Elvis Presley's parents Vernon Presley and Gladys Presley were cast as audience members in this film. After Gladys died Elvis never watched it again, saying it hurt too much to see his mother on screen.
Elvis Presley dyed his light-brown hair into jet black to celebrate his first color film, and kept it that way for the rest of is life.
A line of dialogue inspired the name of The Monkees, when Deke (Elvis Presley)says to his controlling managers in a moment of rebellion, "That's what you're selling, isn't it? A monkey in a zoo."
Dolores Hart sings "Detour" in the film. The song was originally a hit sung by Patti Page whose husband, Charles O'Curran, worked as a choreographer for this film.
The Italian title of the movie, "Amami Teneramente", literally translates as "Love Me Tender", which is of course the title of Elvis' first movie (known in Italy as "Fratelli Rivali" i.e. "Rival Brothers").
Working titles for the movie were Stranger In Town, Sonething For The Girls, and Lonesome Cowboy, before Loving You was settled on.
The hot rod Elvis drives is a custom roadster is a 1929 Ford Model A body built upon the frame from a 1932 Ford "Deuce". It has a 239 c.i. Mercury flathead V-8 engine, and had a top speed of 100 mph. Elvis wanted to buy the hot rod once filming was finished, but the owner wouldn't sell. The owner, Hot Rod pioneer John Athan, died in 2016. The car is estimated to be worth over $1 million.
The car Glenda gifts Deke with is a 1957 Imperial Crown Convertible with the rare option of two-headlights instead of four.
Elvis Presley lodged at Hollywood's Knickerbocker hotel while this was filming at Paramount Studios.
One of the songs heard in the background in the beginning and when Elvis discovered the girl in his dressing room (and got caught kissing), which was not given any credit for, was a song called "Candy Kisses", written and made popular in 1949 by George Morgan, father of Country singer, Lorie Morgan.
The film premiered in Memphis on July 10, 1957 at the Strand Theater. Presley did not go to that showing, instead opting to take girlfriend Anita Wood, as well as his parents, to a private midnight screening.
As of 2022, this remains the only Elvis Presley film to have never been officially released on DVD, Blu-Ray, and/or digital format. It was, however, officially released on VHS in 1989.
Hal Kanter directed the film and co-wrote the script with Herbert Baker. To write a script adjusted to Elvis Presley, Kanter traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to meet Elvis in person. Along with Presley's entourage, he went to Shreveport to see the last performance of the singer on the country television show, Louisiana Hayride. Kanter witnessed the reaction from fans, as well as Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker's handling of the spectacle, both of which he used as an inspiration for the script.
Paramount Pictures chose to ignore the first-run theater system, opting instead to release the film in sub-run neighborhood theaters, a system later dubbed the "Presley Pattern".
Due to Presley's massive appeal, for the first time, the studio decided to bypass the established first-run theater system. Paramount opted instead for a wide release, sending it to neighborhood theaters in New York, Chicago, and Detroit. This new system was dubbed the "Presley Pattern", which consisted of delivering the product to its direct market by cutting the expenses of premieres in downtown theaters, choosing instead local venues for a wider and more profitable release.
This was only the second film featuring Elvis, and was his first in color. It was an immediate hit, and helped launch Presley's movie career, which consistently had him ranked among the top ten box office stars for the next decade.
Dolores Hart, who plays band singer Suzie (with an obviously dubbed voice) made her film debut in this. She would later turn her back on Hollywood and become a Catholic nun.
Contributing to this film's success was Elvis' sultry performance of one of 1957's biggest hit songs, "(Let Me Be) Your Teddy Bear."
This is one of the few Elvis movies in which he doesn't sing enough songs to have simultaneously released a soundtrack album. When he realized he was missing out on a moneymaking opportunity, Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker made sure that every subsequent Elvis film had at least 8 songs performed by his client, The King.
Lizabeth Scott plays Presley's publicist, one of whose promotional stunts may have inspired a later Elvis movie: Presley's character is shown in a newspaper clipping smooching with a fan backstage, below the headline: That Kissin' Cousin.
One of the two middle-aged women recruited by Lizabeth Scott to create publicity by claiming they didn't care for Elvis' performance is played by Madge Blake, who would later play Bruce Wayne's dithery Aunt Harriet in the mid-60s TV hit Batman.