When coming attractions are shown at your local movie theater, they usually start with a montage of short exciting scenes, plus a booming announcer voice-over to hype your interest. Believe it or not, there is an old VHS tape titled “Elvis in the Movies” that shows the trailers for all 31 of Elvis’ acting movies.    more »

Blue Hawaii was released fifty years ago in November 1961. It was Elvis’ seventh film and was his most commercially successful movie, in spite of a rather skimpy plot. There is lots of great scenery, and 26-year-old Elvis looked in top form in his skin-tight swim trunks. Plus, there’s no shortage of skimpily-clad young ladies cavorting on the beach.   more »

On October 24, the Hollywood Reporter broke the news that a movie would be made about Elvis’ 1970 meeting with President Richard Nixon at the Whitehouse. Within 24 hours, the story was on dozens of websites and media sources.   more »

Every August I enjoy going to GoMemphis.com and reading John Beifuss’ annual report on movies that contain something, anything, about Elvis in them. For example, it could be Elvis jumpsuits, or his iconic sunglasses, or anything else associated with him. It can be an Elvis song, a picture of him, or a character trying to sound like him. And sometimes, his name is used in the dialog of the movie.    more »

While assembling photos for the ElvisBlog series 50th Anniversary Movie Pictorials, I was pleased to find many interesting PR shots for Elvis’ movies.   more »

Wild in the Country was released fifty years ago in June 1961. It was Elvis’ seventh film and has been identified by many as his last shot at becoming a serious dramatic actor.   more »

Last October, we started a new series of pictorial essays celebrating the 50th anniversaries of Elvis’ movies. Number two in the series is Flaming star, which opened in December 1960. It was Elvis’s second western, and like Love Me Tender, his character died in it. Thankfully, that never happened again.    more »

Elvis had 31 movies with acting parts, and only four were made in the 50s before he went in the army. That means there are 27 Elvis movies that will reach their 50th anniversaries in the next decade. I thought it would be fitting to celebrate these anniversaries as they come up.   more »

Tony Curtis died this past Wednesday, and several Elvis websites noted his passing. The reason they did this is because there are two stories connecting these two great entertainers. In case you haven’t read these other websites, here is the Elvis//Tony Curtis story that gives us a look at Elvis’ sense of humor.    more »

Once again, it is time to thank John Biefuss at GoMemphis.com for the research he does each year which makes possible this series of ElvisBlog articles. As the movie critic for the Memphis Commercial Appeal, he sees every movie that comes to town. And since that town is the home of Elvis Presley, he makes note of every Elvis connection in those movies.   more »

Like many other Elvis fans, I headed to my local multiplex theater Thursday night to take in the “One Night Event” showing of the new and improved Elvis On Tour. My ticket cost $13.50, but I got my money’s worth. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.   more »

Last week we started our look at Elvis’ presence in the movies. Not the old films where he was an actor, but new ones where an allusion is made to Elvis. The research for this was done by John Beifuss, movie critic for the Memphis Commercial Appeal. We can presume his job enabled him to see just about every movie that came to town, and since that town is the home of Elvis, he noted every connection to him in these films.   more »

Have you noticed how Elvis continues to loom so large in American pop-culture? One significant example of this is his presence in a dozen or so movies every year. Not necessarily as a character, but in more subtle ways, like his name being used in dialog, or his image in video clips or photos visible in a scene, or his songs playing in the background (or over the credits), or familiar Elvis trappings like jumpsuits and those famous sunglasses, or even his well-known moves and mannerisms.   more »

This week I did something I’ve never done before – I watched the same movie twice within three days. When I watched Lonely Street on Monday, my main purpose was to see what kind of job Robert Patrick did playing 70-something Elvis as the character Mr. Aaron. Well, I think he was superb.   more »

“I really wanted to see this movie when I read that there was some Elvis content. At first I thought it was going to be some really lame movie. It exceeded my expectations and I loved it! … we laughed pretty good!   more »

Your Elvis blogmeister is in the middle of a busy week leading up to Thanksgiving, with two different groups of relatives coming to stay for a few days. So, it is time to take it easy and share with you an interesting Elvis article posted by my friend Ty at www.TheFilmFrontier.com.    more »

Laurel Goodwin was the biggest omission in ElvisBlog’s original “Star Trek Elvis Connection”. She played Laurel Dodge, Elvis’ love interest in Girls, Girls, Girls.   more »

This is Tygrrius, filling in again for Phil. As an Elvis fan, you are undoubtedly used to "greatest hits" and various other methods of re-packaging existing material. Today, I'm going to steal a page from RCA's playbook by taking a look at ElvisBlog's Greatest Hits.    more »

Everybody knows that Colonel Parker killed Elvis’ chances of becoming a serious actor. All Parker wanted was simple, light-weight plots with lots of songs. To him, the movies were simply a means to sell soundtrack albums. Of course, the films made a nice profit, too, for a long time, as the fans kept coming no matter what was served up to them.   more »

The following blog article is coming to you compliments of TheFilmFrontier.com. What you are about to see is a correlation between Elvis and young Darth Vader racing the hot vehicles of their days.   more »

When Bubba Ho-Tep was released back in 2003, I did not watch it in a movie theater. As an independent film made on a shoestring budget, its run was mostly limited to the film festival circuit. However, it received much critical praise, and by the time the Bubba Ho-Tep came out on VHS, there was enough buzz to make it a ‘must have’ for me. I loved it.   more »

In the ElvisBlog column two weeks ago, I mentioned the DVD of Jailhouse Rock I bought in Rome while on vacation. For some reason, the Italians changed the title to Il Delinquente del Rock & Roll. I can’t figure out why they chose to do this, because Jailhouse Rock has a direct translation – Casa Carere Rock.   more »

Earlier this year, we had fun looking back at the 1956 New York Times review of Elvis’ first movie Love Me Tender. To say the least, the reviewer didn’t like it. Do you think Elvis fared any better in the review published in Time Magazine? Of course not.   more »

The New York Times published its review of Elvis’ first movie “Love Me Tender” on November 16, 1956. Fortunately, it is back in print as part of the Times special commemorative THE KING, containing 80 articles about Elvis. Just the title was enough to tell me there was no way the review would be positive: “Culture Takes A Holiday.” When I read that, I knew Elvis was going to get clobbered.   more »

Turner Classic Movies hasn’t given the above title to their TV schedule for August 16 – but they could. TCM will show 24 hours of consecutive, commercial-free Elvis movies on the 29th anniversary of his death. Fourteen movies in all. What a treat for Elvis fans this year.   more »

One website I return to frequently is TVNow. I have bookmarked the link to their monthly list of Elvis shows on television, which I use to make my Elvis movie watching plans. Of course, I have all of his films on tape and could watch them any time I want, but I prefer to catch them when are broadcast.   more »

Surprise, this is not an article about the phrase made famous by Al Dvorin. It is a review of a movie of the same name that went straight to video. I figure you ought to get the word on it now while the DVD is still available. A year from now it may be hard to find. Elvis Has Left The Building is a quirky little film starring Kim Basinger, who still looks terrific at age 50+.    more »

Although I’ve been only a modest Johnny Cash fan over the years, I am fully aware of his talent and immense contribution to American music.  So, his bio-pic “Walk The Line” was a must-see when it came out on DVD.  This is one movie you don’t want to miss.  Joaquin Phoenix did a superb job portraying Johnny Cash.  He was at least as good as Reese Witherspoon, who won an Oscar playing June Carter.

 

Because the careers of Elvis and Johnny Cash overlapped for a short while at Sun Records, I knew Elvis would have to be in the movie.  He was – in four different scenes -- but I’m not totally happy with the way Elvis was portrayed.

 

The scene first occurred in 1954 when Cash was a struggling door-to-door salesman in Memphis.  He walked around a corner onto Union St. and saw two fellows unload an upright bass from their car and carry it across the street and into a small storefront.  Any Elvis fan would identify the young men as Elvis and Bill Black.  Cash looked in the window and could faintly hear music.  He walked around back, and through an open door he heard Elvis and Bill and Scotty playing “Milk Cow Blues.”  Soon Johnny Cash is back at Sun studios doing an audition for Sam Phillips.

 

Elvis’ next scene is at a concert in Texarkana, Texas in 1955.  Almost the whole gang from Sun Records was on the bill:  Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison.  This would have been a terrific show had it really occurred, but it never happened.  Jerry Lee’ history at Sun Records didn’t start until late 1956, and Roy Orbison came along after him.  This instance of playing loose with the truth should have sent me a warning that something worse was coming.

 

However, the actor playing Elvis has four lines of dialog in this scene, including “Sounded good tonight, Cash – real tight,” and “Want some chilli-fries?”  Elvis also makes two complimentary comments about June Carter, but parts of them were too mumbled to distinguish, even with repeated listens.

 

The movie jumps to a scene in a car, part of a tour caravan through Texas in 1956.  Johnny and June and Jerry Lee mention they are going to Tyler and that they had just played Austin.  Soon they stop in Calvert, Texas for the night, and all the fellows, including Elvis, hang around outside drinking beer.  One fellow has a baggie of something in his hand, and asks Cash if he wants some.  When Cash asks what is it, the fellow tells him, "It'll just make you want to drive all the way to Jacksonville -- and enjoy yourself when you get there."

 

Then comes the part that really bothers me.  The fellow tells Cash, “Elvis takes 'em,” and with that validation Cash agrees to try some.  The implication is that Johnny Cash’s downward spiral with amphetamines started because of Elvis.  This is a low blow.  Sure, Elvis had his problems with prescription drugs in the latter part of his life, but none of the references I’ve checked cite any use in 1956.  The earliest noted use of amphetamines by Elvis is as a soldier in Germany to stay awake during all-night maneuvers.  It just bugs me that the people behind the movie took such liberties with Elvis.

 

The last scene with Elvis in it is at a concert in Texarkana, Texas, later in 1956.  This time we get to see Elvis perform.  However, part way through the song, the camera shifts to backstage action by Johnny Cash.  While Cash has his first dalliances with groupies, we hear Elvis singing “That’s All Right.”  Is that a coincidence, or is the movie giving subliminal validation by Elvis for more bad behavior? 

 

It spite of these quibbles, I thought “Walk The Line” was a wonderful movie with superb acting.  At its core it is a love story with a happy ending.  Without June Carter, we would have lost Johnny Cash a lot earlier and America would have missed a lot of great music.

 

©  2006   Philip R Arnold    www.elvisblog.net

The common complaint about Elvis movies is that they are all pretty much the same story with different actresses for love interests.  Elvis is either a racecar driver or pilot or boat owner, who just happens to be a singer, too.

 

So, you have to give credit to “Kissin’ Cousins” for breaking from the standard formula a bit.  I watched it again on Elvis’ birthday as part of the four-movie special presented by cable channel Turner Classic Movies.  Unfortunately, family obligations prevented me from seeing the other three: “Jailhouse Rock,” “It Happened At The Worlds Fair,” and “Viva Las Vegas.”  But “Kissin’ Cousins” started at 6:15 AM and was over by 8 AM, so I finished it before anyone else even got up.

 

What makes “Kissin’ Cousins” different is that there are two Elvises, or at least Elvis playing two characters.  One is Josh Morgan, the familiar black-haired Elvis, but the other is mountain man Jodie Tatum, a very distant cousin who looks identical except for his sandy-colored hair.  Josh has two other very distant Tatum cousins, Serena and Azalea, beautiful hillbilly girls who both go after Elvis early in the script.  This has happened in other Elvis movies, but I love the way he solves this dilemma.  This time, his character is an Army Lieutenant, so he simply orders a Sergeant to take one girl off his hands.  Nice assignment.

 

Of course, it wouldn’t be right unless both Elvises end up with a girl, so a beautiful WAC from the Army steno pool is introduced to be Jodie’s love interest.  She wants nothing to do with him at first, but Jodie keeps after her, and finally his singing wins her over.  Gee, that never happened before.

 

As with most Elvis movies, there are several song-and-dance scenes in “Kissin’ Cousins.”  So, where do all the extra girls for this come from?  Well, you see, the Tatum clan’s property is up on a mountain.  Down below is Kitty Hawk Valley, where no baby boys have been born for over twenty years.  (How’s that for pushing the limits of willing suspension of disbelief?)  I just love the parts when fifteen or so of the love-starved Kitty Hawk girls make raids up the mountain to snag themselves Tatum men.  No wonder Jodie has never left the mountain.  He’s had his choice of these lovelies all these years.

 

“Kissin’ Cousins” was a fine way to celebrate Elvis’ birthday, and I commend Turner Classic Movies for again bringing us blocks of Elvis films on special occasions.  The next time should be the Fourth of July, and I’ll be watching.

 

©  2006   Philip R Arnold   www.elvisblog.net

 

There is one Elvis movie you will never see available on DVD.  It truly is awful, but that’s what makes it such an interesting subject for an Elvisblog article.

 

My nominee for the worst Elvis movie of all time is “Stay Away, Joe.”  How many of you readers have even seen it?  Not too many, I’ll bet.  When it was released in 1968, it reached only #65 in the box-office rankings for the year.  Now, 37 years later, if the movie rating code included a “Not PC“ rating, “Stay Away, Joe” would get one.

 

 

 

The movie portrays young Indian men on a reservation in Arizona as beer-drinking, women-chasing hell-raisers, and Elvis (Joe Lightcloud) is right there with them for every brawl and midnight party.  The fights are almost slapstick and good-natured, but there’s a lot of them.  I did find some humor in their frequent runs to the liquor store to get more beer, and they sure could put away a lot of it. 

 

 

 

Elvis (Joe Lightcloud) in the Liquor Store

 

 

 A good bit of the total viewing time of the movie occurs while the boys are drunk.  After one all-nighter, Joe is found covered in beer cans under the front porch of the family’s ramshackle home.  It was supposed to be humorous, but I’ve got to think Native Americans would find these stereotypes highly offensive.

 

Fortunately, the worst totally-stupid drunk action is not done by Joe, but by his buddy Bronc.  The Lightcloud family had received 20 cows and a bull from the US government under an experimental program to show that reservation Indians weren’t lazy and shiftless.  All the Lightclouds had to do was raise and grow the herd.  Well, the night the cattle arrive, they have a huge drunken party on the spur of the moment.  There is no food, so Joe instructs Bronc to barbeque up one of the government cows.  Have you figured out what’s coming?  Of course, Bronc cooks and serves the bull, their only bull.  Uh-Ohh.

 

After blowing their opportunity, the family resorts to selling off the rest of the herd, one-by-one, to buy things they need for their home.  Just when it appears the worst fears of the govenment men have been realized, Elvis/Joe saves the day.  He comes up with a way to raise a bunch of cash quickly and bail out everything, but it’s pretty far-fetched.

 

There are two good things that can be said about “Stay Away, Joe.”  Elvis looks great -- tanned and rugged in his redskin make-up.  Also, the credits open during extended aerial views of the beautiful redrock formations around Sedona, AZ, accompanied by an Elvis vocal on a serious western song, “Stay Away.”  It all feels like you are about to see a good western, but noooo…

 

Elvis does three other songs in the movie, and one is notable.  Elvis/Joe sings the song, “Dominique” about their replacement bull (selected by Bronc, of course), which has no interest whatsoever in chasing after any of those 20 lovely cows.  An ode to an impotent bull.  Very strange.

 

 

Elvis and Dominique the Impotent Bull

 

 

I have a VHS copy of “Stay Away, Joe.”  Someday, when I retire, I’ll put it up for sale.  I’m counting on its rarity to make it a desirable Elvis collectible.  I don’t think there are many of them around (and that’s probably how it should be).

 

© 2005   Philip R Arnold. Original elvis Blogmeister   All Rights Reserved   www.ElvisBlog.net

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