All Elvis breaks loose in this week's film flashback to June 12, 1966 in Murfreesboro, TN. There are only 2 choices and I know which movie I'd want to see on this date. Paradise-Hawaiian Style is playing at the Princess while The Wizard of Mars (filmed in Ultra-Depth) plays the Starlite Drive-In Theatre.
Paradise-Hawaiian Style is a fairly inept attempt to replicate the success of Blue Hawaii from 1961. The scenery is wonderful and the songs aren't too bad, but the story is paper thin and Elvis is not only a bit overweight, but he basically phones it in for this film. Even with those glaring negatives I still like the movie as a disinterested Elvis is still Elvis. I grew up watching his films on local television reruns and even the worst of them have a place in my beloved childhood memories.
I have never seen The Wizard of Mars, unless maybe in passing on TV, so it's a mystery to me. David L. Hewitt directed this psychotronic movie and Hewitt was also known for his special effects work. The capsule summary of the movie says it is about 4 astronauts who end up stranded on Mars where they end up encountering the wizard played by John Carradine. The Martians are modeled on L. Frank Baum's Flatheads of Oz. The movie definitely received a huge push as you can see from the newspaper ad and the photo. The Starlite Drive-In which was located out on Shelbyville Highway 231 would not survive the year with the last listing for the drive-in coming in the September 30, 1966 DNJ for the movies Mudhoney plus Swamp Woman.
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