SYNOPSICS
Stay Away, Joe (1968) is a English,Spanish movie. Peter Tewksbury has directed this movie. Elvis Presley,Burgess Meredith,Joan Blondell,Katy Jurado are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1968. Stay Away, Joe (1968) is considered one of the best Comedy,Musical,Romance,Western movie in India and around the world.
A mixed race American Indian rodeo champ returns to the reservation to help his people out.
Stay Away, Joe (1968) Reviews
As An Elvis Fan, I Loved It
Pretty much everybody who ever talks about this film says it's horrible and stupid. I could not disagree more. This is a light-hearted and funny movie that left me with a smile on my face. Sure, it's silly...but it's supposed to be. And Katy Jurado and Burgess Meredith both give hilarious performances. The 4 songs in the film are fun and catchy, and as always...Elvis's voice is top-notch. Three of his friends (Charlie Hodge, Joe Esposito, and Sonny West) join him on this movie, and it only adds to the fun. Say what you want about this movie, but as an Elvis fan...I was just happy to get to spend over an hour laughing with the King. How can you stay away?
Not Elvis' worst movie.
I have to disagree with a previous comment that this is Elvis' worst film. OK, it's not a comedy classic but surely, at least in my opinion, "Harum Scarum", "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" and "Easy Come, Easy Go" are much more inferior to this rather enjoyable yarn. I for one always enjoy watching it whenever it's screened on Cable TV and it's a pity it has not been released on DVD yet. Besides a very good-looking Elvis, the supporting cast Burgess Meredith, Katy Jurado & the wise-cracking Thomas Gomez (as grandpa) are a joy to watch. And the opening title sequence with the camera flying over the Grand Canyon while the lovely "Stay Away" (a re-working of "Greensleeves") plays on the soundtrack must rank as one of the most beautiful openings in all of Elvis' movies.
Some Fun Here and There But Not One of Elvis' best
Any film with Katy Jurado is worth seeing and she's on screen for about twenty minutes here. This is better than Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid where she's on-screen for two minutes and even makes that film worth seeing. This is a silly comedy, with a few effective gags and lots of slapstick. I think the movie is hated because 1)many of the Native American characters are played in brown make-up by Euro-American actors and they seem to childishly enjoy getting drunk and getting into fights. 2)Presley has a bed scene with Quentin Dean (who won a Golden Globe the year before for "In the Heat of the Night"). Dean is supposed to be a Lolita type nymphet. Her age isn't mentioned, but she appears to be about 16 years old, at most. If you can get over these two offensive points, the movie is fun in a three stooges type of way. Presley seems to be enjoying himself and his performance is pretty smooth and easy going. This was one of his last films and he seems totally comfortable playing rodeo rider Joe Lightcloud. It is always nice to see Joan Blondell. She had become a big star again in 1968 with her role on the hit television show,"Here Comes the Brides." Still, her role is pretty pedestrian as the bootlegger mother of Quentin Dean, who first tries to keep Elvis away from her, but then decides to use a gun to make him marry her. Still, its Katy Jurado's delightful small performance that made the film worth watching for me. We even get to see her taking a bath. That is worth two of the six stars I gave the film.
A big improvement
After such smellaroos like "Clambake", "Kissin' Cousins" and "Paradise Hawaiian Style" this movie is a breath of fresh air. At this juncture of his movie career, his films didn't engender much confidence. With the exception of "Speeedway" which was actually filmed before this one, his films were at least decent again. Elvis plays a half breed named Joe Lightclould who is always getting himself in trouble. Strong supporting cast, with the late Burgess Merideth who was one of many. And the music was a big improvement over what he had been doing lately. Perhaps being married gave him back his drive, perhaps being a father gave him back his drive. And perhaps he just got fed up with the crap the he had been given and demanded better rolls. I give this movie three and a half stars.
Get off your HIGH HORSES!!!!
Stay Away, Joe! is an American Treasure, that should not be overlooked if you truly love Elvis Presley movies. You have to understand the era in which this movie was made, #1...it was during the big outdoor Drive in Movie craze when carloads, truckloads of teenagers flocked by the millions to cheap grind house movies, #2...it reflects the attitudes of many young people during the so-called "swinging sixty's free love etc. It accurately represents the living conditions of most First-Nations people at that time in American history...to this day reservations are plagued with poverty, broken down cars, and stray dogs...Elvis was not ashamed to portray a halfbreed native American, no matter how much this may have offended the straight, upper class, white America! If you want honest camp, wild and crazy young people, great Elvis songs you must see this movie with a open mind, remember, you, watching this movie in the comfort of your home on a Sunday afternoon was not the intended audience!