In my lifetime, I have seen thousands of films, but It Happened at the World’s Fair is the very first movie that I have seen the iconic musician Elvis Presley act in which sounds crazy, but I am not a die-hard musical fan outside of the immortal classic The Wizard of Oz and a few other choice films. I love his music, but hadn’t seen a single film he starred in until now.
It Happened at the World’s Fair has Elvis starring as Mike Edwards. He along with his friend Danny Burke (Gary Lockwood, 2001 A Space Odyssey) fly a crop duster for a living. Their crop duster is taken in for custody by the local sheriff as Danny has severe gambling debts. The two then plan to go to the World’s Fair in Seattle, Washington to raise money by, of course, gambling! They catch a ride from a farmer, Walter Ling (Kam Tong, Flower Drum Song) and his young niece, Sue-Lin (Vicky Tiu). Mike ends up watching over Sue-Lin when Walter suddenly vanishes at the fair. While looking after her, Mike meets a nurse, Diane Warren (Joan O’Brien, The Alamo) that he takes time out of his day to romance and sing a few songs for. Things later get difficult for Mike as the welfare board wants to take Sue-Lin away from him and becomes part of a fur smuggling operation.
It Happened at the World’s Fair is a great escapist picture, a feel-good 105-minute film filled with humor, songs and love. The film is so silly that it is difficult to take the serious moments all that seriously, feeling there will be a punchline or gag somewhere.
The acting by the cast is excellent which includes Yvonne Craig (Batgirl herself from the Batman TV series from the 60’s) and a young Kurt Russell, in his film debut, as the kid who kicks Elvis in the shin twice. Ironically enough, Russell would later star as Elvis in the TV film directed by John Carpenter. Young Vicky Tiu, who was 7 at the time, would grow up to be the First Lady of Hawaii. Joseph Ruttenburg is the man responsible for the excellent cinematography, capturing some beautiful shots of the lovely city of Seattle.
It Happened at the World’s Fair is given a Blu-ray release by Warner Brothers. The 1080p widescreen image looks fantastic with a vast amount of sharpness to the colors with reds coming in strongest. The higher contrast offers a wealth of clarity to outdoor and indoor scenery along with rich textures and deep black levels. Scenes under broad daylight just sparkle. No signs of DNR or other enhancements appear to have been detected. You can safely retire the DVD.
The English DTS-HD master audio 2.0 track is solid with the dialog, action scenes and songs coming in crystal clear. No defects, such as popping, or hissing were detected. The audio was pleasant without any of the sounds being overly aggressive or too subdued. English subtitles are available for this offering.
Extras for this release include a trailer and a song selection where you can listen to Elvis’ songs from the film.
It Happened at the World’s Fair is considered by many to be one of Elvis Presley’s best pictures. I found it to be a lot of fun. The audio and video presentation for this Blu-ray release are top-notch, to go with a few supplements make this a recommended release!
It Happened at the World’s Fair
Director- Norman Taurog
Cast- Elvis Presley, Joan O’Brien, Gary Lockwood
Country of Origin- US
Distributor –Warner Archive Collection / Warner Brothers
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date-7/11/21