When I started looking in the archives for special articles to repost, I assumed they would be only ones with pictures. It wasn’t until 2008 that I learned how to post photos, but I found one from 2006 with a title so good I had to share it with you. It will give you great insight into how entertainment critics treated Elvis back in the 50s.
The New York Times published its review of Elvis’ first movie “Love Me Tender” on November 16, 1956. 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.
His acting début was at the mercy of the Times film critic, Bosley Crowther, generally considered America’s foremost movie critic from the early 1940s to the late 1960s. How do you like that name? — Bosley Crowther. Sure sounds like a stuffed shirt who couldn’t stand Rock & Roll, doesn’t it?
Well, old Bosley held back from being nasty for one paragraph, and then he started slamming Elvis:
“The picture itself is a slight case of horse opera with the heaves.”
A well crafted line, to be sure, but nasty. Then it got nastier:
“Mr. Presley’s dramatic contribution is not a great deal more impressive than that of one of the slavering nags.”
OK, that’s pretty mean. Bosley Crowther rated Elvis’ acting ability just slightly higher than a horse. So, what do you think he said about Elvis’ singing ability? How about:
“Mr. Presley’s farm-boy does some grotesque singing before he is done – and it isn’t good.”
OK, to summarize: Bosley compared the movie to barfing horse, Elvis’ acting was little better than the horses in the movie, and his singing was grotesque. What else could Bosley find to knock? How about Elvis voice?
“A lot of noise… It is a sort of frenzied puffing of throaty and none too melodic tones that heave out of Mr. Presley’s system.”
Wow. “Frenzied puffing.” And the heaves again. Bosley gets minus points here. Can’t use a nifty word twice in the same story.
Then came something that might be taken as complimentary. Describing Elvis’ performance in his singing scenes, Bosley wrote,
“It is frantic and vaguely orgiastic.”
Bosley would flip if he could see today’s music videos. Nothing vague about them.
Next Bosley described Elvis’ acting as follows:
“As for the characterization of a jealous farm-boy that Mr. Presley gives, it is turgid, juicy and flamboyant.”
To my mind, that was real praise. I liked the change in direction. Bosley went on to say:
“With his childish face, puffy lips and wild hair, he might be convincing as a kid with a load of resentment in his system.”
My spirits were up after reading these words of modest praise. Elvis did go on to play several roles like that. Then Bosley turned black-hearted again and said:
“But, he’s not much more than a singing ‘heavy’ in this film.”
And finally, Bosley praised Elvis a little while hammering his co-stars, Richard Egan and Debra Paget:
“He certainly goes at this job with a great deal more zeal and assurance than the rest of the actors show.”
Of course, it didn’t really matter what Bosley Crowther thought or wrote. With Elvis’ legions of young fans, there was a built-in audience for the film “Love Me Tender.” I have always thought Elvis did a credible job in the role.
Bosley Crowther’s movie review was such a hoot to read fifty years later. It wasn’t all negative, and it gave origin to the strangest title to ever appear in ElvisBlog:
“Turgid, Juicy and Flamboyant.”
As Dave Barry would say, that would make a good name for a rock band. Come to think of it, so would “Vaguely Orgiastic,” “ Frenzied Puffing,” and “Slavering Nags.”
© 2006 Philip R Arnold All Rights Reserved www.elvisblog.net
I hope you enjoyed this repost from 2006. Even without any pictures, this was fun to read.
ElvisBlog Mini-Nuggets # 24
I’m sure most of you readers are aware of all the media hype for the latest version of the movie A Star Is Born. This one pairs up Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga (or Stefani Germanotta, her real name, as listed on the above poster).
How many of you also know that Elvis was offered the male lead in the 1976 version?
According to the definitive book ELVIS – His Life from A to Z, “Barbra Streisand wanted to costar with Elvis, in what would have been his finest screen role. But an agreement couldn’t be reached with Colonel Parker, who wanted one million dollars plus top billing for Elvis, rather than to settle for a percentage of the movie’s gross.”
So Kris Kristofferson got the role.
Probably not one of Col. Parker’s best moves.
Jerry Seinfeld in an Elvis Jumpsuit:
Do you save old magazines with good intentions to read them again? I’m bad that way, but lately I’m culling out anything I can use on ElvisBlog, and throwing the rest away. Here’s the cover of the September 22, 1994 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. It may be hard to tell in the small photo here, but the full-sized cover shows this is an expensive original design that probably weighs 40 pounds like some of Elvis’ jumpsuits did. And his attempt at an Elvis lip curl is really lame
This is a different pose that accompanies the lengthy article celebrating the end of Jerry Seinfeld’s twelve-year run on the TV show Seinfeld. There is no mention of the jumpsuit in the article, so it must be just to emphasize the subtitle on the magazine cover: The King of Prime Time Comedy.
There was one other picture of interest in this magazine.
Supposedly, this was the first photograph of Lisa Marie and Michael Jackson after they were married in 1994.
Here are pictures of some other showbiz folks dressed up in Elvis jumpsuits.
The guy in the middle is Nathan Fillion In an episode of Castle. Check out the twin Elvi’s with matching American Eagle jumpsuits and white scarfs on each side. Does anybody know what the storyline was to have Fillion dressed up like this?
Who was Elvis’ Favorite Auto Mechanic?
Earlier this week I got an email from an ElvisBlog reader in Spokane who makes and collects guitars. After negotiating on the phone to buy a double-neck guitar, he went to pick it up.
It turned out the owner also had many other guitars, including one he says he got from Elvis. It is an electric guitar with the same inlay as the acoustic guitar below.
The man claims to have been Elvis’ go-to automobile mechanic for many years up until Elvis’ death.
This is the story the ElvisBlog reader relates about the mechanic, who we will call Al for now.
‘Elvis’ car broke down on his way to Tahoe. Al was a mechanic at a local car repair place. His boss asked if he could put a new motor in this Lincoln, and he agreed to work all night so Elvis could leave in the morning. Well, I guess he finished around 3 AM, and a guy came to pick up the car, but they started drinking beer and the guy was too drunk to drive.
“Meantime Elvis shows up, thanks the guy, asks Al’s boss if he could offer Al a job, to which Al said yes, and thus became his mechanic for years. Elvis would have his private plane pick him up and fly him to his various places like Bel Air, Memphis and I think he said Florida, where he had vehicles and Al would make sure they were tuned up and ready to go. He got paid $2400 a month which he says was really good money back in the sixties/seventies. He became really good friends with Priscilla and Lisa Marie, and he claimed he was like an uncle to Lisa.”
When the collector got to Al’s house for the double-neck, he found a very protective/reclusive type old man.
“He lets me in and I noticed he is packing a gun on his hip. He finally started to loosen up a bit after he realized I truly enjoy guitars and that’s when all the stories started coming forth. Really want to believe him but … I have some doubts.”
The story goes that Elvis gave Al the electric guitar with the fancy neck inlay. It was a movie prop although it really played. Elvis also gave him a gold album award, photos, and lots of other stuff.
The guitar collector says, “It all sounds really cool, but there is that slight twinkle of doubt that is bothering me.” He hopes there is someone out there who knows about a car mechanic/guitar collector with strong connections to Elvis, and has asked my help.
So, if anyone is familiar with who worked on Elvis’ vehicles from late 60s until Elvis’ death, please reply on Comments and add some credence to this story about Elvis’ favorite auto mechanic.
© 2018 Philip R Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister All Rights Reserved www.ElvisBlog.net
Elvis, Elvis Presley, and Graceland are registered trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.
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Posted in ELVIS and OTHER STARS, ELVIS COMMENTARY MINI-NUGGETS, FRIENDS of ELVIS, IMAGES, Main Page, MOVIES
Tagged Elvis - A Star is Born, Elvis Auto Mechanis, ElvisBlog Mini-Nuggets, stars in Elvis Jumpsuits