The production numbers are more elaborate than usual, but Elvis' songs are as forgettable as ever, and the whole picture has a garish, cluttered look.

The magic comes through, intermittently emerging from the shadows of failure.

Clambake in story, dialog and songs is derivative; a stringing together of cliches that must have been cut out and pasted together from a number of other scripts.

The premise is a fun riff on Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper.... but there's enough here to make the formula different and entertaining enough, even for contemporary families.