Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (August 18, 2024)
Elvis Presley starred in a whopping 27 movies during the 1960s. Close to smack-dab in the middle of this run comes 1965’s Harum Scarum.
On tour to promote his latest film, movie star Johnny Tyronne (Presley) travels through the Middle East. As this occurs, however, a group of insurrectionists kidnaps Johnny.
Because they believe his cinematic exploits as an action star make him the man for the job, they demand they he assassinate King Toranshah (Philip Reed) for them. Johnny attempts to avoid this gig and falls for the king’s daughter Princess Shalimar (Mary Ann Mobley) along the way.
By 1965, Presley’s movies seemed more like cheap vehicles to promote his musical career than anything else. Or maybe it functioned the other way around, where Elvis largely recorded songs to sell his films.
Whatever the case, both seemed anachronistic by 1965. With artists like the Beatles and Bob Dylan expanding rock’s horizons, Presley remained stuck in the 1950s.
Actually, that seems wrong, as Presley was daring and exciting in the 1950s. The 1960s Elvis comes across as corny and bland.
Make no mistake: Scarum boasts no signs of the Presley who became such a sensation a decade earlier. Indeed, Elvis sleepwalks his way through the film and barely registers a pulse.
Presley seems embarrassed to be in Scarum. He mutters his lines in the most perfunctory manner possible and shows no personality, a fairly remarkable “feat” given Elvis’s natural charisma.
Who can blame him? Scarum sticks him with songs so stale and sappy that I remain amazed he displayed a willingness to sing them.
Honestly, it really appears that Presley had “given up” by 1965. He seemed unwilling or unable to do anything other than what his infamous manager Tom Parker wanted.
That left him in one trite film packed with lousy songs after another. No one shoots 27 movies over a single decade and shows any ability to pick and choose only promising projects.
With its “exotic” settings, Scarum does differ somewhat from the average Presley flick. Of course, it always remains abundantly clear the movie shot in California, but at least it pretends to take us somewhere out of the ordinary.
Not that Scarum uses the fictional Middle Eastern locations in a compelling manner. Instead, these spots exist as a phony form of “exoticism”, one that usually borders on cheap stereotypes and racist views.
Scarum does enjoy a cast packed with lovely ladies, but otherwise, I find it difficult to locate anything appealing here. Just another in an exceedingly long line of subpar Elvis Presley movies, it brings us a depressing dud.
Footnote: if some logical reason for the spelling of “harem” as “harum” exists, I don’t know what it is. Maybe the producers thought Harem Scarem wouldn’t make the rhyme as obvious?
