It Happened At The World's Fair (1963)
Mike and Danny fly a crop duster, but because of Danny's gambling debts, a local sheriff seizes it. Trying to earn money, they hitch-hike to the World's Fair in Seattle. While Danny tries to earn money playing poker, Mike takes care of a small girl, Sue-Lin, whose Uncle Walter has disappeared. Being a ladies' man, he also finds the time to court a young nurse, Diane.
Swinging higher than the Space Needle with the gals and the songs at the famous World's Fair!
Mike Edwards: Danny, you weren't born, you were dealt.
Space Needle - 400 Broad Street, Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
(1962 Century 21 Exposition)
Alweg Monorail, Seattle, Washington, USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
(Studio)
Kurt Russell, in his film debut, plays the boy who kicks Elvis Presley's shins. Recalling the scene years later, Russell says that he didn't want to do it, as Elvis was such a huge star and Russell was a fan of his. He says that finally Elvis paid him $5 to do it. Russell would later go on to play Elvis in Elvis (1979) and voice him in Forrest Gump (1994).
One of four films that Elvis Presley and Kurt Russell have in common. Russell appeared in the Elvis movie "It Happened At The World's Fair" (1963), he portrayed Presley in the TV movie "Elvis" (1979), he portrayed Presley again (voice only) in "Forrest Gump" (1994), and he played an Elvis impersonator in "3000 Miles to Graceland" (2001). In "It Happened at the World's Fair," Elvis asks Russell (who was a young boy at the time), to kick him hard in the shin for which Elvis pays him 25 cents. In "3000 Miles to Graceland," this scene is parodied when a young boy runs on screen and kicks Russell (in full Elvis attire) in the shin.
Elvis' script from the movie is included in his exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The script is open at the page where Kurt Russell's character kicks Elvis in the shins.
The "futuristic" car in which Elvis finds Sue-Lin asleep is a General Motors Firebird III. Designed with a titanium steel skin, a "double bubble" canopy, and gull-wing doors, it was one of the world's first self-driving cars, and could be driven remotely using a joystick device. The Firebird III was displayed at the 1962 World's Fair, in the Washington State Pavilion (now known as Climate Pledge Arena), which was later the home of the Seattle Supersonics NBA basketball team, and is now the home of the Seattle Kraken NHL hockey team.
Vicky Tiu, the child actress who plays "Sue Lin" grew up to marry Ben Cayetano (Democratic Party), the fifth governor of the State of Hawaii in 1997. Tiu later said that, while Elvis Presley was a joy to work with, she hated working with director Norman Taurog. For a scene where Sue-Lin cries, Taurog got real tears from Vicky by telling her that her beloved grandmother had just died. (While directing the movie Skippy (1931), for which he won an Oscar, Taurog used a similar dirty trick to get real tears from his nephew, Jackie Cooper, by having his assistant pretend to shoot Cooper's dog.)
Revealing mistakes
Upon arrival at the World's Fair, Elvis goes to store his luggage and guitar in a station locker. They don't show the guitar being stowed away as it is actually far too long to fit into the small sized locker.
When they are eating in the Space Needle, the windows rotate around the patrons - but the scenery does not rotate. In reality, the restaurant rotates about once an hour (adjustable speed) - including the windows.
Miscellaneous
Near the end of the movie, the caps on the marching band change from tall, cylindrical type as the band is marching forward to the flatter military type as the band marches by as viewed from behind.