Elvis Presley Movies
Elvis Presley Movies
Elvis Aron Presley is the greatest solo singer in history and at the height of his popularity he launched a successful movie career. While some joke about his performances in the films, the fact remains he did great in the job and the excellent scripts, supporting cast, and directing aided in making the films a huge success. Elvis’ movie career lasted 31 films which is an enormous body of work with the bulk of the films being successful and that is nothing to ignore.
And you do have to give Elvis a lot of credit for his business dealings with the movies. Actually, you need to give a lot of credit to his manager Col. Tom Parker. Unlike The Beatles, Elvis did not accept any percentage of the profits deals. Instead, he took a somewhat high flat fee for his performances. While The Beatles were essentially underpaid for their performances and had to file lawsuits for owed profits, Elvis walked away with a huge profits for his films…which were hugely profitable beyond their wildest expectations.
Elvis’ film debut was the syrupy LOVE ME TENDER (1957) which was a decent love story designed to appeal to his female fan base. (Then again, all his films appealed to his female fans) It was not until his third and fourth films, KING CREOLE (1957) and JAILHOUSE ROCK (1958) that Elvis would pick the pace up with his films and issue a more fun and rocking silver screen appearance.
The films were huge hits and set the stage for 1960′s GI BLUES which was a complete departure from his previous ventures. This film capitalized on his famous drafting into the army and also rode a wave of WWII inspired military nostalgia and continued his hit streak. 1961 would see Elvis return to the syrupy phase while also capitalizing on beach films with BLUE HAWAII.
You could say that Elvis’ films were either classics people remember as classics or are just forgotten footnotes in his resume. These days, GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS (1962), and FUN IN ACAPULCO (1963) still draw in viewers on TV while IT HAPPENED AT THE WORLD’S FAIR (1963) is pretty much forgotten about. But, who could forget Elvis’ only western FLAMING STAR (1960)? While not his best film, it has become a film with a strong cult following.
Other top Elvis films of the 1960s include KID GALLAHAD (1963), GIRL HAPPY (1964), HARUM SCARUM (1965), and, of course, one of his all-time most famous films which were 1964′s VIVA LAS VEGAS! These films remain popular well into the modern era and are frequently viewed on cable television and on DVD.
Elvis made numerous films into the latter half of the 1960s but they really were not the most effective of films from an entertainment perspective. Today, they are largely forgotten. Considering Elvis lost interest in music from his burnout touring and recording schedule, it is no surprise the films started to become uninspired as the decade continued. Excluding documentaries, Elvis’ last film was 1969′s CHANGE OF HABIT.
