Just like MGM's classic Meet Me In St. Louis which has the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis as a backdrop for the story, It Happened At The World's Fair uses the 1963 Seattle World's Fair for the same purpose. No big song hits came out of this film as they did for Judy Garland in her film, but Elvis Presley does sing quite a few numbers here and some of them should have been better known.It Happens At The World's Fair casts the King and Gary Lockwood as a pair of crop duster fliers who can't seem to get out of debt no matter how hard they work. This is mostly due to Lockwood's irresponsibility which takes the form of a gambling habit. Lockwood never saw a poker table or a crap game he couldn't pass up. The sheriff's gone and padlocked their plane so these guys can't fly. It's off to Seattle for Presley and Lockwood to find a job or raise a stake somehow.And in Seattle Elvis gets involved with two women. Joan O'Brien who works in the World's Fair Infirmary and little Vicky Tsu who comes into his custody when her uncle Kam Tong goes missing. So the rest of the film Presley and Lockwood are trying to deal with their financial mess and in Elvis's case court Joan O'Brien and take care of the little girl he now has custody of.Elvis sang a goodly amount of songs here and two of them, Happy Ending and A World Of Our Own should have become bigger hits for him. I'm also surprised that Joan O'Brien didn't get to sing a bit more, she does join Elvis in the Happy Ending finale for a couple of bars. But Joan was a singer and hardly utilized in her brief film career.This film has also something of a cult status with fans of the King because young Kurt Russell who grew up to play Elvis Presley has a couple of scenes with him. Just like Tony Curtis whose idol was Cary Grant growing up to play in a film with him in Operation Petticoat.It Happened At The World's Fair probably resulted from Colonel Tom Parker making a deal with the Seattle World's Fair people to advertise the exhibition by shooting an Elvis film there. If that was the case than everybody made out fine.

As someone else mentioned, 1963 is still early enough that Elvis Presley looks like he's enjoying himself in "It Happened at the World's Fair," which also stars Gary Lockwood, Joan O'Brien and Vicky Tiu. Pilots Mike (Elvis) and Danny (Lockwood) find themselves without a plane after it's confiscated for debts due to Lockwood's addiction to gambling. They hitch a ride to Seattle with a man and his 7-year-old niece Sue-Lin (Tiu), and Mike ends up taking the little girl to the 1962 World's Fair. When she eats too much junk, he takes her to the clinic, where he meets Diane Warren (Joan O'Brien), a nurse. He comes on a little strong - so strong, I'm surprised she didn't call security. In order to see her again, he gives a little boy (Kurt Russell) a quarter to kick him in the shins.After he return Sue-Lin to her uncle, she finds Mike again when her uncle doesn't come home from making a delivery. Mike now has to cope with a not very helpful partner, trying to think of a way to get his plane back, romancing Diane and taking care of a 7-year-old girl.This is the usual Elvis travelogue, but more interesting than others because it's shot on the grounds of the Seattle World's Fair and has that iconic moment when future brilliant Elvis impersonator Russell lets him have it in the shins. Elvis looks great and as usual sings beautifully. The music is pretty good. This wasn't the film career Elvis wanted but unfortunately for his ambitions, these films made money. Enjoyable.

Enjoyed this Elvis Presley film where he plays the role as Mike Edwards who is down on his luck and meets up with a sweet little girl named Sue-Lin, (Vicky Tiu) who likes Mike and he agrees to watch her while her uncle takes care of his business affairs. Mike takes Sue-Lin to the Seattle World's Fair and they take in all the rides and Sue-Lin also wins a huge doll which is larger than she is. Mike buys Sue all kinds of food at the fair and she gets sick and is taken to a hospital where Mike runs into a very attractive blonde nurse, Diane Warren, (Joan O'Brien) who puts the make on her and Diane quickly brushes Mike off. Elvis performs various songs which were not very popular and this was not necessarily a great Presley film, but the story was very cute and if you missed the Seattle World's Fair, you will enjoy all the photography taken at the fair.

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.