Elvis Presley was a hugely influential performer with one of the most distinctive singing voices of anybody. He embarked on a film career consisting of 33 films from 1956 to 1969, films that did well at the box-office but mostly panned critically (especially his later films) and while he was a highly charismatic performer he was never considered a great actor.
While in the weaker half of Elvis' films, 'Tickle Me' is not one of his very worst, worse followed and 'Kissin' Cousins' was another lesser effort. It is watchable enough, mostly for Elvis and Jocelyn Lane but doesn't offer much else beyond them. Certainly not one of his best like 'King Creole', 'Flaming Star', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Viva Las Vegas' and 'Loving You'.
As said, Elvis is jovial and charismatic enough and sings beautifully. Lane is one of his best and sexiest leading ladies, full of fun and endearment, and their chemistry sparkles. Julie Adams makes much of her nothing part, bringing much more verve than deserved.
There are some amusing and charming moments, and while not one of his greatest soundtracks (some songs fit better than others) the music fares well in the quality and memorability factors, no classic songs but no disposable ones either. "Dirty Dirty Feeling", "Night Rider" and "It Feels So Right" fare particularly well, and Elvis sings them very well indeed.
On the other hand, Norman Taurog's direction in 'Tickle Me' is muddled and all over the place as are the script and story. The story doesn't feel as overlong or over-stretched as some Elvis films, but still feels structurally flimsy and obvious. Even worse though is that even for an Elvis film it is ridiculously improbable and suffers from a protracted climax that, despite its uniqueness as far as Elvis films go, jars badly with the tone of the rest of the film.
Regarding the writing, the sillier and more improbable the story gets the more tired and lame-brained the gags get. This is especially true in the second half, where even calling the gags something that belongs in bad Scooby Doo or past prime-3 Stooges is insulting. It also hurts the performance of Jack Mullaney, who has very tired material and ends up being out of place and irritating.
In conclusion, okay and watchable but not much great here. 5/10 Bethany Cox
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