G.I. Blues (1960)

Elvis was in the U.S. Army from 1958-1960. Once he returned, his first film back was G.I. Blues. This is a musical-comedy based in Germany which was produced by Hal Wallis and directed by Norman Taurog. Released November 23^rd, 1960, G.I. Blues follows Tulsa McLean (Elvis) who is stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army and has a singing career.

Frankfurt Special

Watching the movie, we learn Tulsa dreams of running his own nightclub once he leaves the army. With the help of his bandmates from the army, Tulsa performs in various nightclubs in Germany.

Shopping Around

Elvis and Juliet

Hoping to raise money for his nightclub, Tulsa places a bet with his friend Dynamite that he can spend the night with a night club dancer, Lili (portrayed by Juliet Prowse), who is rumored to be hard to get. They begin to have a romance and Tulsa begins to feel guilty about the bet. One of Elvis’s army friends Rick has a baby and asks Tulsa to babysit. After failed attempts to get the baby to stop crying, Tulsa asks Lili for help and ends up “spending the night” with Lili and winning the bet. Lili finds out and gets angry with Tulsa, but there is a happy ending and they end up together.

Didja’ Ever

https://youtu.be/sODVSTWYGpA

G.I. Blues is such a light hearted film. It is one of those movies I watch to put me in a good mood. There is a point where Tulsa is singing with a puppet, but there is a charm to it that makes it alright. (He sings some German in this scene and on a family trip to Frankenmuth, a German town experience in Michigan, there was a German musical channel. One of the men on this channel actually started singing the German version of this song and I just so happened to know the words. I confused my parents until I told them it was an Elvis song. Elvis was a lot of my explanations growing up.)

Wooden Heart

One of my absolute favorite scenes though is Tulsa playing with the baby. There is something about Elvis in his army uniform playing with a baby
that melts my heart. Also, there was a shower scene, and seeing Elvis without a shirt on made me blush when I got older.

Growing up, I knew a man Rev. Cecil Johnson that knew Elvis in the army while stationed in Germany. I was very young when I knew him, maybe 7 or 8. While visiting my grandfather’s church, he and I talked about his stint in the army with Elvis. He told me that Elvis always worked; he wanted to work. Elvis woke up with everyone else and never once asked for special treatment. Cecil even told me that Elvis used a lot of his army buddies as extras in the movie and that he was in it himself. You can see him pumping gas for Elvis at the station.

This post would not be complete without this video.

G.I. Blues

https://youtu.be/mIWoJ0gbChA

TCB,