Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Glucedee
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Jay Raskin
This movie followed "Harum Scarum" and was a big step up simply because "Harum Scarum" was arguably Elvis's worst movie. This one is actually the closest thing that Elvis ever did to a typical Hollywood musical like "Music Man." There's an interesting plot and some good energy that carries through the first half of the movie, but it limps along badly in the second half. I went to sleep and had to finish watching it the next morning.The large amount of Broadway musical-type tunes simply doesn't fit Elvis' style very well. Only the title tune is really interesting and works very well. At the end, there is a gem called "Please, Don't Stop Loving Me." It comes at about 80 minutes of the film's 87 minute run and I'm not sure that anybody except Elvis fans will last that long.Apparently Donna Douglas and Elvis had deep philosophical conversations on Paramahansa Yogananda and the Christian religion during the breaks while shooting this movie. This shows as there is very little chemistry between them. Second lead, Nancy Kovack provides whatever sexual chemistry the film does have. One suspects that if Douglas and Kovack had changed roles, the film would have worked much better.This doesn't fit into the category of Elvis' good movies, but it also doesn't fit into the category of his bad movies. Lets just say that it is an okay movie that only Elvis fans will find pleasurable.
JoeKarlosi
At first this Elvis Presley feature felt like a breath of fresh air, as it's a costume piece set aboard an old-time riverboat where Elvis plays an irresponsible and compulsive gambler named Johnny. Donna Douglas (best known as Elly May from "The Beverly Hillbillies") is his cutesy girlfriend and singing partner Frankie, and they perform as a duet on the boat (Douglas is unconvincingly dubbed). Harry Morgan of M*A*S*H fame plays Johnny's older mentor (he gets to sing too - uggghhh) who visits a gypsy fortune teller with Elvis to learn that a redhead (Nancy Kovack) will soon arrive to change his luck. Fate turns out to come true, but it creates a love triangle in the bargain. Once you get past the fancy costumes, this is fairly standard Elvis stuff. The stage songs aren't outstanding by any means, but they do fit nicely with the "showtime" feel of the proceedings. ** out of ****
deaniac1-1
I give this three stars just because it's a boring movie. I don't think it's bad. It's just really uneventful. I saw this on television once, and I switched over to the Food Network. I kind of remember what it was about, and that's about it. I have sat through probably everyone of his films, and while this isn't as bad as others (Harem Scarem!), it is pretty close. You can really tell that he was have less fun than the viewers. He looks really good (of course), but that's about it. It isn't even a fun bad movie, where you would see him as an Arabian Prince, or a race car driver. Instead of wasting time on this, watch Jailhouse Rock (the best), King Creole and even Blue Hawaii. You'll thank yourself later.
kdboles
"Frankie and Johnny" is undoubtedly one of, if not THE, worst of Elvis Presley's films. Mind you, none of Elvis' films were Academy Award material, but this film looked as if it were a hokey made-for-TV movie rather than a theatrical release. Donna Douglas' singing voice is obviously dubbed as is Harry Morgan's. Presley seems out of place in a cast made up primarily of 1960s supporting television actors. Even the director of the film, Frederick de Cordova, had his roots in TV working with George Burns and Johnny Carson - hardly credential enough to be directing a movie musical at a time when the movie musical was all but dead anyway.I walked away from the movie feeling as if I had wasted my time.
