Baby, Let's Play House Part 31

As usual, he flirted with women on the set, beginning with the tall brunette Francine York. They had a scene together in which he pretends to teach her how to shoot a bow and arrow. "There was something wrong with the lights or the camera angle, and so we had to shoot the scene several times. Norman asked Elvis if he'd mind shooting it again, and he said he wouldn't mind doing it all day. Then he pulled me closer and whispered, 'And all night.' "

She took it as just a friendly comment but, "Elvis and the guys enjoyed themselves with all the beautiful women in the movie. Elvis had a girlfriend then, too, and I remember him getting angry when she drove onto the set. He had a few words to say to her, and it seemed as though he was upset that she had come to the studio." Francine didn't remember her name. But "this definitely wasn't Priscilla. She had a huge car, a Cadillac or something."

It was his last trip to California for the year, and with him on the way out were two new members of the entourage, Mike Keaton, and twenty-two-year-old Jerry Schilling, whose brother, Billy Ray, was a friend of Red West. Jerry, who'd grown up poor and sc.r.a.pping, and without a mother, had been planning to return to Arkansas State University for his senior year when Elvis made him the offer. He had been part of Elvis's touch football games from the age of twelve, and Elvis treated him almost like a younger brother. But when he found out that Jerry lost his virginity with an actress Elvis had romanced on his last picture, they had a tense exchange. Jerry had no idea that Elvis and the girl had any history, and Elvis let it blow over. But Jerry learned a cardinal rule in the inner circle: None of the guys were permitted to date a girl Elvis had known.

Jerry did know that part of his gig was protecting Elvis, and he was also well aware that Elvis had his share of crazy fans who would do almost anything to get near him. His heart started pounding on his first night in the Perugia Way house, then, when about 2 A.M. A.M., he heard a key turn in the front door lock, and watched a shadowy female figure cross the room in the dark. Jerry had been too buzzed from Dexedrine to sleep, and now he called out sharply: "Miss- "The woman spun around and let loose a bloodcurdling scream," he wrote in his memoir, Me and a Guy Named Elvis. Me and a Guy Named Elvis. "And at that very moment, the wall behind her opened up to reveal Elvis. He flicked on the lights in the room. There was a huge smile on his face. The girl being there didn't seem to bother him at all. In fact, he seemed to know her. "And at that very moment, the wall behind her opened up to reveal Elvis. He flicked on the lights in the room. There was a huge smile on his face. The girl being there didn't seem to bother him at all. In fact, he seemed to know her.

"My eyes adjusted to the light. Now I recognized the girl, too. It was Ann-Margret. Elvis put an arm around her and grinned in my direction. 'It's okay, Jerry. It's just Ammo. She's not gonna hurt anybody.' "

Elvis went home around Thanksgiving and spent the holidays in Memphis, renting out the Memphian for New Year's Eve. But it was getting harder to watch quality films now when his own fell so short of the mark. No one was allowed to sit in front of him, and there in the darkened theater, when he'd get caught up in the emotion of a dramatic scene, he'd cry and slyly wipe away tears, or pretend that something had gotten in his eye. Sometimes he wasn't sure if he was weeping because of the situation on the screen, or because he knew he'd never get a role like that again. the Memphian for New Year's Eve. But it was getting harder to watch quality films now when his own fell so short of the mark. No one was allowed to sit in front of him, and there in the darkened theater, when he'd get caught up in the emotion of a dramatic scene, he'd cry and slyly wipe away tears, or pretend that something had gotten in his eye. Sometimes he wasn't sure if he was weeping because of the situation on the screen, or because he knew he'd never get a role like that again.

Then January 8, 1965, brought a milestone birthday-his thirtieth. The morning newspaper, the Commercial Appeal, Commercial Appeal, called about an interview. Reporter James Kingsley wanted Elvis's ruminations on growing older. called about an interview. Reporter James Kingsley wanted Elvis's ruminations on growing older.

"I can never forget the longing to be someone," he said in the article. "I know what it is to scratch and fight for what you want." Kingsley asked him about his relations.h.i.+p with his fans, who always hung around the gates and made it difficult for him to go to his old haunts without being bothered. "I certainly haven't lost my respect for my fans," he said. "I withdraw not from my fans, but from myself."

He demonstrated that at the end of February, when he went to Nashville for a hastily set-up session for the soundtrack to MGM's Harum Scarum, Harum Scarum, his million-dollar movie. The picture, another Sam Katzman quickie, cast him as a Rudolph Valentinostyle matinee idol, kidnapped by a gang of a.s.sa.s.sins on a personal appearance in the Middle East. Elvis hadn't been in a recording studio for eight months, but he was so dispirited at the material, much of it laced with flute and oboe for a Persian flair, that he stopped the first session after only four hours-thirty-eight takes into the disaffecting "Shake That Tambourine." his million-dollar movie. The picture, another Sam Katzman quickie, cast him as a Rudolph Valentinostyle matinee idol, kidnapped by a gang of a.s.sa.s.sins on a personal appearance in the Middle East. Elvis hadn't been in a recording studio for eight months, but he was so dispirited at the material, much of it laced with flute and oboe for a Persian flair, that he stopped the first session after only four hours-thirty-eight takes into the disaffecting "Shake That Tambourine."

A number of people around Elvis had started to worry about him, one telling the Sat.u.r.day Evening Post Sat.u.r.day Evening Post reporter C. Robert Jennings that the heavy schedule of three pictures a year was beginning to take its toll. reporter C. Robert Jennings that the heavy schedule of three pictures a year was beginning to take its toll.

"The money is so big," said the anonymous source, "that he's always doing what everybody else wants him to do. He's a lonely guy in many ways."

But Joan Blackman, who was also concerned about him, later laid much of the blame at his own feet: "Elvis could have demanded changes, had he wanted to. He could have said, 'Until we do what I want to do, I am not doing any more [of these cookie-cutter movies].' Had he stuck by that, things could have been different."

Word filtered back to Colonel Parker that Elvis was lethargic, that he seemed to have no interest in coming to Los Angeles for Harum Scarum, Harum Scarum, and that it was going to take some effort to get him there. At the end of February, the Colonel arranged for Elvis to be able to take his cast insurance medical examination in Memphis to give him a bit more time at home. Then he wrote anxious letters to foreman Marty Lacker, cautioning him to get the convoy on the road in plenty of time, and to watch out for inclement weather. In a rare, unguarded moment, the Colonel let his frustration show, telling the and that it was going to take some effort to get him there. At the end of February, the Colonel arranged for Elvis to be able to take his cast insurance medical examination in Memphis to give him a bit more time at home. Then he wrote anxious letters to foreman Marty Lacker, cautioning him to get the convoy on the road in plenty of time, and to watch out for inclement weather. In a rare, unguarded moment, the Colonel let his frustration show, telling the Sat.u.r.day Evening Post Sat.u.r.day Evening Post that "sooner or later someone else is going to have to take the reins." that "sooner or later someone else is going to have to take the reins."

They finally got started in early March, but on the way out, Elvis insisted on checking into a motel in Amarillo, Texas. He'd been thinking about the way he used to be, the way he lived, the things he'd said, and how he was trying to change. He contemplated what Larry and the books had taught him.

"He was so strong in so many ways," observed Jo Smith, Billy's wife. "If you were with him, you felt safe. But in other ways, he was like a little kid. He was such a contradiction. As selfless as he was in religion, he always had to be number one in everything else. One time, everybody wanted to go bowling. So Elvis rented Bowl Haven Lanes, right down the street from Graceland. I don't guess he'd ever been bowling. Billy had been on a team, and several of the other guys had gone bowling in California, so they were pretty good. And Elvis wasn't good at all. He guttered, and he tried to throw the ball too hard. So that's the last time we ever went bowling. If he couldn't be the best at whatever we did, we didn't do it anymore."

Back in Germany, he used to play a game with Rex Mansfield. Rex called it "G.o.d playing," and Elvis would initiate it. "We'd be sitting around the house, the whole group," as Rex recalled, "and if anybody would compliment something, or say, 'Boy, it's a beautiful day,' he'd say, 'Thank you.' Or if someone would say, 'That's a beautiful dress,' he'd say, 'Thank you,' like everything anyone owned, it belonged to him. We all got into that game, and it became a matter of who could say 'thank you' first."

Elvis was ashamed of all that now. Having to be the best. "G.o.d playing." How could he have done it, even in jest? In that Texas hotel room, he confided to Larry that after all his months of study and meditation, he was disheartened, that something was missing. "I read all of these wonderful books," he said. "But they all talk about these great, profound spiritual experiences, and I never had one."

Larry explained to him that it had nothing to do with an intellectual perception, but that it happened in the heart and was more of an emotion, a surrendering of the ego to G.o.d. They talked for thirty or forty minutes, and then they all got back into the vehicles, Larry and Elvis riding alone in the Dodge motor home.

They drove the rest of the night and all the next day, traveling through the panhandle of Texas, through New Mexico and eastern Arizona. As they approached the famous San Francisco Peaks, the home of the sacred Hopi Indians at Flagstaff, Larry suddenly realized they had gotten separated from the rest of the caravan.

"Uh, I think we're lost," Larry said. But Elvis was unfazed: "This is really good, because I needed to be away from everyone. I'm into something very, very important within myself."

It was getting on in the day now, and the sky was electric blue, deep and unfathomable. Suddenly, Elvis called out. "Look, man! Do you see what I see?"

He pointed to a cloud, and Larry immediately knew what he meant.

"What the h.e.l.l is Joseph Stalin doing in that cloud?" Elvis said, amazement in his voice.

Larry laughed. "I don't know. That is really far-out." He watched as the cloud dissolved back into a nebulous shape, and then he saw a change come over his friend.

"I looked at Elvis, and all of a sudden, his jaw dropped, and he gasped for breath. He said, 'Ahhh,' and his eyes were wide open, and he had a look on his face that was just full of revelation. He pulled the motor home over, and he jumped out into the desert and yelled, 'Watch! Just follow me, man!' He ran about thirty feet away, and he turned around and looked at me, and there were tears rolling down his cheeks. He grabbed me and he hugged me and he said, 'I love you! I know now! It happened. It happened happened."

Larry stood back. "I saw Stalin in the cloud. But what happened, man?"

Elvis struggled to regain his composure. "Larry," he finally said, "I remember you said, 'It's not a thing in your head. It has to do with your heart.' And I said, 'G.o.d, I surrender my ego. I surrender my whole life to you.' And it happened happened. That face turned into the face of Christ Christ. It was like a lightning bolt went right through me! I know the truth now, and I don't believe believe in G.o.d anymore. I in G.o.d anymore. I know know that G.o.d is a living reality! He's within us!" that G.o.d is a living reality! He's within us!"

He was laughing and crying at the same time now, shaking with emotion, and wiping away tears. "You can't understand it unless you get the experience," he said. "Otherwise people will just think you are nuts, man!" Suddenly he was aware of cars pa.s.sing on the highway.

"Man," he said, "can you imagine what the fans would think if they saw me now and knew what I was going through?"

"Elvis, they would probably love you all the more, you know?"

Just then, the caravan caught up with them, and Red West stuck his head out the door.

"Hey, boss," he yelled. "You all right?"

"Yeah," Elvis yelled back, "don't worry about it. I'll be right there."

Whatever he went through, "It was very, very meaningful to him," in Larry's estimation. "It was a cla.s.sic rebirth, a confluence of religious feelings and perceptions of his earlier life in the church, and it impacted him deeply."

When they got back in the motor home, Elvis was still so dis...o...b..bulated he couldn't drive, and he called for Red to take the wheel.

"Come on, man," he said to Larry. "Let's go in the back." He laid on the bed and kept repeating, "Wow, wow," softly, like a mantra. Soon Elvis would start talking about giving up his career and entering a monastery. And he would spend a lot of time with a woman named Faye Wright, better known as Sri Daya Mata, at the Self-Realization Fellows.h.i.+p's Lake Shrine retreat in Pacific Palisades.

Mary Ann Mobley was Elvis's costar on Harum Scarum, Harum Scarum, and she dropped by Colonel and she dropped by Colonel Parker's office one day to sign her contract. Parker's office one day to sign her contract. Time Time magazine called while she was there. "They said they wanted to put Elvis on the cover, and Colonel Tom said, 'Good, that'll be $25,000,' or some outrageous price. And magazine called while she was there. "They said they wanted to put Elvis on the cover, and Colonel Tom said, 'Good, that'll be $25,000,' or some outrageous price. And Time Time said, 'You don't understand, it's an honor to be on the cover of said, 'You don't understand, it's an honor to be on the cover of Time Time.' And Colonel Tom said, 'No, you you don't understand. We don't need you.' " don't understand. We don't need you.' "

Parker, still gloating that Elvis was the first actor ever to be paid $1 million for a single movie, might have been smart to let Time Time promote promote Harum Scarum, Harum Scarum, for despite Elvis's astonis.h.i.+ng fee, the picture rivaled for despite Elvis's astonis.h.i.+ng fee, the picture rivaled Kissin' Cousins Kissin' Cousins as his absolute worst. Shot in eighteen days, it recycled the 1925 set of Cecil B. De Mille's silent feature as his absolute worst. Shot in eighteen days, it recycled the 1925 set of Cecil B. De Mille's silent feature King of Kings, King of Kings, as well as costumes from the 1944 production of as well as costumes from the 1944 production of Kismet. Kismet. The plot was paper-thin, the music unlistenable, and the sight of Elvis in a turban ludicrous. Even the Colonel, who would eventually suggest adding a talking camel as a narrator so the absurdity might seem intentional, admitted it would take "a fifty-fifth cousin to P. T. Barnum" to sell it. The plot was paper-thin, the music unlistenable, and the sight of Elvis in a turban ludicrous. Even the Colonel, who would eventually suggest adding a talking camel as a narrator so the absurdity might seem intentional, admitted it would take "a fifty-fifth cousin to P. T. Barnum" to sell it.

The only way they got through it, remembered Mary Ann, who played Princess Shalimar, was by joking. "Elvis said, 'This isn't going to change history, is it?' I said, 'No, but it's gonna make people laugh.' "

The whole thing seemed a comedy of errors.

"For part of it, I was dressed as a beggar woman, because I was supposedly this princess in disguise. And then the rest of the time I had on seventeen thousand yards of orange chiffon, and all these veils and so much hair I could barely keep my head up. And Elvis came out in this Arab sheik outfit, and if he wasn't a good sport to be seen in that that getup! But he never complained about it. He never said, 'You want me to wear getup! But he never complained about it. He never said, 'You want me to wear this this?' He wasn't one of these prima donnas."

Still, she was concerned about him. "He was into the metaphysical then, 'willing' things to move. That was unique to me. I hadn't seen that before. I was worried about it, but it was not for me to judge. I thought, 'If that works for him . . .' But it didn't cause problems. He was never late and never caused a discussion. It was just so easy working with him."

The picture also reunited Elvis with Barbara Eden, whose husband, Michael Ansara, was cast as a prince. Barbara sat with him for a while on the set and found him more outgoing and sure of himself than he had been five years earlier on Flaming Star Flaming Star. "He'd laugh out loud, for example. But he was still the same basic, good, sweet, malleable guy. Such a gentleman. He said he was a huge fan of my husband, who was in the series Broken Arrow. Broken Arrow. I said, 'When do you ever have time to watch television?' And he looked at me and said, 'Barbara, that's all I do. I can't go out. I have to stay in.' I got the impression it was like a jail." I said, 'When do you ever have time to watch television?' And he looked at me and said, 'Barbara, that's all I do. I can't go out. I have to stay in.' I got the impression it was like a jail."

He got his opportunities, of course, but as Patti Parry knew, sometimes they were unorthodox. "When he was doing Harum Scarum, Harum Scarum, we found out that Rudolph Valentino was buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. So we drove over there at eleven o'clock at night and poked around a little bit, and we found Valentino's grave. Elvis just wanted to see it." we found out that Rudolph Valentino was buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. So we drove over there at eleven o'clock at night and poked around a little bit, and we found Valentino's grave. Elvis just wanted to see it."

They walked around cemeteries a couple of times, she says. "That's the only place n.o.body bothered us."

Elvis found a willing spiritual acolyte in costar Deborah Walley during the filming of Spinout Spinout in early 1966. "I was never the same after Elvis," she said. Their friends.h.i.+p lasted until his death, and afterward, she often felt him around her. in early 1966. "I was never the same after Elvis," she said. Their friends.h.i.+p lasted until his death, and afterward, she often felt him around her. (Robin Rosaaen Collection) (Robin Rosaaen Collection)

Chapter Twenty-Five.

"You Don't Really Love Me!"

In March 1965, the Colonel convinced Elvis that Joe Esposito should come back into the camp. Parker had never liked Marty Lacker, who refused to kowtow to him and share secrets of the internal workings of the group, and the Colonel was determined to find a way to exercise more control over his loose canon of a client. Citing Joe's excellent organization skills, Parker encouraged Elvis to mend fences with him. For a time, then, Joe and Marty became co-foremen of the Memphis Mafia. But Marty's time was written on the wall, for Joe was also a favorite of Priscilla, going back to their shared time in Germany. With his return, she began playing a bigger role in Elvis's life. into the camp. Parker had never liked Marty Lacker, who refused to kowtow to him and share secrets of the internal workings of the group, and the Colonel was determined to find a way to exercise more control over his loose canon of a client. Citing Joe's excellent organization skills, Parker encouraged Elvis to mend fences with him. For a time, then, Joe and Marty became co-foremen of the Memphis Mafia. But Marty's time was written on the wall, for Joe was also a favorite of Priscilla, going back to their shared time in Germany. With his return, she began playing a bigger role in Elvis's life.

"I am a child-woman," Priscilla said in 1991. "When people meet me, they don't know what to say to me. They really don't know how to approach me. I'm always trying to find that place to fit in. I am a misfit."

But as one of her business a.s.sociates knows, "Priscilla has a remarkable interior gyroscope which keeps her on course. She's uncanny."

In 1965, her interior gyroscope was already at work, and the "child-woman" began working hard to drop the prefix on her self-image. Lamar saw that while Elvis controlled the guys, starting in 1965, Priscilla started lording it over the wives. She expected them to cater to her, Billy thought, and took advantage of her position, borrowing the wives' clothes and not returning them, and asking to use their credit cards.

As she a.s.serted herself, the group began to splinter into separate camps-Jerry Schilling gravitated to Joe and Priscilla-and a caste system took hold among the couples, Joe and his wife, Joanie, leading the pack behind Elvis and Priscilla. Marty thought Priscilla paid attention only to Jerry and Joe, and that Joanie became her shadow.

"It became like the First and Second Family," Lamar says. "It just galled Billy and Marty, and I wouldn't put up with it. I told them all to go f.u.c.k themselves."

Suddenly, there were rules. Only Joe and Priscilla were allowed to take pictures of Elvis, according to Billy, "and then after they took them, you couldn't even get a copy of them. Same with home movies."

In general, Elvis did not want the wives to come out to California or accompany their husbands on trips. "He was going to play around, and he didn't want anybody carrying tales," as Lamar puts it. "Being with Elvis put a h.e.l.l of a strain on a marriage. And on being a family. I was home so infrequently that my kids would see an extra place at the table and wonder who was coming."

Billy's wife, Jo, was especially hurt over the way Elvis excluded the wives, as many of the guys now had families, and he didn't always seem to respect those ties. She also thought she was in a vulnerable position because of Elvis's closeness to Billy. Though the two men were first cousins, Elvis regarded him as a brother, someone he had reared and guided from the days when they first came to Memphis and lived in the slums. "I saved you," Elvis told him over and over.

"Elvis couldn't live without Billy," says Jo. Part of it was the connection to Elvis's past, especially to Gladys, since Billy had been close to her. Part of it also was that Elvis's father and Billy's father had been in prison together, so there was nothing that Elvis had to be ashamed of with him. Consequently, Elvis wanted Billy with him all the time, and he resented it when Billy got married.

"Sometimes Elvis was like the Devil to me," Jo admits. "I pitied him, but I also feared him. I knew the power he had over everybody who worked for him, including my husband. When he took him on trips, it was like he was taking him from from me, because I lived by myself in Memphis while Billy lived in California. When our first child was born, Elvis wouldn't let Billy come home. And I didn't understand that. I lived in fear that Elvis would win and take Billy away forever. Patsy Lacker, Marty's wife, was my best friend then. Patsy used to say Elvis made her a hateful person, even to herself. We threw rocks at the bus and wished them all dead." me, because I lived by myself in Memphis while Billy lived in California. When our first child was born, Elvis wouldn't let Billy come home. And I didn't understand that. I lived in fear that Elvis would win and take Billy away forever. Patsy Lacker, Marty's wife, was my best friend then. Patsy used to say Elvis made her a hateful person, even to herself. We threw rocks at the bus and wished them all dead."

Jo Fortas, Alan's wife, was also at her wit's end. Alan had developed a frightening dependency on pills, usually downers-hypnotics-though he'd take uppers when driving cross-country, and Jo didn't know how to handle him. She'd call Red or Marty when things got really out of hand, and one of them would have to go over to their apartment on Beverly Glen Boulevard and search for the pills and flush them down the toilet. Usually it was Marty. "We had to haul Alan over to UCLA Medical Center in '65. He had thirty-five yellow jackets in him. Tried to kill himself over this tug-of-war between Elvis and his wife. Alan had six, seven, maybe eight real good scares."

To alleviate some of the tension, Elvis would invite Jo Smith to live in the house in L.A. in the mid-1960s. Lamar thought it made her seem like one of the guys. But Jo thought Elvis was jealous of how close she and Billy were. He wanted a similar closeness with just one woman, she could see. "But he wanted the closeness to be just on the wife's part."

That May, Elvis began work on Frankie and Johnny Frankie and Johnny at MGM, where he became the first star in studio history to have two dressing rooms-one for himself, and one for the guys. The irony was not lost upon him that Tony Curtis's dressing room had been prepared for him. at MGM, where he became the first star in studio history to have two dressing rooms-one for himself, and one for the guys. The irony was not lost upon him that Tony Curtis's dressing room had been prepared for him.

Directed by Freddy De Cordova, whose credits included Bedtime for Bonzo Bedtime for Bonzo and and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Frankie and Johnny The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Frankie and Johnny was a comedic turn on the old folk song by the same name, recast as Victorian period froth. Donna Douglas (Frankie) and Elvis (Johnny) appear as riverboat performers whose lives change when dancer Nellie Bly joins the troupe. was a comedic turn on the old folk song by the same name, recast as Victorian period froth. Donna Douglas (Frankie) and Elvis (Johnny) appear as riverboat performers whose lives change when dancer Nellie Bly joins the troupe.

During production, Elvis and Donna ("Elly May" from The Beverly Hillbillies The Beverly Hillbillies) squirreled away to discuss all things metaphysical. But Lamar saw that "he didn't try to date her. She was a smart cookie, and she knew about as much as he did, so they just talked books and religion."

On Perugia Way, Elvis was reading Timothy Leary's Psychedelic Experience Psychedelic Experience and Aldous Huxley's and Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception, The Doors of Perception, and encouraging Red, Sonny, and Alan to drop LSD while he watched. He tried smoking pot, though it burned his throat. But when he and Priscilla innocently got into a batch of Lamar's marijuana brownies, they didn't come out of the bedroom for days. "They just stayed ripped the whole time." Shaking, Lamar went in and confessed what had happened, expecting to be fired. Instead, "Elvis held out the tray and he said, 'Lamar, put another ounce in there.' " and encouraging Red, Sonny, and Alan to drop LSD while he watched. He tried smoking pot, though it burned his throat. But when he and Priscilla innocently got into a batch of Lamar's marijuana brownies, they didn't come out of the bedroom for days. "They just stayed ripped the whole time." Shaking, Lamar went in and confessed what had happened, expecting to be fired. Instead, "Elvis held out the tray and he said, 'Lamar, put another ounce in there.' "

Sue Ane Langdon, in her second picture with Elvis, remembered that he was "never really taxed" to do much on the film. "He was quite natural as himself . . . and I think Elvis played Elvis the best that anybody could ever have played him."

Elvis seemed to just be sailing through both his life and his film roles in the mid-1960s. But by late July, when his next picture, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, was scheduled to go into production, he was in trouble. was scheduled to go into production, he was in trouble.

Like Alan and others of his group, Elvis was experimenting with barbiturates, particularly Seconal and Tuinal. Uppers had helped him keep his body trim, but downers slowed his metabolism while he continued to eat such typical lunches as a bowl of mashed potatoes, a side boat of gravy, nine slices of bacon, a quart of milk, a lettuce salad with dressing, tomato juice, and six slices of bread. For breakfast, he often upped his bacon intake to an entire pound.

He showed up at Paramount for preproduction on August 2, a week late, citing illness. His appearance was shocking. He looked jowly and puffy in the face, soft around the waist, and he perspired so heavily that he frequently changed his s.h.i.+rts. Director Mickey Moore, who had worked as a.s.sistant director to Norman Taurog on a number of Presley pictures, was appalled. Elvis was to play a helicopter pilot with a tourist-related charter business, which required him to look lean, handsome, and rugged. Instead, in costume, he was so pudgy, with visible pooches of fat, that he split his pants.

Producer Hal Wallis was livid. He had been steadily complaining about Elvis's weight to the Colonel since before Roustabout. Roustabout. The two were friendly adversaries, and he had warned Parker in late 1963 that he needed to have a stern talk with his client, and that if Elvis didn't shape up, "It could have a very detrimental effect on his entire career." On one occasion, Wallis sent his sister, Mina, to the Samuel Goldwyn Studios to check up on him. She greeted Elvis warmly and then stood with her arm around him in conversation. When she left, Elvis went berserk. "That G.o.dd.a.m.n old f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h!" he spewed to Marty. "She was feeling to see how much fat I had around my waist!" The two were friendly adversaries, and he had warned Parker in late 1963 that he needed to have a stern talk with his client, and that if Elvis didn't shape up, "It could have a very detrimental effect on his entire career." On one occasion, Wallis sent his sister, Mina, to the Samuel Goldwyn Studios to check up on him. She greeted Elvis warmly and then stood with her arm around him in conversation. When she left, Elvis went berserk. "That G.o.dd.a.m.n old f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h!" he spewed to Marty. "She was feeling to see how much fat I had around my waist!"

Paradise, Hawaiian Style was the last picture in Elvis's revised 1961 contract with Wallis, and during filming, the Colonel would enter into arduous negotiations with him on a new deal-$500,000 per picture, plus 20 percent of the profits. He also wanted one nonsinging role for his client. The producer would stall him until the following year. was the last picture in Elvis's revised 1961 contract with Wallis, and during filming, the Colonel would enter into arduous negotiations with him on a new deal-$500,000 per picture, plus 20 percent of the profits. He also wanted one nonsinging role for his client. The producer would stall him until the following year.

On August 5, Elvis, Priscilla, Vernon, and Dee flew to Hawaii for location shooting. Jerry Schilling, Larry Geller, Red and Sonny West, Charlie Hodge, Mike Keaton, Richard Davis, Marty Lacker, and Billy Smith went with them.

Jo Smith was pregnant with their second child, and she stayed in California with Patsy Lacker and her three children. "Patsy and I depended on each other." Like Elvis and Gladys, "We even had our own little lingo that only we understood." It was Jo's first time on the West Coast ("I'd never been anywhere before"), and the Watts riots broke out while the guys were gone. Thirty-four people were killed, more than a thousand injured, and nearly four thousand arrested. Jo was terrified, wondering what in the world she'd gotten herself into.

In Hawaii, the movie set was also fraught with little wars and dramas, as Elvis juggled friends.h.i.+ps of one kind or another with three starlets-Suzanna Leigh, Julie Parrish, and Marianna Hill-and a child actress, Donna b.u.t.terworth.

Priscilla rarely visited the set, which might have boded well for Elvis's flirtation with twenty-four-year-old Marianna, whose exotic looks and long, dark hair set her apart from the more conventional Julie and Suzanna. The problem was that she didn't find him impressive either personally or professionally and considered him little more than "a show business phenomenon." Marianna, whose real surname was Schwarzkopf (her cousin H. Norman Schwarzkopf, would become commander of the Coalition Forces in the Gulf War of 1991), had a s.e.xy dance number with Elvis, "Scratch My Back (Then I'll Scratch Yours)." That led reporters to ask if the two might schedule some private time off the set. "No," she answered, indicating that she found his ubiquitous entourage too strange for that sort of thing.

Elvis didn't end up dating any of the film's actresses, though he might have easily made time with either Suzanna or Julie, both of whom had been fans since their teen years. Suzanna, a Brit born in Redding, England, was the G.o.ddaughter of actress Vivian Leigh, from whom she took her stage name. She had grown up dreaming of winning a Paramount Studios contract, or more specifically, of making a film with Elvis. Paradise, Hawaiian Style Paradise, Hawaiian Style was her second American movie. She played Elvis's girlfriend, Judy, who ran the office in his helicopter charter service. was her second American movie. She played Elvis's girlfriend, Judy, who ran the office in his helicopter charter service.

Suzanna began appearing in British productions at eleven, but now at nineteen, the show business veteran was still nervous about meeting her childhood idol. She planned to tell him that they had a good friend in common, actress-turned-nun Dolores Hart, but she never got a chance to deliver her prepared speech. She was on the set the first day, studying her lines, when suddenly a hand holding a cup of tea appeared before her face.

"I believe everyone from England drinks tea," said a male voice.

Suzanna began speaking before she looked up. "No," she said, "I don't, actually . . ." But then she saw him. "Oh, yes, I do! Yes, yes, I love tea!"

They found an easy rapport, as Suzanna was a strong believer in spiritualism and held a deep faith. "We talked a lot about religion. I had a rough childhood. I found my father dead when I was six. I had a religious experience in a convent when I was small, so Elvis was fascinated by that. He said that he had been searching for someone who could give him facts that Jesus did exist."

During their heart-to-hearts, Suzanna suggested that Elvis expand his repertoire and come to England, "because there were a lot of great movies being done there." Colonel Parker, who had entered the country illegally from Holland and had no pa.s.sport to travel, felt threatened by her and, according to Suzanna, fabricated a magazine article in which it seemed that she had "sold Elvis out. There was one thing that Elvis would not let you do, and that was speak to the press about him. If you did, he would drop you like a hot potato."

When Parker had someone slip a copy of the article beneath her dressing room door, "I was in a terrible state over it." She figured Elvis would never speak to her again. But instead, when he walked on the set, "He came up and flicked my bra strap and said for me to go with him."

When he got her alone, she was nearly in tears. "I never said those things!"

"Don't worry," Elvis said. "I know where it came from."

He saved her a second time on the Paramount lot when Steve McQueen wouldn't leave her alone. Grabbing her by the hand, he led her to his photo session, where suddenly he took her in his arms and kissed her for the camera.

"This won't do your career any harm, baby!"

Elvis also had a swoon-inducing effect on Julie Parrish, who had joined a fan club for him at thirteen. When she first met him on the set, "My heart was beating so fast I was afraid he could hear it. . . . He did not seem that comfortable with me at first, but then I was not all that comfortable with him, either, to say the least."

They warmed up to each other, though, and Julie was only too eager to listen to Elvis carry on about metaphysical studies. Then one day she became unwell, following a rough patch with Hal Wallis.

Despite being married, the "old letch," as she called Wallis, kept putting the moves on her. Shortly before the film went into production, "He called me into his office, locked the door behind us, led me over to the sofa, and briefly kissed me on the mouth. He said, 'Little, girl, we're going to have a long talk about your future.' I looked at my watch and apologized, saying I'd like to stay and talk, but that I really had an audition I had to get to."

He continued to pursue her on location, "constantly calling and asking me out. . . . On his last call . . . he said, 'You'd better think again.' I think the stress of all this nonsense contributed to my becoming ill during that film."

When she and Elvis rehea.r.s.ed the musical number "Stop Where You Are," they stood for hours on end, doing the scene repeatedly. Julie felt a sharp pain in her leg, and soon it crept up the right side of her body. The actress had just gotten out of the hospital, so the experience scared her.

"I complained of it and had to sit down." When she said she couldn't go on, "Elvis came over, picked me up in his arms, carried me to his dressing room and laid me down on his sofa. He then tried to do a healing. He held his hands about a foot above my body for a while, but I was so nervous, worrying about what everyone on the set must be thinking, that I couldn't enjoy it." Being in his arms, she confessed, "was almost scary to me."

When she got back to the mainland, she went into the hospital for tests and was told she might have suffered a slight stroke. She had another idea: "My intuition told me that it had to do with taking [the sedative] Librium, diet pills, and drinking alcohol. . . . I had also been taking tranquilizers since the age of fourteen."

Elvis could identify with both of Julie's problems. His own difficulties with Wallis were apparent to everyone, even ten-year-old Donna b.u.t.terworth. She and Elvis were rehearsing the song "Queenie Wahini's Papaya" when the producer appeared on the set. Suddenly, Elvis's demeanor changed, and as Donna remembers, "he did not dig it that [Wallis] was there. He got miffed and wouldn't continue until he left." She never knew the reason behind it, but Elvis stormed off and went to his trailer, all the guys following behind him. When Wallis left, they resumed their rehearsal as if nothing had happened.