Last "Kissin' Cousins" Post

A tiny bit more on the Elvis Presley movie "Kissin' Cousins."

Yesterday I said I was toward the end, and I really was. I finished it off last night. Elvis gets Pappy to give in on renting the mountain to the military for a missile base. So our nation is saved from the Russians! And Pappy is saved from the Revenuers, thanks to Elvis' keen negotiating skills.

We all remember Elvis' big meeting with Nixon. But Nixon was nothing compared to Pappy in "Kissin' Cousins." Pappy held out to the bitter end. No detente until the bitter end. In fact, they had to keep the movie going until Pappy finally gave in. What kind of movie would it've been if Pappy had acceded to Elvis' requests right at the beginning?

Personally I don't need all the conflict of Pappy withholding his OK. It would've been a good movie, in my opinion, if Pappy would've given in at the beginning, then they just had two hours of ho-downs and Elvis songs for the rest of the time. Skip the Elvis cousin in the blond wig, and just have a good old fashioned mountain music program. Call it "Kissin' Cousins," have Elvis doing his numbers live, and I would've been happy.

As it was, we had that happy resolution. Then it was time to show the couples who were getting married, and sing the title track (different version). Here they had Elvis-cousin and Elvis-normal doing a duet. Then, since it was all him, they had Lance LeGault with his back turned or in the background or his head down a little as the opposite Elvis. On my DVD player, I stopped it on one of the flips, and you can see Lance full facial for a split second. But I couldn't get it to stop at the precise moment on my computer .... so I don't have a screen shot.

The movie ends, they hold up a couple THE and END signs and that's it.

One song that didn't make it to the soundtrack album, and should have, is Ma's "Pappy, Please Come Home," complete with Hezekiah's (the dog's) moans.