Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Gutsycurene
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
Brendon Jones
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Cassandra
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
JohnHowardReid
Elvis Presley's 28th of his 31 movies is nothing if not enthusiastically played. Unfortunately, this is one of his below par pictures. Alas, he sings only three times, and the songs themselves are not particularly memorable. Oddly, the best, "Let's Live a Little", agreeably sung under the colorful, fast-moving credit titles, was never released on record. As for the story, it's rather slight – especially when spun out to ninety minutes – although it does introduce some fascinating support characters led by Rudy Vallee. Well, that certainly sounds promising – the 1930s top box=office idol meets the teenage idol of the 1960s – so it's a shame that more isn't made of this and that they don't sing a duet. Elvis also has a fight scene in which he seems to be doing all his own slugging. In fact, the macho Elvis image is well to the fore in this one and he even has his face stained to give him that outdoors tan look. TV actress, Michele Carey, is here making only her third or fourth movie and she is far too aggressively cookie for comfort. Judicious trimming of her scenes would help the pace considerably. I'd take care to leave the dog alone though. Occasionally, real locations are cleverly employed (and brightly photographed) and these should also be retained. But will someone please take the scissors to those Carey-Presley domestic scenes which are in fact not a fifth as risqué or a tenth as funny as the film's director, Norman Taurog (here making his final of 183 movies) obviously thinks they are!
tilloscfc
Cracking film from the end of the Elvis - Hollywood era. "Live a Little, Love a Little" is the most adult, modern movie that Elvis made and this one is hilarious with lots of great dialogue, particularly between Elvis, gorgeous co star Michele Carey, Dick Sargent...and, er "Albert" the Great Dane - who was actually Elvis' pet at the time, one of two Great Dane's he had at the time of the movie. Elvis plays Greg - a photographer - who's life is thrown into chaos when he meets stunning Michele Carey (who adopts a string of "different names for different moods" throughout the film). When she orders Albert to chase Greg into the sea, he keeps him in there for so long he catches pneumonia and after taking him back to her house on the beach to freshen up, apparently drugs him and he wakes up three days later, only to go to work and find out he's been fired. Then, inexplicably, two tough employees set about beating him up. They were actually Elvis' two chief bodyguards, cousins Red and Sonny West...but Elvis comes out on top thanks to his karate skills that came in handy in most of his movies. Elvis did become a black belt in the art and you can tell in his fight scenes in all his movies that he knows what he's doing and especially when fighting Red or Sonny (which he usually did) the fights always looked realistic.So after being fired, Greg returns to his apartment...only to find he's been moved out and another woman and her child have taken over the rent, with the landlady explaining that Greg's "sister" Michele has paid off the back rent.Obviously expecting him to come round to her house in a rage - which he does - Michele invites Greg to stay with her (and Albert) until he finds employment and a place to live. He subsequently lands TWO jobs as a photographer for two different photography firms in the same building - one a respectable firm that expects it's employees to be impeccably dressed at all times, the other a more laid back "Playboy-esque" magazine that insists it's photographers dress casual...thus leading to a few Mrs Doubtfire-like dashes from one place to the next in an attempt to be in two places at once... It's an enjoyable, funny, fast paced movie that you never know what is going to happen next due to Michele Carey's eccentricity. What is her name? What does she want? Who are all these men in her life? Is she really married to "Harry Baby" (Sargent) It's a far out removal from the stereotypical Elvis musical of the 60's. There's only four songs - all outstanding. Two of them "A Little Less Conversation" and "Edge of Reality" are both in my top 10 Elvis songs and both effectively come with fine "music videos" due to the scenes that accompany them. The Edge of Reality dream sequence in particular is superb, with Elvis producing some funky hip swivelling that reminds you of his early days and acts as bit of a light sampler for what was to come over the next 4 years starting with his "Comeback Special" which was filmed just a few weeks after "Live a Little, Love a Little" Another song, a ballad "Almost in Love" is also fantastic and again probably only just misses out on my "Top 10 Elvis songs" but I'd regard it as his best ballad. Great song, beautifully sung.
wes-connors
After recklessly driving his clean dune buggy through Southern California streets and sand, singing photographer Elvis Presley (as Greg Nolan) meets pleasantly-proportioned Michele Carey (as Bernice) on the shore. The two seem ready to "make love," but Mr. Presley must contend with Ms. Carey's constant companion - a growling Great Dane named "Albert". The dog chases Presley, fully clothed, into the ocean for the remainder of the day and he is taken back to Carey's place with a fever. After several days of nursing from Carey, Presley awakens to discover he has lost his apartment and job...Using the line, "Nolan is here with the truth," Presley finds work taking photographs for Playboy-type Don Porter (as Mike Lansdown) and his straight-laced opposite Rudy Vallee (as Penlow). Since his new employers have offices in the same building, Presley tries to work both jobs at the same time. Hijinks ensue when he continues seeing the eccentric Carey and her friends, including pre-"Bewitched" Dick Sargent (as Harry). The film's highlight is a surreal video made for Presley's lost classic slice of 1960s paranoia "Edge of Reality", and "A Little Less Conversation" / "Almost in Love" is a strong single.**** Live a Little, Love a Little (10/23/68) Norman Taurog ~ Elvis Presley, Michele Carey, Dick Sargent, Rudy Vallee
Michael_Elliott
Live a Little, Love a Little (1968) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A somewhat strange little film that features Elvis playing a photographer who meets a strange woman (Michele Carey) and soon has her becoming obsessed with him even though she keeps changing her own name. After costing him his job and apartment, she gets him a new apartment but it's so high he is forced to work two jobs, in the same building, while trying not to let the boss guys know. This is certainly a departure from some of the other films Elvis was doing around this time. For starters, this is certainly a more adult type film with a lot of sexual innuendo and even one psychedelic scene, which is something we didn't see in earlier pictures. The best performance of the film comes from the girl's Great Dane who steals the film each time he shows up. His early scenes with Elvis on the beach actually get a good performance out of the singer and manages to be very funny. The early scenes between Elvis and Carey are also very funny and there are a few more laughs throughout. Elvis is decent here but again, I wouldn't say he gives a good performance. Carey is the real star though as she makes her character really stand out and memorable. The music also is a lot different than we'd heard before but it works.