Elvis Presley was a hugely influential performer with one of the most distinctive singing voices of anybody. He embarked on a film career consisting of 33 films from 1956 to 1969, films that did well at the box-office but mostly panned critically (especially his later films) and while he was a highly charismatic performer he was never considered a great actor.'Clambake' has often been considered one of the King's worst, despite it being very strongly defended to the point of "I'm right and you're wrong" defensiveness by some here. To me, it is not his worst film, which one would expect from the film with the worst title of all, the likes of a few of his later efforts, 'Paradise Hawaiian Style', 'Double Trouble' and 'Harum Scarum' are worse. But of a notoriously inconsistent film career (that started off good, but became mostly mediocre at best after 'Viva Las Vegas') it also doesn't fare favourably. Not unwatchable but severely undercooked and dare one say it lazy.There are things that salvage it from being a must-miss film, considering that there are many of the elements that made Elvis' later films so disappointing done pretty risibly, to a mediocre one. Most of the songs are below par, but "A House That Has Everything" and "The Girl I Never Loved" are nice and the best one "You Don't Know Me" could easily have been a bigger hit.Also thought very little of most of the cast, but James Gregory and Bill Bixby enjoy themselves in roles that could have grated, yet they show that one can have fun without going overboard, something that other cast members could have learnt from. Shelley Fabares has little to do in an underwritten role, but does her best to inject some charm and heart, fair play to her as the role didn't deserve that degree of effort.While most of 'Clambake' looks cheap, even for a later Elvis film, what little glimpses there are of scenery looks nice and one wishes there was more.However, Elvis gives a very perfunctory performance as a character that plays too secondary to that of Will Hutchins. This is a bad thing, as not only does one not see that Elvis was a very capable actor when the material allowed it (like in his best films like 'King Creole', 'Flaming Star', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Viva Las Vegas' and 'Loving You') but also Hutchins spends much of his performance mugging and it grates fast. The rest of the cast go through the motions, this includes Gary Merrill who is a halfway decent actor limited to looking annoyed.Three songs aside, the rest of the songs are below par. Admittedly the title song is sort of catchy but also gets very repetitive with incredibly simplistic lyric writing. "Who Needs Money" suffers from Elvis and (apparently) Ray Walker dubbing Hutchins looking and sounding like they couldn't be bothered as well as not being a particularly good song at all. It's nothing though compared to the embarrassment that is "Confidence", which in every sense of the word reaches rock-bottom depths in the same way the likes of "Yoga is as Yoga Does" ('Easy Come Easy Go'), "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" ('Double Trouble'), "Smorgasbord" ('Spinout'), "Petunia the Gardener's Daughter" ('Frankie & Johnny'), "Hello Little Girl" ('Harum Scarum') and a vast majority of the soundtrack for 'Paradise Hawaiian Style' do.Unfortunately, nice scenery is too far and between, with the rest of the production values being of such cheap and made in haste quality it is even for Elvis' later films one of his cheaper-looking films. The colour is garish to the verge of being excessively nauseating, the cinematography is full of in-your face close ups in the very unexciting climax and overuse and abuse of the widescreen process that sees CinemaScope at its cheapest and the back projection is also overused and abused and has rarely looked more phoney.Scripting is groan-worthy, with very little structure or pace and delivered with very little enthusiasm, the dialogue itself makes even the strongest cheese in the world bland in comparison. The story is basically a very stale and pedestrian re-hash of 'The Prince and the Pauper', a formula tried and tested to death well before 'Clambake' and given next to no variation or momentum. Arthur Nadel's direction lacks steadiness and doesn't seem particularly experienced in film.In conclusion, not a complete waste but severely undercooked, not even reaching half-baked overall which is a worrying sign, and lacklustre. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Elvis Presley plays a wealthy racing enthusiast who switches places with poor water skiing instructor. He wants to make it "on his own" and see if he can attract women without money. As the film opens, Elvis trades places with pal Will Hutchins, who plays the lowly ski instructor; and, they sing the duet "Who Needs Money". Watch it - the unprofessional singer, Mr. Hutchins, sings the song as well as Elvis! Hutchins, Shelley Fabares, and Bill Bixby are okay; Elvis is the liability in his own movie. Hutchins, Fabares, and Bixby might have made a better film without "The King".Yet, it's not the worst film in history. The other players are entertaining, and the movie rolls along until, arguably, the scene with Elvis and the children singing "Confidence" in the playground; it's the most embarrassing song in the film. I do like "You Don't Know Me" and the title "Clambake" sounds good in the mix they released on record, but the movie is half-baked. ** Clambake (10/18/67) Arthur H. Nadel ~ Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Will Hutchins

Not-bad Elvis Presley outing has the son of a Texas oil tycoon escaping to Cypress Gardens, Florida in search of a girl who will love him for himself and not his millions; after swapping identities with a penniless water-ski instructor (unctuous Will Hutchins), Presley falls for a pretty brunette who makes it clear she wants only to marry for money. Lively direction by Arthur Nadel gives this musical-comedy some drive, with studio shots and location footage smoothly integrated (although the back-projection routine does get a real workout). Elvis sings a handful of fine songs including "A House That Has Everything", and his performance towers above the others, particularly a grating turn by Bill Bixby as a professional speedboat racer. The close-ups of the cast during the climactic speedboat race are hilariously over-exaggerated, but Shelley Fabares is a decent love-interest and the flick has a satisfying wrap-up. **1/2 from ****

As weird as this sounds, I've always preferred the Elvis movies that aren't considered among his best. His best include "Jailhouse Rock," "Loving You" and "Wild In The Country." You know, the heavier, more serious early ones.No, I'll take his later films - you got it, the dumb, stupid, oh-so light ones. Films like "Tickle Me," "Girl Happy," "Spinout" and "Double Trouble." And "Clambake." The plots were always mindless fun and "Clambake" is no different.Elvis was almost always a moody, brooding loner in the early films. He usually played unappreciative guys with chips on his shoulder the size of the Rock of Gibraltar. The characters in those films are guys I'd have little desire to know.However, the guys he played in his later movies aren't that way at all. They're nice, decent, upstanding, fun-loving fellas. I like those guys. I like watching them as heroes, as leading characters in fun, dumb little movies. Hence, I like those movies a lot more. I couldn't give a rat's rear about appraising them as serious films because they're not.In his silly mindless mid-'60s films, Elvis always had a goofy main sidekick. Here in "Clambake," it's Will Hutchins, who starred in one of Warner brothers' classic '60s television westerns, "Sugarfoot." And believe me, Hutchins can goof it up with the best of them.The two wise, sage, old guys are (1) old pro James Gregory and (2) Bette Davis' ex, Gary Merrill, who, if you really look, often looked as though he hated whatever film he was in.Elvis' Number One girl, Shelly Fabares plays the gal Elvis competes for with Bill "My Favorite Martian" Bixby. There are also plenty of Elvis Girls around, as usual.Alas, there are no true classics or any memorable songs in the entire film. Tunes like "High Hopes" clone "Confidence" aren't either."Clambake" ain't no "Tickle me," but it's still great fun!