Generally speaking - I have always liked Elvis Presley as both an actor and a singer - And since I had never heard of this 1962 Comedy/Romance/Musical before - I sure thought that I was in for a real treat here.Well - Let me tell ya - (Now I know) - Just because the "King of Rock & Roll" happens to star in a picture doesn't guarantee that it's gonna be good (as is the case here with "Follow That Dream").IMO - This total embarrassment was absolute, bottom-of-the-barrel movie-junk from start to finish. It really was.In this utterly cringe-worthy garbage - Presley (27 at the time) plays Toby Kwimper, an unbelievably naive/ignorant hick from Cranberry County, Alabama. And, as the story goes - He, and his equally dumbass family, are now self-righteously squatting on public land in Florida.Anyway - All that I have left to say is that I have finally come across an Elvis Presley movie that I completely despise. What more can I say?

This a highly entertaining movie with Elvis playing a great character that is very unlike his own. Elvis' performance in the courtroom scene is excellent, very natural. The movie incorporates quite a bit of the great lines and stories from the Powell book 'Pioneer, Go Home'. Highly recommended! Elvis, Anne Helm and Arthur O'Connell are great together and create a genuine family. The supporting characters are also well done. This movie stacks up with many good movies of this era. This is not a 'typical' Elvis move. Some nice underrated songs, Angel is very good and Follow That Dream is a classic. Beautiful scenes of Florida in the 60's are a treat, no condos or highways appear as they do now in most of FL. Great Elvis movie that helps to cement his place in cinema history.

Being a fan of The Andy Griffith Show (TAGS) and The Beverly Hillbillies, I find an uncanny resemblance between Toby Kwimper and Andy Taylor as well as Jethro Bodine.While not quite the simpleton that Jethro was, Toby was ignorant to a lot of the ways of the world. Both were known espouse their superior intellect and high education and to recite their times tables. Jethro called it cyphering. And like the other 'sheriff without a gun', Andy Taylor, he outwitted his adversaries using cunning and intellect. One wonders if he really wasn't as simple as he appeared to be. It could have been his way of putting people at ease and his adversaries off their game.It made me wonder if TAGS and BH were patterned after this movie or vice versa. Turns out they were released at about the same time. Probably happenstance.... or not. There are a several "Follow that Dream" alumna on TAGS. I'll let you figure out who they are.The most memorable part of the show was the candy bar scenes. I remember watching a movie back in my teens and thought it was extremely hilarious. I remembered the scenes, just not the name of the movie. I wondered for years what the name of the movie was. I stumbled upon a VHS copy a year or two ago in a bargain bin. I figured, "Elvis? for a buck? can't go wrong." At first viewing, the first time the big brother bites off the long piece of candy bar to even things up, I said, "THAT'S IT!"

I think that this movie was good, but not great. I like many, many movies that fall into that category. Elvis movies are like that. They're not the best movies in the universe as far as plot and all goes, but they're somehow...comforting. Maybe because we enjoyed them as kids, I don't know. I like this one, I like the innocence of the characters. The little kids in it are funny. Elvis sings some more corny but lovable songs. There are no characters that are over the top, but somehow they seem to resemble people we all know in our own life! I love the bad guys...they're not so scary! Kinda goofy and mild. All around, it's fun to watch. I like to put them on in the kitchen while I'm cooking and sing along!