A riverboat singer with a weakness for gambling wants to find his lucky redhead, but his girlfriend Frankie is not amused.A riverboat singer with a weakness for gambling wants to find his lucky redhead, but his girlfriend Frankie is not amused.A riverboat singer with a weakness for gambling wants to find his lucky redhead, but his girlfriend Frankie is not amused.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Bum Sleeping on Bench
- (uncredited)
- Casino Girl
- (uncredited)
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
- Earl Barton Dancer
- (uncredited)
- Gypsy
- (uncredited)
- Gypsy
- (uncredited)
- Joe Wilbur
- (uncredited)
- Dancer
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAnn-Margret (Elvis' co-star in 'Viva Las Vegas') was in discussion to play the part of Nellie, as she owed Edward Small a film under her contract with him.
- GoofsWhen Blackie puts the live round in the stage gun, it's a Colt single action. After Frankie shoots Johnny, the pistol is now a Colt double-action revolver that wasn't even introduced until years after the movie was supposed to be set.
- Quotes
Princess Zolita: The leaves are ready to speak.
Cully: No lemon?
Gypsy: The tea leaves have spoken.
Princess Zolita: If you do not mind, I work alone!
Cully: What do they spell, Mother?
Princess Zolita: How lucky you are, the wheel of fortune has stopped at your number.
Johnny: A wheel? That's roulette.
Princess Zolita: And I see a dice table, too.
Cully: No blackjack? This boy plays all games.
Princess Zolita: And a new woman is coming into your life. A beautiful, young redhead.
Johnny: It can't be a redhead, Princess. My girl's a blonde. Take another look.
Princess Zolita: Now I see a blonde. Oh, but she has been bad luck for you. The tea leaves say... you will have good luck with the redhead.
Cully: I know better, I married one. Take the advice of a 20-year loser, no redheads.
Princess Zolita: He must not defy the tea leaves.
Cully: How are you going to explain her to Frankie?
Johnny: Why explain? We'll just use her to make a bundle.
Cully: You're going to pass off a beautiful redhead as a good-luck piece? Good luck.
Gypsy: If, uh, if I may be so crude.
Johnny: Oh, sure.
[Johnny hands a $10 bill to the princess]
Gypsy: If you please. The princess never soils her royal hands with money. $10? When the tea leaves promise a beautiful redhead, it is $20.
Cully: A lot of money for a cup of tea. That's a gypsy for you. Takes all your dough so you can't take her advice.
Princess Zolita: Minor problems like that I cannot solve.
Cully: Maybe you can get another advance from Braden.
Johnny: Not a chance. I'm already in for five weeks' salary.
Cully: That you lost right back into his pocket. Braden's got a nice little thing going there.
- Alternate versionsThe 1982 variant of the United Artists logo appeared in the 1980s VHS prints while post-1996 VHS prints contain the 1994 variant.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Elvis in the Movies (1990)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Johnny (Elvis) is a riverboat singer who is also one of the worst gamblers in the world, which gets him into major debt and grief to his partner Frankie (Donna Douglas). With no where else to turn, Johnny starts going to a gypsy for advice and she tells him that great luck will come in a beautiful redhead (Nancy Kovack) but this starts trouble with his boss as well as Frankie. I was pleasantly surprised to see how good this little film was, although it suffers from the same issues as many Elvis films of this period. The story is incredibly weak and once again we've gotta see The King fall for the wrong woman and try to get himself out of trouble while singing. What stands this film apart from the others through are the incredibly well done songs, which also feature some great musical numbers. The highlight is the wonderfully played out title song as well as several other tunes including "What Every Woman Lives For", "Down By the Riverside", "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "Hard Luck". Elvis doesn't give what I'd call a good performance but he fits his role well as the dumb but entertaining singer. The biggest credit must go to the supporting cast with Douglas stealing the show and Harry Morgan adding great comedy.
- Michael_Elliott
- Feb 26, 2008
- Permalink
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $4,500,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 27 minutes