King of the Road: Five Great Elvis Travel Movies

Lists: Eva Holland and Eli Ellison go traveling with The King on his 75th birthday.

Fun in Acapulco (1963)

A Trip Fit for The King: Memphis meets Mexico as Mike Windgren (Elvis), a traumatized former trapeze artist, heads south of the border to find work. Now suffering from acrophobia, Mike, with the help of pint-sized pal Raoul (nearly as annoying as the kid in the second Indiana Jones flick), lands a lifeguard/nightclub entertainer job at the Acapulco Hilton (where else?). Will Mike conquer his fear of heights and dive off Acapulco’s famous cliffs of La Quebrada? Of course he will. This cheesy-bad goodness must be seen to be believed.

Love Me Tender: Arguably the most stunning Elvis movie girl of all, Ursula Andress plays Maragrita Dauphine, the hotel’s social director. Mike falls hard. But one thing stands in his way: the dastardly cliff-diver, Moreno.

Best Song: Tie between Bossa Nova Baby (featuring Elvis TCB on the organ and bongos) and Guadalajara, sung by the boy from Tupelo, in Español.

Worst Song: No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car. This embarrassing tripe makes In the Ghetto look good.

Does Elvis Leave The Building? The Pelvis never set foot in Mexico, filming all his scenes in Hollywood. Fortunately, the camera crew captured some nice ‘60s-era Acapulco footage for the green-screen backdrops.

Next Page »


Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.

Eli Ellison


2 Comments for King of the Road: Five Great Elvis Travel Movies

Matt 02.01.10 | 4:56 PM ET

Surely you forgot the most important Elvis travel movie of all! http://www.theelvisproject.com/home.html

Eli 02.05.10 | 2:15 AM ET

Elvis battles Royal Mounties and Hustler magazine? Sounds like a winner to me. Thank for the tip, Matt.

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.