An unexpected delight. A bit of an oddity from the King - it doesn't fall into one of Elvis' usual categories (e.g. crappy musical where he plays a speed car racer, a hillbilly comedy, a JD film). It's a period movie, with Elvis as a gambler on the riverboat who gets caught between two women. Its stressful watching Elvis play a compulsive gambler because you know it's an illness and one that will cause him pain down the track even if its treated comically here (normally in his movies it was his best friends who were the gamblers) and the story could have done with a bit more plot - its mostly a catfight between two women over Elvis. That's not a story without its charms, especially as Elvis is faced with the same perennial Betty vs. Veronica dilemma as Archie in the "Archie" comics - to wit, to chose between loyal Donna Douglas and enticing Nancy Kovacs. Depends on your taste, really (of course the solution is to have both - you could cheat on Betty til your heart's content, she'd always take you back).
Douglas, who looked so fetching in jeans in The Beverly Hillbillies, loses a little something when dolled up; Kovacs is quite captivating as the liberated Nelly Bly. There is a strong support cast, really excellent colourful production values and some bright numbers, not typically Elvis (including "When the Saints Go Marching In" - appropriate for Elvis because his common method of singing in his films was to walk up and down on the spot with shoulders slightly hunched). Edward Small's B movies often had a bit of extra sparkle in them and this is no exception.
But the lack of story is frustrating - the real Frankie and Johnny song was about a cheating man who was shot to death, but they don't follow that here. I can understand why (its an Elvis film after all) but what they use instead is a bit lame - Elvis' rival gets jealous, but not really jealous, and its only misunderstanding which means he gets shot at the end and blah blah blah.
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