5/10
Colorful clichés make me wish this was the real Acapulco.
10 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
After being fired as a yacht crew member thanks to an obnoxious teenaged girl, sexy Elvis Presley gets to swing those hips to a Latin beat in a local nightclub. There, he becomes the object of affection of two beautiful women, Ursula Andres and Elsa Cardenas while dealing with old fears as a high diver after an incident as a trapeze artist. With the help of the adorable Larry Domasin, Elvis is able to solve his problems, all the while wondering sardonically if Domasin is a 40 year old midget. As W.C. Fields warned older actors, cute children, especially ethnic ones, are scene stealers.

Fun and frivolous, this has some great musical moments, especially a bike riding duet entitled "Mexico" with the scene stealing Domasin. But even with his dark hair and tan, it's obvious that Presley is as Caucasian as they come, his southern drawl a dead giveaway. The romantic subplot is rather unimportant, although Cardenas is quite striking in her matador outfit. But it's obvious that this is Hollywood's dream ideal of a friendly, tourist loving Mexico, no social issues and no reflection on the real issues of the 60's. Poor Paul Lukas is wasted in a minor role as Andres's papa, looking like a Hungarian chef Boyardee. But oh that scenery...so gorgeous, you can practically taste it!
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