March 26: Elvis begins filming his 11th motion picture, titled Girls! Girls! Girls!
March 28: At Elvis' insistence, the song "Return To Sender" is selected for inclusion in his latest film (it was co-written by Otis Blackwell, author of "Don't Be Cruel" and "All Shook Up").
April 7: Presley arrives in Hawaii to begin shooting the ocean shots for his latest film. At his hotel, the Kaiser Hawaiian Village, he is mobbed by over a thousand fans and sprints away from them, losing several pieces of jewelry in the process. (His ring was returned the next day.)
April 9: Fearing for his hands, Girls! Girls! Girls! director Hal Wallis halts a karate exhibition after Elvis breaks forty boards.
May 1: Director Hal Wallis reads a magazine article about Acapulco's famous cliff divers and gets the idea for what would become Elvis' 13th film, Fun In Acapulco.
June 1: Colonel Tom Parker hears of the Acapulco idea and rebels against it, due to inflammatory press leveled against The King there in 1957. (The story goes that Elvis was quoted in a newspaper column saying, "I'd rather kiss three black girls than a Mexican." Most sources now agree that the quote was a fake, planted by a Mexican government official miffed at Presley's refusal to perform at a private party.)
June 8: Filming is completed on Girls! Girls! Girls!
June 17: For the first time since leaving Germany in 1960, Elvis is reunited with Priscilla Beaulieu. She stays for two weeks at the home of Presley friend and custom car designer George Barris after endless assurances from Elvis to her parents that she will be respected and well cared for.
June 19: After two days with Barris, Priscilla moves into Elvis' L.A. Home on Bellagio Drive anyway.
June 20: Elvis, Priscilla, and the Memphis Mafia head to the Sahara in Vegas.
July 1: Priscilla returns to Germany.
July 12: Elvis purchases land directly across Highway 51 from Graceland, using the mansion itself as collateral.
August 6: Longtime girlfriend Anita Wood -- who has been staying at the Graceland mansion since Elvis' return from the Army -- overhears the singer talking to his father about the difficulty of choosing between Anita and Priscilla. She immediately returns to her hometown of Jackson, TN, telling the Memphis Press-Scimitar that Elvis is not ready to settle down.
August 28: In Hollywood, Elvis begins filming his 12th film, It Happened At The World’s Fair.
August 31: California clothier to the stars Sy Devore reveals in an interview that the King does not wear underwear. Elvis is upset but eventually returns to the store -- in underwear.
September 4: Elvis arrives in Seattle for World's Fair location shooting for his latest film. While there, he strikes up a romance with 18-year-old native Sue Wouters.
September 17: Elvis resumes shooting in Hollywood.
October 13: A Mexican theater showing "G.I. Blues" -- the most recent Elvis film available there -- erupts in a riot that trashes much of the inside, possibly prompted by lingering bad feelings about the singer.
November 9: Shooting is completed on It Happened At The World’s Fair, and so Elvis flies once again to Vegas.
November 29: Presley returns to Memphis and is greeted with bad news: his first nationwide tour in three years has fallen through, the result of an inability for the Colonel and RCA to come to terms on the details. The 43-date tour would have netted Elvis one million dollars.
December 19: Having apparently made his decision, Elvis meets Priscilla at his father's house in Memphis, where she has driven in from New York City with father Vernon and stepmother Dee. Priscilla is nervous, and Elvis prescribes some sleeping pills which leave her asleep for the better part of two days.
December 25: At a private Graceland Christmas party, Elvis presents Priscilla with a toy poodle, which she promptly names Honey. Her gift to Elvis is a wooden cigar box that plays his recent hit "Surrender."
December 31: After fireworks at Graceland, New Year's Eve 1962 is spent at another private party, held this time at Memphis' Manhattan Club.
Next... Elvis 1962 recording sessions
