Stay Away, Joe

1968 "Elvis is kissin' cousins again- and also friends, friends of friends, and even some perfect strangers!"
4.5| 1h42m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 08 March 1968 Released
Producted By: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Joe Lightcloud persuades his Congressman to give him 20 heifers and a prize bull so he and his father, Charlie, can prove that the Navajos can successfully raise cattle on the reservation. If their experiment is successful, then the government will help all the Navajo people. But Joe's friend, Bronc Hoverty, accidentally barbecues the prize bull, while Joe sells the heifers to buy plumbing and other home improvements for his stepmother.

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Reviews

Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever
Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!
Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
bkoganbing Not even the normally astute management of Colonel Tom Parker who as usual got a cast of top flight players to support Elvis Presley could save a stinker like Stay Away Joe. I had heard for years at how the American Indians were upset at this film and I've finally seen why.As usual a bunch of white actors with a little olive oil makeup including the King are playing Navajo Indians. Elvis is a rodeo performer and a bull rider to be precise who has come home to the reservation bringing a herd of cattle that the government has given his parents Burgess Meredith and Katy Jurado to tend and raise. About two dozen cows and a bull which the Navajos slaughter and barbecue at a wild party to welcome Elvis home. The rest of the film deals with various escapades romantic and otherwise the King gets himself in. A running joke is Joan Blondell trying to affect a shotgun wedding between Elvis and her daughter Quentin Dean, a girl whom the facts of life haven't been sufficiently explained, but who has some real lively hormones.The Navajos here were portrayed as a bunch of partying drunken louts whom the white man isn't sure can deal with such responsibility as government cattle. No wonder they were all upset, not to mention the fact that white actors were portraying them as such. It's the Amos and Andy syndrome working here.A young man named Ryan Dirteater who is one of the rising stars of the Professional Bull Riders came to mind when I watched Elvis riding home, making a grandstanding gesture on the original bull. Bucking bull or not I think the riders of the PBR would have been hooting at this one, knowing how hard it is to make that 8 seconds. I single out Dirteater because he is from Oklahoma of Cherokee Indian background.Worst of all there are no good songs for Elvis coming out of the score. Isn't that what we really see a Presley movie for?Just Stay Away Joe, and you viewers stay too.
Michael_Elliott Stay Away, Joe (1968) * (out of 4) Incredibly bad film has Elvis playing an Indian who also just happens to be a rodeo champion. He decides to return to the reservation so that he can help his father (Burgess Meredith) raise cows but soon he gets into trouble with various women and some government men. I'm really curious if Marlon Brando watched this movie and that's what set him off about how Indians were being treated in film because this movie is so outrageous that even D.W. Griffith and John Ford would blush. For starters, all of the white cast members are wearing tan paint to make them look like Indians and the first time we see Meredith he's an ignorant drunk. In fact, all of the Indians do nothing more than get drunk, fall down and start fights. The stereotypes here are outrageous but the film is so poorly done that you can't even get any politically incorrect laughs at of it. I'm really not sure what in the hell was going on with the story but it was incredibly stupid and full of large plot holes. The songs were equally as bad including one scene where Elvis sings to a bull. The supporting cast are all pretty bad but Meredith comes off the worse with the most embarrassing performance and part I've ever seen him do. He was such a great character actor that it was rather sad seeing him in something like this. Elvis, on the other hand, actually manages to be the only decent thing here but that's still not saying too much.
stalzz64 OK, the portrayal of the stereotyped 'indians' in this story is just plain WRONG. I do agree that Elvis looks rather good here, but yeah, his skin color does seem to change during the movie. I was thinking, OK,...he was never THAT tan in real life. It's some of the most obvious brown 'indian' makeup that I have ever seen. It's as bad as the 'indians' on 'F-Troop' and the old Hollywood westerns who were played by Jewish and Italian American actors and not real Native Americans!This movie is o.k., but typically lame story and mediocre songs, like in all of Elvis' later films. He just did them because Colonel Parker had him tied down to long term movie contacts to squeeze as much money out of Elvis as possible! I keep thinking 'thank God' that Elvis stopped making movies forever not long after this movie came out. It is cool to see character actors Joan Blondell, Katy Jurado, L.Q. Jones, Henry Jones and Burgess Meredith in this movie, though.Burgess Meredith's 'indian' makeup is absolutely AWFUL. It's The worst of the bunch for sure. What were the filmmakers thinking? Was Mr. Meredith doing this one just for the money or what? I do love certain Elvis movies, though. For example: 'Love Me Tender', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Viva Las Vegas'. I can even stand to watch his movie with future TV co-stars Mary Tyler Moore and Ed Asner,'Change Of Habit' in which Elvis plays an inner-city doctor.Oh well, at least Elvis made a FEW good films, but the mediocre and bad ones overwhelm the decent and good ones.I'll always love ELVIS! Thank you, Thank you very much!
wes-connors Elvis Presley plays a "half-breed" Native American ("Indian") who has to defend his reservation from nasty business tycoons. Everyone likes to get drunk, fight, and make children. Fighting, wrestling, and "punching out" each other replace the stereotypical hand-raised expression "How"?Although he does have make-up on, it's obvious Elvis is healthier than he appeared in prior films; possibly, he was getting ready for his famous "comeback". It couldn't have been because this movie's script was anything to get excited about. Joan Blondell trying to seduce Elvis, and Burgess Meredith in "war paint", should be ashamed.The best song is "Stay Away" (actually, "Green Sleeves" with different lyrics). The most embarrassing song is Elvis' love song to the bull "Dominic". There are some surreal scenes, but it never becomes trippy enough to succeed in that genre; though, "Stay Away, Joe" might provide some laughs if you're in the right "mood".Otherwise, stay away. ** Stay Away, Joe (3/8/68) Peter Tewksbury ~ Elvis Presley, Burgess Meredith, Joan Blondell