her career also went nowhere afterward.We have to remember that three of the most popular television series at the time this film was made were 1) The Patty Duke Show (Patty Duke playing cousins with opposite personalities), 2) Petticoat Junction (rural comedy) and 3) Hootenanny (music variety show). It must have seemed like a great idea to combine all three themes in one movie. The conflicted cousins theme comes off the worse. Air Force Major Elvis is fine, but Hillbilly Elvis just stands around looking grouchy. The Petticoat Junction theme is transformed into a "Little Abner" theme, but there is no Julie Newmar (Stupifying Jones)to focus on. The Hootenanny that takes up the last 25 minutes is the only part that sort of works. It would have been nicer if there was more time for the choreography. It looks like they only had a couple of days to get it together, but everyone seems to be having a good time and it does send the audience out of the theater tapping their toes.While not a good film, it is fun and worth seeing for Elvis and Glenda Farrell fans, and people who enjoy 1960's television sitcoms. I thought this was much better than the other Elvis film that Gene Nelson directed, "Harum Scarum". That one really is only for die-hard Elvis.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that, before now, I was only familiar with the two best-regarded of Elvis Presley’s films, namely JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957) and FLAMING STAR (1960). However, since this year marks the 30th anniversary of his death, I made it a point to watch as many of his movies I could lay my hands on…a sort of “it’s now or never” type of situation, if you will! Actually, I had caught the beginning of this one on local TV several years ago, where it was shown as part of a mini Elvis retrospective. The “citizens vs. missile-base” plot line here is basically the rural version of Leo McCarey’s RALLY ‘ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS! (1958) but, as it turns out, the hillbilly antics get tiresome pretty quickly – especially whenever the man-chasing Kittyhawks turn up, which is too often for my tastes! The best gag, then, is when Captain Jack Albertson suddenly leaves the farmers’ dinner table – after “Ma” Glenda Farrell describes the stomach-turning contents of the “delicious” meal he has just partaken of, and “Pappy” Arthur O’Connell asks his soldier kin Elvis if something has come up, to which the latter matter-of-factly quips, “Not yet, but I think it might”! For what it’s worth, the songs are variable and unmemorable (except, perhaps, for the title tune) and even Farrell gets her own maudlin number! This film is perhaps best-known for offering a dual role for The King, one of whom is a brown-haired layabout, but this eventually leads to an unintentionally hilarious ending where the two characters share the screen doing a number, but every time one sings, the other conveniently turns his back to the camera and a longshot exposes Elvis’ double all-too-clearly!