ELVIS PRESLEY gets to sing several non-memorable songs, the best of which is "One Broken Heart for Sale", but IT HAPPENED AT THE WORLD'S FAIR is strictly standard Presley stuff wherein the guy has his eye on a pretty gal (JOAN O'BRIEN) and makes a pitch, the sort that turns her off at first. Predictably, after a few misunderstandings involving a small girl abandoned at the fair, a happy ending is soon in sight.

The music by Leith Stevens is pleasant enough and the fair grounds at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair make colorful backgrounds for the slight story. GARY LOCKWOOD is Elvis' pilot pal, both of them down on their luck but seeming to spend plenty of money on the fair and decent lodgings. The sub-plot involving both bachelors entrusted with the care of a seven year-old by a complete stranger is more than a little improbable, especially given today's public awareness of children being taken advantage of by adults with criminal behavior.

Presley shares some effective scenes with the little girl but has his standard "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl" routine with leading lady O'Brien, a pert blonde who plays a nurse who suspects him of feigning illness as a part of his wolf routine. Naturally, the little girl is responsible for bringing them together again after a few silly misunderstandings keep them apart.

Nothing special, but passes the time pleasantly whenever Elvis sings, which is pretty often.

Handsomely-made but overlong Elvis Presley vehicle saddled with a predictable story. Elvis (heavily made-up) plays an airplane-crazy crooner--with the hilariously generic name of Mike Edwards!--who finds love at the Seattle World's Fair. Little Vicky Tiu is cute as an orphaned tyke who plays matchmaker for EP and ultra-bland Joan O'Brien. O'Brien is really dullsville, and Presley's musical numbers aren't too exciting, either. The standout scene is a quick one: juvenile Kurt Russell (who later played Elvis in a television movie) giving the King a swift kick in the shin. Although it's a well-produced picture with no higher ambition other than some mindless laughs and songs, "Fair" is so lethargic it verges on depressing, especially when you consider what Presley was capable of. ** from ****

Just like MGM's classic Meet Me In St. Louis which has the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis as a backdrop for the story, It Happened At The World's Fair uses the 1963 Seattle World's Fair for the same purpose. No big song hits came out of this film as they did for Judy Garland in her film, but Elvis Presley does sing quite a few numbers here and some of them should have been better known.

It Happens At The World's Fair casts the King and Gary Lockwood as a pair of crop duster fliers who can't seem to get out of debt no matter how hard they work. This is mostly due to Lockwood's irresponsibility which takes the form of a gambling habit. Lockwood never saw a poker table or a crap game he couldn't pass up. The sheriff's gone and padlocked their plane so these guys can't fly. It's off to Seattle for Presley and Lockwood to find a job or raise a stake somehow.

And in Seattle Elvis gets involved with two women. Joan O'Brien who works in the World's Fair Infirmary and little Vicky Tsu who comes into his custody when her uncle Kam Tong goes missing. So the rest of the film Presley and Lockwood are trying to deal with their financial mess and in Elvis's case court Joan O'Brien and take care of the little girl he now has custody of.

Elvis sang a goodly amount of songs here and two of them, Happy Ending and A World Of Our Own should have become bigger hits for him. I'm also surprised that Joan O'Brien didn't get to sing a bit more, she does join Elvis in the Happy Ending finale for a couple of bars. But Joan was a singer and hardly utilized in her brief film career.

This film has also something of a cult status with fans of the King because young Kurt Russell who grew up to play Elvis Presley has a couple of scenes with him. Just like Tony Curtis whose idol was Cary Grant growing up to play in a film with him in Operation Petticoat.

It Happened At The World's Fair probably resulted from Colonel Tom Parker making a deal with the Seattle World's Fair people to advertise the exhibition by shooting an Elvis film there. If that was the case than everybody made out fine.