Live a Little, Love a Little
By Rosa García Mora
Filming of the movie “Live a Little, Love a Little” took place during the months of March and April 1968.
This year was very important in Elvis’ life both personally and artistically.
On a personal level, Elvis was already married, had just had a daughter and had other goals. On an artistic level, he was about to make a complete turn in his career with the project of the NBC TV show “Elvis”, free from the constraints of Hollywood, although he still had to make some films before his contract ended.
The film was released in October 1968 and continued the trend that had been started with “Stay Away Joe,” which had already marked a shift away from the typical format of his films. This would be director Norman Taurog’s ninth project with Elvis and would be the director’s last film, as he went blind shortly after production wrapped. Elvis shares the screen with legendary singer and actor Rudy Vallee, and his female co-stars Michele Carey and Celeste Yarnall.
Elvis plays a photographer, who has two jobs that are difficult to juggle.
Michele is an eccentric woman who takes on different names and personalities depending on her mood and lives with her dog, a Great Dane, Albert, who is believed to have served as inspiration for the famous figure of Scooby Doo.
Celeste Yarnall, who appeared briefly, plays Ellen, the party girl to whom Elvis sings “A Little Less Conversation.”
During the filming, on April 4th, the tragic assassination of Martin Luther King took place, and Celeste says that on that day, after learning of the tragedy, she went with Elvis to his dressing room to have lunch and Elvis sang “Amazing Grace” and broke down in her arms sobbing like a child, because he was absolutely devastated by the assassination. Elvis’ sensitivity never knew any limits, neither in his personal life, nor in the prodigious projection of his feelings in his music and his art. Celeste says that Elvis felt that he was such an integral part of the black community, that he felt that a brother had been taken from him. He told her that he had always felt embraced by the black community, because his struggle had been so, so great… And they felt him and recognized him as one of the few white singers who could sing with his soul.
The film’s co-star was Rudy Vallee, the renowned actor and singer of the glorious Hollywood years, who was 67 years old during the filming of the movie and was still a very famous and beloved artist. One day Rudy and Elvis were on the set, when suddenly two women pounced on Elvis, who was left perplexed lying on the floor, but his perplexity was even greater when he saw that the women were not going towards him but towards Rudy to ask for an autograph!… Still in his astonishment, Elvis stood up and asked him: “Gee Rudy, what’s your secret?” To which Rudy replied: “Sex-appeal son, sex-appeal…” As you can imagine, it was such a funny moment that Elvis couldn’t stop laughing.
A funny comedy, perhaps a little strange, that brought Elvis closer to his long-awaited farewell to Hollywood.
Article written and provided by Rosa García Mora. https://www.facebook.com/rosa.garciamora.12
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