I discovered this movie during some research on the original release of A Hard Day's Night 50 years ago. It Happened at the World's Fair was the second feature of a drive-in double bill with A Hard Day's Night in Wayne, Michigan in September 1964. I thought how cool is that, and I've watched it about five or six times on the Warner Archive web site.It grabs you from the very beginning with Elvis flying across the beautiful blue widescreen sky, singing Around the Bend. The scene with Yvonne Craig leaves me in cold sweats every time, and then Joan O'Brien's mature, classy beauty helps carry the rest of the movie.It's a great snapshot of a moment in time, the early 1960s, when world's fairs showed us an exciting future and there was great enthusiasm about the space program.The songs are all fairly good, and mesh in well with the plot. And it's intriguing to see Gary Lockwood in such a light-hearted role a few years before his much more serious performance in 2001: A Space Odyssey.No it's not Grand Illusion or Tokyo Story or The Battleship Potemkin, but it's a great example of Hollywood Elvis at his peak in the early 1960s.

As a longtime Presley fan, I didn't remember liking this one even when I was a kid way back when and loved his pictures. I have all of his movies on DVD as part of my collection and stuck this one in last week along with the dreaded "Double Trouble", if only to confirm my memories. And I was pleasantly surprised with "...World's Fair". Once you get past that horrific opening sequence of Elvis singing while in the plane, this is actually not bad. The songs are typical; only the lovely ('Anything That's Part Of You'-rip) 'They Remind Me Too Much Of You' and the tame-but-likable 'One Broken Heart For Sale' stand out, but there are only a couple terrible ones. The film itself is silly, unbelievable fluff, but with a sweetness that's rarely irritating. As far as Elvis musicals go, "It Happened At The World's Fair" isn't one of the better ones, but not among his worst, either. Fans should have a look (as if they already haven't).

Finally available on DVD in its original widescreen format and a digital transfer that is sharp and crisp, this film looks a lot better than I remember it from when I first saw it on TV as a kid. Although not one of Presley's best, It Happened at the Word's Fair is an enjoyable, if formulaic, story set against the Seattle World's Fair. One of the first films to include the Space Needle, it provides a glimpse into Seattle's not too distant past.The film finds Elvis as Mike Edwards, an out-of-work pilot, who finds himself stuck babysitting a young girl (Vicki Tui, now the first lady of Hawaii) at the fair. The character of Mike could be any number of characters played by Elvis – he is down on his luck, not afraid of trouble, and most importantly good with the ladies. This film tries to include something for everyone: an adorable child, Elvis, sexy women, Elvis, danger – in the wake of his partner Danny's (Gary Lockwood) gambling problems, and more Elvis. Thankfully it is still early in his film career and Elvis appears fresh and in good form – not bored to distraction with playing the same basic character as we find in his later films.Noteworthy in this film is the steamy (okay maybe a little more schmaltzy than steamy, but it was the early sixties after all) scene early on with Yvonne Craig. The future Catwoman plays cat and mouse with Elvis while he sings the appropriately titled song "Relax." Elvis seems to have more chemistry here than he does with Joan O'Brien, the main love interest.The music – although not as great or catchy as Blue Hawaii or Jailhouse Rock – is appropriate and not over done. The songs fit the action and those with the young girl seem natural and are the most touching. "How Would You Like to Be" is probably the best song from the set. The delightful song is sure to lift any pouting child's spirit.With decent acting and directing, the film is quite enjoyable for Elvis fans, and quite tolerable for non fans. And, of course, the screen debut of Kurt Russell (he'd later go on to play Elvis) in which he kicks the King is worth seeing just for the irony.

I watched this movie with my best friend, a HUGE Elvis fan. Truthfully, It Happened At The World's Fair, was my first Elvis flik, and I'm sure, just positively sure, that Elvis has movies in his repertoire that are actually entertaining. This was a real snoozer. It's unfortunate that the child actress used in this film didn't continue in a film career, because she stole every scene that she and Elvis were in. In fact, I wondered why Elvis was even cast in this role, because it doesn't appear that his heart was in it. By '63 the guy was probably tired of burning it at both ends, and it shows. My buddy and I actually laughed out loud at some of the very hokey scenes, which weren't necessarily written nor acted to be humorous. All in all, the movie's greatest contribution was its footage of the world's fair circa early 1960's and the on screen appearance of a couple of members of his real life entourage. I look forward to viewing other Elvis films, its all uphill from here (I'm sure!).