Speedway is pleasant, kind, polite, sweet and noble, and if the late show viewers of 1988 will not discover from it what American society was like in the summer of 1968, at least they will discover what it was not like.

Music, youth and customs were much changed by Elvis Presley 12 years ago; from the 26 movies he has made since he sang "Heart-break Hotel" you would never guess it.

The odd combination of stock car racing and tax debt certainly makes for a strange musical – probably the only one of its kind to include a musical number set inside the IRS.

Speedway is just too formulaic to be a good Elvis Presley movie--the magic is missing at this point in his career.