Watching "Blue Hawaii"

I've going through my stack of Elvis Presley movies, watching one after the other.

There's some I don't plan on watching, like "Love Me Tender" or any of the more depressing ones. Any where Elvis dies, gets beat to a pulp, is a juvenile delinquent, or in prison are not my favorites. I may be a minority voice, but I definitely prefer the more happy go lucky movies where there's a good time involved.

Of course even in the good time movies, there's conflict. That's natural to a story. But I like my conflict on the easy side, not the sour stuff that shows Elvis in a bad light. Like his Daddy wants him to go into his business but Elvis wants to be independent. That's the kind of conflict I can tolerate.

Right now -- while exercising mornings and evenings -- I'm watching "Blue Hawaii." This is a good film. There's a lot of good songs and scenery. There's the guy who played Floyd the Barber. Angela Lansbury is Elvis' mom.

Maybe the worst part of the movie is the fact that the girl from the tourist group is pursuing Elvis, and she's underage. To his credit, when she kisses him he pushes her away. Still it's kind of nasty. Then he gets into a fight concerning her and ends up in the jail. That's where I am now, right at the place where his disappointed Daddy has to come bail him out. Bad conflict.

Of course it all works out in the end. But there's some more unpleasantness involving this particular bratty girl, then the teacher with Elvis, before he finally ends up with his true lady love in the film.