Tickle Me
| Tickle Me | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Norman Taurog |
| Produced by | Ben Schwalb |
| Written by | |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Walter Scharf |
| Cinematography | Loyal Griggs |
| Edited by | Archie Marshek |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Allied Artists Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,500,000 |
| Box office | $3,400,000 (US/ Canada rentals) $5,000,000 (worldwide) |
Tickle Me is a 1965 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley as a champion rodeo bull-rider and bronco-buster.
Presley won a 1966 Golden Laurel Award as best male actor in a musical film for this role. It is the only Elvis film released by Allied Artists Pictures and saved the studio from financial collapse, Tickle Me helping to avert bankruptcy thanks to a song from its recycled soundtrack, "(Such an) Easy Question", which was a Top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart in July, 1965. The film made $5 million at the box office.
The soundtrack had no "new" material, as album cuts were selected, then overdubbed. In two cases, different takes were used ("Long, Lonely Highway", and "I Feel That I've Known You Forever", the latter featuring what appears to be a vocal done on the soundstage).
Julie Adams and Jocelyn Lane co-star. The screenplay was written by Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds, who had written The Three Stooges film shorts and theatrical films as well as scripts for The Bowery Boys.
The film was first released in the VHS format in the early 1980s in a limited version from Allied Artists Home Video. It was issued again by CBS/Fox video in 1985, 1987 and 1992, and by Warner Home Video in 1997. In 2007, Tickle Me was released for the first time on DVD, in the wide-screen letterbox format.
Lonnie Beale (Elvis), an out-of-work rodeo star, is trying to make ends meet until the season starts up again. He comes to the town of Zuni Wells (a fictional town somewhere in the American West) because a friend says Lonnie can get a job on a ranch, but his friend is nowhere to be found.
Having no other option, Lonnie begins singing in a local club, but he gets fired after a fight with one of the customers. Vera Radford (Adams) sees his performance and offers a job at a ranch she runs called the Circle-Z to take care of the horses. The Circle-Z is not what Lonnie expected, though; it is a guest ranch where actresses and models go to lose weight and to get in shape, a fitness salon, referred to as "Yogurt Gulch."
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Wikipedia