"Moonspinner" (previous reviewer) must have had his/her head in a spin. First of all, I'm an Elvis fan, so I'm biased; and I acknowledge that about 10 of his 31 films were pretty poor. But for people to imply that Follow That Dream was one of them is ridiculous.
Elvis' performance in this film is not simply good - it's outstanding. He plays an "idiot savant" type of role, and plays it to perfection. His speaking voice, his body language, his timing : they're all spot on for this characterisation.
The fact that the film lasts for 1 Hr 45 min proves that some integrity went into its making, in order to get the whole story across; and make no mistake, it's a good story with a number of good episodes. OK, we're all so sophisticated and know-it-all these days, and can say the story is unbelievable, but it is set the best part of 50 years ago.
Again, contrary to some other comments, the location filming is beautifully done and in the few instances where they have done back-projections, it is not at all obvious.
It's easy to pick fault with any film, if you set your mind on it, but my only criticisms of Follow That Dream are (i) that Joanna Moore's diction is very poor and difficult to follow and (ii) that the recording studio echo on the song Follow That Dream does not fit the simplicity of the scene where it's sung - yet it still has a charm to it.
Elvis's performance in this film deserved/deserves some wider recognition. There's no question that he was a competent actor. Contrast his role here, as Toby Kwimper, against the dramatic role as Pacer Burton in the superb Flaming Star, only a year earlier, and you can only express admiration.
One final word of praise for Anne Helm, who plays her part as Holly to perfection.
Elvis' performance in this film is not simply good - it's outstanding. He plays an "idiot savant" type of role, and plays it to perfection. His speaking voice, his body language, his timing : they're all spot on for this characterisation.
The fact that the film lasts for 1 Hr 45 min proves that some integrity went into its making, in order to get the whole story across; and make no mistake, it's a good story with a number of good episodes. OK, we're all so sophisticated and know-it-all these days, and can say the story is unbelievable, but it is set the best part of 50 years ago.
Again, contrary to some other comments, the location filming is beautifully done and in the few instances where they have done back-projections, it is not at all obvious.
It's easy to pick fault with any film, if you set your mind on it, but my only criticisms of Follow That Dream are (i) that Joanna Moore's diction is very poor and difficult to follow and (ii) that the recording studio echo on the song Follow That Dream does not fit the simplicity of the scene where it's sung - yet it still has a charm to it.
Elvis's performance in this film deserved/deserves some wider recognition. There's no question that he was a competent actor. Contrast his role here, as Toby Kwimper, against the dramatic role as Pacer Burton in the superb Flaming Star, only a year earlier, and you can only express admiration.
One final word of praise for Anne Helm, who plays her part as Holly to perfection.