Location filming for Fun in Acapulco was done by a very good Elvis double. Fooled me until now. The rear screen shots of the real Elvis, done at Paramount studios, are excellent.

In 1957, a powerful Mexican politician allegedly sent a blank check to Elvis’ office in return for his appearance at a powerful media mogul’s daughter’s birthday party.

The check was returned, but the mogul had been bragging that Elvis would come. For revenge, and to keep from losing face, the mogul planted a story that Elvis was interviewed in Tijuana and said, “Mexico is a distasteful place and I would never kiss a Mexican woman.” (It’s actually worse than I can print.) Elvis had never been to Tijuana.

This fictious story, split the Mexican youths so that there were violent riots when King Creole was shown in theaters with 100 youths jailed. Elvis’ records were burned in the town square and forbidden on radio. This ban continued through the making of Fun in Acapulco, hence the need for a body double. This was all documented in the book Elvis Refried - The Rise of the Mexican Counter Culture by Eric Zoloy.

During the filming of the movie, the director (Richard Thorpe - Jailhouse Rock) started yelling at some of the Mexican actors for blowing their lines. Elvis went to Thorpe and said,

"You hired them to put authenticity into the movie. English is their second language, so stop complaining or you lose me."

The movie reached #1 on the box office charts a week after president Kennedy was shot. It was his last release before Beatlemania hit and the top-grossing movie musical of 1963.

Trailer link below shows Elvis diving off the La Perla cliff with great mix of rear-screen and location work.