![[box cover]](../../reviewimgs/d/doubletrouble.jpg)
Double Trouble
A little hipper, a tad more "mod" than the usual Elvis fare, Double Trouble (1967) finds Mr. Presley playing a singer named Guy Lambert, who catches the eye of two ladies while performing in a London nightclub — lovestruck, almost-18-year-old heiress Jill (Annette Day) who has plans for a more domestic relationship than Guy has in mind, and an older vixen (Yvonne Romain) with a more mysterious agenda. When he leaves London for Antwerp, both women follow — and oh, the wacky hijinks that ensue! In an attempt to turn the typical Elvis fare into a swingin' caper comedy, there's a flimsy plot involving smuggled diamonds with inept British criminals and Belgian cops in search of same — directed by Norman Taurog in a transparently laughable attempt to emulate Blake Edwards' Pink Panther style — shoe-horned between lascivious scenes of Elvis' amorous underage girlfriend trying to seduce him. Naturally, Elvis croons some mostly unremarkable songs, although not nearly as many as in most of his films — but his campy rendition of "Old McDonald" while riding on the back of a chicken truck is one of the funniest tunes that The King ever recorded ("With an oink-oink here, an oink-oink there/Pigs everywhere in sight/And when those pigs got out of line/Pork and beans at night"). The film's hardly one of the worst in the Elvis canon, although leading-lady Day has a freakish, unblinking quality that makes her seem ever-so-slightly psychotic and, as was the norm with the later Elvis pictures, the movie's star often seems to just be going through the motions. Keep an eye out for a very young Michael Murphy, better known for his later roles in Woody Allen films and as star of the brilliant, short-lived Robert Altman TV series "Tanner '88". Warner offers a sharp, colorful anamorphic transfer (2.35:1) from a very clean source-print with very little noticeable scratches or specks. The monaural Dolby Digital audio is fine (in English or French with an array of subtitles), although the mix on some of the songs cranks up the music loud enough that it fights with the vocals. On board is the original theatrical trailer, plus trailers for three other Elvis titles. Keep-case.
—Dawn Taylor
