Customer Reviews

Harum Scarum

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

THANK YOU WARNER BROTHERS for useing the original MOVIE POSTERS for the covers of these wonderful DVDs! They look EXCELLENT! I wish the other companies that put ELVIS films out would have followed suit BUT instead they air brush a still from the film and think they can make a better cover than the EXPERIENCED MOVIE POSTER artists of the 1950's and 1960's. All you can ask from an ELVIS movie is that it is Entertaining and a GREAT Soundtrack...this film has both. HAREM HOLIDAY, the films' opening track, is a classic.

I first saw this movie as a very young teenage male who idolized Elvis. It made a lasting impression on me. It was one of the first records (LP's-remember those?) that I purchased. Yes, the movie IS cheesey, and in acordance with most of the other reviewers on this site, was not worthy of Elvis's presence. However, I recently saw the movie again for the first time in years on one of my satellite channels, and I would suggest some alternate obsevations. 1.) The plot is structured to conform to the typical "travelog" Elvis movie, i.e. "Blue Hawaii", and allows for him to sing some songs, do karate moves, and romance women in an environment that actually seems less contrived than perhaps "G.I. Blues". 2.)Yes, the movie is silly, but I still think that the sountrack has some really beautiful melodies, which I still enjoy singing. 3.)I would assert that Elvis' on-screen redition of "So Close, Yet So Far" was one of the very few songs that he seemed to put his heart in for the camera in all of his movie "career". Try to watch at least that scene with an open heart. The song is pretty, passionate, and well done. 4.)Today, the scene with the slave girl in which Elvis sings "Hey Little Girl" would most certainly not past muster for being "politically correct"-in fact, it may not get past many censors. But sometimes we need to regard things in a perspective of more innocent times. Elvis was staged to do many scenes with children in his movies. 5.)I like this movie because I think it did not pretend to be anything other than insipid ententainment. And, I still think that much of the music is very pretty.

I am a huge fan of Elvis's music and movies. Own them all on vhs and the DVD's as they've come out. That being said, Harum Scarum is THE WORST piece of trash ever captured on film. It's nearly criminal to watch one of the greatest talents in the history of mankind sleep walk through this pile of rubbish. The Presley estate should do Elvis and the rest of us a favor. Buy the master and burn it in a bonfire celebration at Graceland! (...)

Words fail to describe how awful this film is...and yet, I have not enjoyed watching a movie this much in a long, long time. It is screamingly funny, albeit in mostly unintentional ways. The dialog is somewhere south of stupid; the sets look as fake and cheap as the backyard of "The Brady Bunch"; the costumes seem to be from someone's attic; and the music is vapid and cheesier than a vat of Velveeta. There is one very creepy sequence where Elvis' character encourages an overly precocious young girl to dance "seductively" for him, and of course, racist stereotyping abounds throughout. Elvis gamely tries to make his character credible, but at times, I think he deserves an Oscar simply for not rolling his eyes. By all means, see this movie with someone you love, and be prepared to hoot like a tree full of owls. This one makes CLAMBAKE look like CITIZEN KANE.

"Harum Scarum" is considered, by popular opinion to be Elvis' worst film. Don't try to restrain yourself yet. Watch it once, and see what you think. Elvis is an actor who is sent to Arabia and captured. He is trying to be put into the situation to kill the Arabian king. Elvis romances Mary Ann Mobley and turns against his captors and saves the king. Lot of action. Looks like a big budget film, but it's not. Sam Katzman, who had a reputation in Hollywood for producing films on very short schedules and given the nickname "king of the quickies", borrowed most of the costumes and sets from previously made films that were in the can. The schedule was only 18 days of shooting. Sounds corny, cheap, and cheesy, but that's what pop stars had to deal with in films they didn't like. Pop stars got the poorest film treatment. Again it is not Elvis' best film, but try it. If you don't like it, forget it.

This is the wrost Elvis Presley film I saw. In fact, I don't know why it was even made. In fact, this movie needs zero stars. But ... won't go that far.

You have to wonder why Elvis Presley stars in this hoo-hum movie. Johnny Tyronne (Elvis Presley) is a American actor who gets kidnapped.

When the movie begins, we see Johnny watching a movie (with him in it.) While his missing, he meets a princess (Mary Ann Mobley). Andybody who likes this movie, he/she needs to get thier eyes checked.

Johnny is hired to kill the king (Philip Reed). Which he ends up behind bars, singing So Close But Yet So Far. Is this how Colonel Tom Parker wanted people to remember Elvis Presley like this after he is dead.

I guess so. Why would anybody want to see a movie with an American actor-singer star gets kiddnapped?

Elvis should have said "NO" when he was asked to be in this movie.

Songs include, Golden Coins, Harem Holiday, Shake That Tamborine, and So Close But Yet So Far.

This picture is real hard to sit through.

Elvis plays an American film star (ironic, indeed) that gets kidnapped by Arabians. Of course he falls in love with one of the ladies, but a conflict occurs when he is ordered to kill her father. Huh?

Anyway, both the plot and the accompanying songs are weak. The only song that comes close to being good is "So Close, Yet So Far". The others range from the average Elvis movie song ("Mirage", "Hey, Little Girl") to the ridiculous ("Shake That Tambourine").

This is a picture that should have never seen the light of day, and is not good for those who already have a negative image of Elvis Presley. For die-hards only!

I've seen all of Elvis' movies, and this is one of the worst three (Stay Away Joe and Double Trouble being the other two). If I had to pick one worst, this would be it.

Entertainment, much as beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. No doubt the steadfast loyalty of dedicated Elvis fans will find value in this movie. Casting Elvis Presley in a spoof of Rudolph Valentino movies was unfortunate. This could be the film that left Elvis crying in the chapel, and it leaves the viewer indescribably blue. Good sense notwithstanding the film was made. That's when your heartaches begin. One could give some credit for attempting a different approach from Elvis' usual "fun in the sun" formula film, but the end result lacks charm. Describing the plot is pointless. The music is the '60s pop fluff that Elvis and the songwriters phoned in. It adds to one's reflective midlife melancholy to remember that in 1965, while Elvis' formidable talent was squandered in cheesy movies, the Beatles were leading the charge of the British Invasion; storming the ramparts and taking no prisoners in the realm of rock music and innovative style. Elvis, you left us much too soon. You really deserved better, and so do we. Return to sender. ;-)

I was recently on a quest to find the worst Elvis movie, and this is surely it. According to Peter Guralnick's "Careless Love" (the best bio of Elvis yet written), even the Colonel was flabbergasted at how badly this one turned out. The film makes no sense, the acting and songs are worse than usual, and when its all over, you just feel depressed and ashamed. Though not as technically flawed as an Ed Wood movie, its at about the same artistic level.