When movie makers film a comedy, it is imperative that the audience is laughing at the jokes, not at the movie. That is what happens here in this outlandish farce where the performers of a rodeo unwittingly slaughter and barbecue their prize bull at a drunken fiesta. If you can swallow that, then try the bull of Elvis Presley as a Native American. Burgess Meredith adds another bizarre performance to his many, especially those directed by Otto Preminger. Katy Jurado takes Bette Davis's wig from "Beyond the Forest", and includes some of her mannerisms as well (with a Mexican accent), but there are some generally amusing moments with Joan Blondell as a gun-toting diner owner intent on keeping Elvis's pelvis off of her daughter unless a wedding ring is included. A bizarre musical number chooses a chicken coop as its location, and comedy montages seem straight off of Saturday morning cartoons. This tries to have a hip feeling to it (minus the LSD) but this hip needs some cortisone.
Review of Stay Away, Joe
