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It Happened At The World’s Fair Blu-ray Review

“It Happened At The World’s Fair” isn’t one of the better Elvis movies.

In 1963’s “It Happened At The World’s Fair,” the story revolves around two friends/pilots (Danny and Mike) who lose all their money (and their plane) due to Danny’s gambling losses. The 2 hitchhike to Seattle where they encounter Walter Ling and his young niece Sue-Lin. Mike ends up babysitting Sue-Lin for a day at the 1962 Seattle’s World Fair. It is there where Mike meets a nurse (Diane) whom he falls for. As Mike tries to devise ways to win Diane’s heart, he becomes embroiled in some drama involving Sue-Lin’s missing Uncle and Danny getting caught up with a criminal job.

The script for “It Happened At The World’s Fair” by Si Rose and Seaman Jacobs has to be one of the laziest I’ve seen. It’s more or less an ad for Seattle’s World Fair and the soundtrack by Elvis (“One Broken Heart For Sale” is my personal favorite of the lot). Sure, it’s fun to see Seattle at that point in time along with hearing Elvis sing (he was one of the best rock and roll musicians after all), but outside of that, there’s not much going on here in this predictable film. The Norman Taurog directed story is pretty much a half romance tale and a half babysitting tale with some random fist fights, potato puns, and songs thrown in. Most of the time you’re left wondering why Mike even hangs around with Danny or how the movie goes out of its way to include landmarks into the story (the Space Needle scene in particular).

Cast wise, Elvis does a fine job in the lead despite some obvious womanzing moments with his character. He has good chemistry both with the child actor (Vicky Tiu) and the leading lady (Joan O’Brien). Gary Lockwood’s character may be a total deadbeat, but the actor is game for the role. Finally, I have to shoutout Kurt Russell who appears in 2 short scenes as a kid who willingly kicks Elvis’ shin…for a price.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.35:1 1080p. How does it look? A pristine print. Easily one of the best I’ve seen in the past couple months.

Audio Track: 2.0 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? The dialogue and Elvis fueled soundtrack sounded crisp.

The only extras are a trailer and a song selection option.

July 3, 2021 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Elvis, Elvis Movie, Elvis Presley, It Happened At The World's Fair Blu-ray Review, Warner Archive