Girls! Girls! Girls!

1962 film

For similarly titled works, see Girls Girls Girls (disambiguation).

Girls! Girls! Girls!

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Norman Taurog
Screenplay by| Edward Anhalt
Allen Weiss
Story by| Allan Weiss
Produced by| Hal B. Wallis
Starring|

* Elvis Presley
* Stella Stevens
* Jeremy Slate
* Laurel Goodwin

Cinematography| Loyal Griggs
Edited by| Stanley E. Johnson
Music by| Joseph J. Lilley

Production
company

Hal Wallis Productions

Distributed by| Paramount Pictures

Release dates

* October 31, 1962 (1962-10-31) (Honolulu)[1]
* November 21, 1962 (1962-11-21) (Los Angeles)[2]

Running time

| 106 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Box office| $2,600,000 (USA)[3][4] or $3.6 million (US/Canada)[5]

Girls! Girls! Girls! is a 1962 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley as a penniless Hawaii-based fisherman who loves his life on the sea and dreams of owning his own boat. "Return to Sender", which reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop singles chart, is featured in the film. The film peaked at #6 on the Variety box office chart and finished the year at #19 on the year-end list of the top-grossing films of 1962, having earned $2.6 million at the box office.[3] It was also nominated for the Golden Globe award for Best Motion Picture - Musical in 1963. The film was the second of three films Presley shot on location in Hawaii.

## Plot

[edit]

Ross Carpenter is a Hawaii-based fishing guide and sailor who enjoys boating and sailing out on the sea. When he finds out his boss is retiring to Arizona, he seeks to find a way to buy the Westwind, a boat that he built with his father.

Ross is caught in a love triangle with two women: childish, insensitive club singer Robin, and sweet Laurel. When Wesley Johnson makes advances on Laurel, Ross punches him out. Wesley owns the boat, so Ross thereby loses it. Laurel, however, is not who she pretends to be. She is an heiress getting over a bad breakup, and searching for someone who doesn't love her for her money. She secretly buys the Westwind for him, but Ross' male pride won't allow him to take it. Ross has to choose between her and Robin.

## Cast

[edit]

* Elvis Presley as Ross Carpenter
* Stella Stevens as Robin Gantner
* Laurel Goodwin as Laurel Dodge
* Jeremy Slate as Wesley Johnson
* Benson Fong as Kin Yung
* Beulah Quo as Madam Yung
* Guy Lee as Chen Yung
* Ginny Tiu as Mai Ling
* Elizabeth Tiu as Tai Ling
* Alexander Tiu as Mai and Tai Ling's Brother
* Robert Strauss as Sam Anderson
* Ann McCrea as Mrs. Arthur Morgan (uncredited)
* Nestor Paiva as Arthur Morgan (uncredited)
* The Jordanaires as Backup Singers

## Notes

[edit]

Pamela Tiffin was asked to play Laurel Dodge, but turned down the role.[6]

## Soundtrack

[edit]

Main article: Girls! Girls! Girls! (soundtrack)

## Reception

[edit]

A review in Variety wrote that the film put Presley "back into the non-dramatic, purely escapist light musical vein," adding, "Essentially, Presley plays himself in the breezy sea session. He handles the role capably, though one would hardly expect a hardened fisherman to be as soft, smooth and white as the one Presley depicts. The character has little depth, but he is pleasant."[7] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that the songs were "strung very pleasantly on a story-line of disarming simplicity and bedded comfortably in a stretch of gently fizzing repartee."[8] Margaret Harford of the Los Angeles Times called it "no better or worse than previous Elvis epics."[9] American-based Jewish magazine The Forward has acknowledged that the film's song "The Walls Have Ears," also translated as "Vent hobn oyern," referred to a Yiddish phrase which warns how "someone's always listening."[10]

### Awards and nominations

[edit]

* Golden Globes: Nominated for Best Motion Picture - Musical at the 1963 ceremony. The winner that year was The Music Man.[11] Elvis Presley received a 2nd place Laurel Award for the best male performance in a musical for his acting role in this movie.[12]

### Box office

[edit]

Girls! Girls! Girls! earned $2,600,000 at the box office in the United States.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* List of American films of 1962

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Girls! Girls! Girls! - Details". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
2. ^ "Elvis' Film Opens Today". Los Angeles Times: Part IV, p. 6. November 21, 1962.
3. ^ a b c "Girls! Girls! Girls!". The Numbers. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
4. ^ Michael A. Hoey, Elvis' Favorite Director: The Amazing 52-Film Career of Norman Taurog, Bear Manor Media 2013
5. ^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1962". Variety. January 9, 1963. p. 13. Please note these are rentals and not gross figures
6. ^ Lisanti, Tom (2015). Pamela Tiffin: Hollywood to Rome, 1961-1974. McFarland. p. 49\. ISBN 978-1476620169.
7. ^ "Girls! Girls! Girls!". Variety: 6, 16. November 7, 1962.
8. ^ "Girls! Girls! Girls!". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 30 (348): 8. January 1963.
9. ^ Harford, Margaret (November 23, 1962). "Elvis Back in Form in 'Girls' Picture". Los Angeles Times: Part IV, p. 17.
10. ^ Saunders, Hilary (July 25, 2015). "6 Artists You Didn't Know Used Yiddish, From Elvis to Public Enemy". The Forward. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
11. ^ HFPA – Nominations and Winners Archived December 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
12. ^ "Elvis Presley". IMDb.

## External links

[edit]

* Elvis in Hawaii fansite.
* Girls! Girls! Girls! at IMDb
* Girls! Girls! Girls! at the TCM Movie Database

### Movie reviews

[edit]

* Review by Jamie Gillies at Apollo Movie Guide

### DVD reviews

[edit]

* Review of the movie collection "Lights! Camera! Elvis! Collection (King Creole, Blue Hawaii, G.I. Blues, Fun in Acapulco, Roustabout, Girls! Girls! Girls!, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, Easy Come, Easy Go) by Paul Mavis at DVD Talk, August 6, 2007.
* Review by Jon Danziger at digitallyOBSESSED!, February 3, 2003.

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Studio albums|

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Soundtrack albums|

* Loving You
* King Creole
* G.I. Blues
* Blue Hawaii
* Girls! Girls! Girls!
* It Happened at the World's Fair
* Fun in Acapulco
* Kissin' Cousins
* Roustabout
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* Frankie and Johnny
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Compilation albums|

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* Elvis 56
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Greatest hits albums|

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Box sets|

* Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits Vol. 1
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* Peace in the Valley: The Complete Gospel Recordings
* Live in Las Vegas
* Today, Tomorrow, and Forever
* Elvis the King
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Biographical media|

* Elvis (1979 film)
* Elvis and Me (miniseries)
* Elvis (1990 series)
* Elvis Meets Nixon
* Elvis (2005 miniseries)
* Elvis & Nixon
* Elvis (2022 film)
* Agent Elvis (2023 series)
* Priscilla

Documentaries|

* The Pied Piper of Cleveland
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TV specials|

* The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis
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Stage shows|

* Cooking with Elvis
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Related articles|

* Graceland
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* Elvis' Greatest Shit
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Films directed by Norman Taurog

* Lucky Boy (1929)
* The Diplomats (1929)
* In Holland (1929)
* The Medicine Men (1929)
* Troopers Three (1930)
* Sunny Skies (1930)
* Hot Curves (1930)
* Follow the Leader (1930)
* Finn and Hattie (1931)
* Skippy (1931)
* Forbidden Adventure (1931)
* Huckleberry Finn (1931)
* Sooky (1931)
* Hold 'Em Jail (1932)
* The Phantom President (1932)
* If I Had a Million (segments "Prologue" and "Epilogue", 1932)
* A Bedtime Story (1933)
* The Way to Love (1933)
* We're Not Dressing (1934)
* Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934)
* College Rhythm (1934)
* The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1936)
* Strike Me Pink (1936)
* Rhythm on the Range (1936)
* Reunion (1936)
* Fifty Roads to Town (1937)
* You Can't Have Everything (1937)
* The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
* Mad About Music (1938)
* Boys Town (1938)
* The Girl Downstairs (1938)
* Lucky Night (1939)
* Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
* Young Tom Edison (1940)
* Little Nellie Kelly (1940)
* Men of Boys Town (1941)
* Design for Scandal (1941)
* Are Husbands Necessary? (1942)
* A Yank at Eton (1942)
* Presenting Lily Mars (1943)
* Girl Crazy (1943)
* The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
* The Beginning or the End (1947)
* The Bride Goes Wild (1948)
* Big City (1948)
* Words and Music (1948)
* That Midnight Kiss (1949)
* Please Believe Me (1950)
* The Toast of New Orleans (1950)
* Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1950)
* Rich, Young and Pretty (1951)
* Room for One More (1952)
* Jumping Jacks (1952)
* The Stooge (1953)
* The Stars Are Singing (1953)
* The Caddy (1953)
* Living It Up (1954)
* You're Never Too Young (1955)
* The Birds and the Bees (1956)
* Pardners (1956)
* Bundle of Joy (1956)
* The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (1958)
* Onionhead (1958)
* Don't Give Up the Ship (1959)
* Visit to a Small Planet (1960)
* G.I. Blues (1960)
* All Hands on Deck (1961)
* Blue Hawaii (1961)
* Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)
* It Happened at the World's Fair (1963)
* Palm Springs Weekend (1963)
* Tickle Me (1965)
* Sergeant Deadhead (1965)
* Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
* Spinout (1966)
* Double Trouble (1967)
* Speedway (1968)
* Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)

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