What You Don’t Know About Elvis the Movie Star, Part 2

Posted by Susan Doll on July 30, 2012

As part of Summer Under the Stars, TCM has selected August 16 to showcase the movies of Elvis Presley. To prime viewers for the 14-film marathon, I offer the second in my two-part series about the publicity and promotion surrounding Elvis’s movie career. Viewing Elvis’s stardom through the perspective of contemporary reviewers, fans, and costars will put a different spin on his movies as you watch them.

“Why Sure, Sideburns!”

For many years, the press was obsessed with Elvis’s sideburns. During the 1950s, his personal appearance consisted of pegged pants, wildly colored shirts, baggy suit jackets, a long ducktail haircut that required three hair creams to control, and long sideburns (see left). Throughout 1956, the year that Elvis became a national phenomenon, the press repeatedly made a connection between rock ‘n’ roll music and juvenile delinquency, with Presley as their main target. It didn’t take them long to equate his unusual personal appearance with a delinquent mentality, honing in on the sideburns, which many identified as a fad among Southern truck drivers. By 1957, the word “sideburns” had become synonymous with delinquency and bad taste, so when a tough-talking punk sneers, “Why sure, Sideburns,” to Elvis’s character in Loving You, it was an insult that echoed the real-life criticism of Elvis in the press.

COSTAR JULIET PROWSE AND ELVIS GOT ALONG VERY WELL ON THE SET OF ‘G.I. BLUES,’ MUCH TO FIANCE FRANK SINATRA’S DISMAY.

After Elvis was discharged from the army, he changed his appearance to reflect a more mature star image for the movies. He opted for a conventional haircut with shorter sideburns. The lack of sideburns became the most talked about aspect of Presley’s return. It was as though his talent as an actor could not emerge until he had shorn his hair and sideburns. The new look made headlines in the press. Harold Hefferman topped his August 4, 1960 column with “Elvis Presley Abandons That Ducktail Haircut.” A review of G.I. Blues in a movie magazine notes, “. . .Elvis has changed. Gone are the overlong sideburns, the long haircut and, most important of all, the exaggerated wiggle.” Lily May Caldwell, the news amusement editor for an Alabama newspaper, was pleased with the new Elvis: “Elvis Presley, more mature and more attractive, with less hip-swinging and no sideburns, is packing them in at the Alabama.” John Scott was more blunt when he observed that “Elvis’s formerly oily mop of hair is no more.” Like many in the press, Mildred Martin made the connection between Elvis’s lack of sideburns and his future as an actor: “The sideburned, pompadored, hip-swiveling Elvis has all but vanished, certainly not to this corner’s regret. . .Now, in neat-as-a-pin uniforms, sporting a modification of the Army’s butch haircut, the young man. . .turns out to be distinctly normal, likeable actor.”

AFTER ELVIS WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY, THE OFFENDING SIDEBURNS DISAPPEARED, AND MOVIE REVIEWERS EVERYWHERE APPROVED.

Bosley Crowther, long-time reviewer for The New York Times, echoed the majority opinion in his review of G.I. Blues: “Gone is that rock ‘n’ roll wiggle, that ludicrously lecherous leer, that precocious country-bumpkin swagger, that unruly mop of oily hair. Almost gone are those droopy eyelids and that hillbilly manner of speech.” Crowther’s words hint at the real reason for the mainstream press’s obsessive hatred of his hair and sideburns—a dislike and prejudice against Southern culture and music. After Elvis’s army discharge, Colonel Parker, Abe Lastfogel of William Morris, and producer Hal Wallis recognized the traits of his pre-army image that had riled the press and public—the clothing, the hair, the sideburns, the rockabilly music, and his identity as a Southerner—and quickly worked to eliminate them from his movie roles. The reviews for his films and the publicity surrounding his career turned positive almost immediately.

“A Walt Disney Goldfish”

ELVIS STUDIES HIS LINES ON THE SET OF ‘LOVE ME TENDER.’ REVIEWERS COULDN’T WAIT FOR THE FILM’S RELEASE SO THEY COULD ATTACK HIM ON ALL FRONTS.

Given the current reputation of Elvis’s movies, viewers might expect the reviews of his films to be brutal. And, some of them were indeed vicious, though not for obvious reasons. For example, reviews of his first four films—Love Me Tender, Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, and King Creole—were highly critical. These movies were produced and released between 1956 and 1958 when Elvis the Pelvis was reviled by the mainstream press. Ironically, three of these films are now considered some of his best work. On the other hand, contemporary reviews were far kinder to many of his 1960s films, after he had adopted a more mature look with shorter hair and sideburns. Today, the 1960s films are often lumped together and condemned as flimsy musical vehicles.

When Elvis was cast in his first role, the historical drama Love Me Tender, reviewers and the entertainment press were lying in wait for the opportunity to condemn the singer-turned-actor for his performance, his music, and his negative impact on culture. The most bizarre remarks I have ever read in a movie review came from Time magazine’s unnamed critic when he skewered Love Me Tenderin the issue dated November 26, 1956. The review begins, “Is it a sausage? It is certainly smooth and damp-looking, but who ever heard of a 172-pound sausage 6 ft. tall? Is it a Walt Disney goldfish? It has the same sort of big, soft beautiful eyes and long, curly lashes, but who ever heard of a goldfish with sideburns? Is it a corpse? The face just hangs there, limp and white with its little drop-seat mouth, rather like Lord Byron in the wax museum.” The second paragraph of the review continues to describe Elvis’s body and voice in a similar vein. The third and last paragraph finally gets around to mentioning the movie and the other stars.

ELVIS IN ‘EASY COME, EASY GO’

Henry Hart, long-time editor and reviewer for Films in Review, allotted 10 paragraphs to Love Me Tender of which only three are directly related to the film. The rest of the review is devoted to the “young man of hulk and probably flabby muscle, with a degenerate face, who sings emasculated innuendoes in a Southern drawl as he strums a guitar,” plus he is a “lewd dancer.” Mr. Hart attributes some of Elvis’s “hysterical” moves to “the Holy Rollers, a primitive sect of Christianity which still exists and holds ‘love feasts’ in Tennessee, from whence Presley comes.” He goes on to compare these moves to “the coition-simulating movements of primitive Negroes.” Obviously, Hart knew nothing of regional Southern music, religion, or culture, and I was surprised to read his ugly statements masquerading as a film review. Unfortunately, Hart was not the only reviewer or journalist to make these types of statements. Today, many assume that the controversy surrounding Elvis the Pelvis in the 1950s was a harmless generational conflict that pitted teenagers’ newfound love of rock ‘n’ roll against their parents’ tastes for traditional pop music. But, that is not supported by the articles and reviews of the time. At the heart of the controversy was the mainstream’s prejudice against the South, its music, and its culture—that of both whites and blacks.

“A Perfect Piece of Pop Art”

During the 1960s, Elvis movies that are now considered dull, senseless vehicles were given decent reviews or at least complemented in a back-handed way. In 1967, Variety compared Easy Come, Easy Go, one of the worst of Elvis’s musical comedies, to classics of the past: “A generation from now, Elvis pix will be film festival items, just as the Busby Berkeley, Astaire-Rogers, and Mae West pix are now.” Columnist Glenn Hawkins was even more enthusiastic declaring the film to be “one of Elvis Presley’s best pictures.” Perhaps Kevin Thomas was being tongue in cheek when he reviewed Tickle Me: “It’s also got lousy color, cheap sets, hunks of stock footage, painted scenery and unconvincing process work. But who’s to quibble when the movie is so much fun? Even the most ardent devotee of Antonioni will appreciate it as a perfect piece of pop art. . . .”

‘ELVIS SHUCKS THE TALL CORN.’

Not all critics went so easy on Presley’s flicks. Time magazine seemed to have a career-long grudge against him. Their still-unnamed critic titled his review of Kid Galahad “Jelloweight,” and then went on to say, “Between bouts, Presley Elviscerates a few helpless songs, moos over Joan, and twists like Little Egypt.” I assume he meant “moons” over Joan, as in Joan Blackman, but who knows, especially if it was the “Is it a sausage” writer from a decade earlier. The reviewer for Movie Slants hated Elvis in Tickle Me: “He is his usual pouting, half-sneering self here, projecting those negative, animalistic, pseudo-sexed qualities that the immature think attractive.” Rose Pelswick gets the prize for the most suggestive headline for her review of Kissin’ Cousins, a movie that showcases not one but three young starlets, Pamela Austin, Yvonne Craig, and Cynthia Pepper. Next to a photo of a smiling Austin, the headline winks, “Elvis Shucks the Tall Corn.”

“The Big Sexy Pot”

LILIANE MONTEVECCHI POSES WITH THE ‘BIG SEXY POT.’

In Hollywood, Elvis and his entourage of friends and family, dubbed the Memphis Mafia, kept to themselves most of the time. A few actors and starlets, such as Gary Lockwood, Ty Hardin, and Tuesday Weld, regularly visited Elvis’s rented Hollywood home, but the King and his court rarely made an appearance on the L.A. social scene. For the most part, he was unfailingly polite and respectful to any actor he encountered on and off the set. Most Hollywood celebrities had only positive opinions of Elvis, though some of their comments were on the strange side. Hayley Mills never worked with Elvis, but like most teen girls, she had a major crush on him. During the making of The Parent Trap, she confessed her admiration to a fanzine in an article titled “My Hero—Mister Presley.” In the slang of the period, she gushed that Elvis “is the most. He’s way out. He’s the living end.” And, she admitted, that “he just sends me.” Costar Dolores Del Rio, who played his mother in Flaming Star, also seemed to be smitten, calling Elvis “my young black panther. . .he has the look of a Latin. He is dark and lithe. He moves like a cat. He is a good actor and I even like his singing.”

When Barbara Stanwyck worked with Elvis on Roustabout, she was cool toward him at first, which bothered him. Later, after she had warmed up to the singer, Elvis’s bodyguard Sonny West overheard Stanwyck tell him, “It’s because you remind me so much of Robert [Taylor]. He was gorgeous, and you’re gorgeous.” Robert Taylor had been the love of Stanwyck’s life, and she carried a torch for him for a long time. Then there was French actress Liliane Montevecchi, the French actress with a heavy accent who had a small role as a stripper in King Creole. When she heard she landed a role in an Elvis Presley musical, she confessed, “I think of him only as the belly dancer. The big sexy pot.”

ELVIS AND HIS FANS: A BOND NEVER BROKEN, NOT EVEN IN DEATH.

Elvis’s fans are among the most enduring of any star who has ever graced the silver screen. In conclusion, I offer a quote to represent the perspective of the fans. If anyone has ever wondered why none of Elvis’s film ever lost money—no matter how formulaic—they need only consider the fans. In a 1966 letter to Elvis, a young fan revealed, “Your movie played two weeks at Loew’s, and I saw it at least twice a day. I can’t hardly wait to see it again when it comes to the neighborhood. I have seen it 29 times!”

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27 Responses What You Don’t Know About Elvis the Movie Star, Part 2

Posted By Juana Maria : July 30, 2012 2:20 pm

Dolores Del Rio said Elvis had the look of a Latin,huh? Interesting,he dyed his hair black to look like his favorite actor Tony Curtis. Elvis was actually a blond,or had light brown hair. As for being a Latin,not exactly,but he did have Native American blood,Cherokee if I’m not mistaken. I know a lot about Elvis don’t I? Hee hee! My twin sister and I used to watch Elvis sorta secretly because both Mom and Grandma hated him! Ha ha. It is the same with the Rollin’ Stones! Love them but keep kinda secret. Sometimes things are more fun if there not the things you talk very openly about. I think they’re called guilty pleasures.

Posted By swac44 : July 30, 2012 3:37 pm

At some point I’m going to complete my mission to watch all of Elvis’s films, I’m especially curious about the latter days of his career and oddball entries like Charro! and Change of Habit. Too bad he didn’t do the former one as a real spaghetti western overseas, but I’m sure it has its moments anyway.

The other one I’m quite interested in catching up with is Stay Away, Joe, which I’ve heard is probably the most oddball entry in his filmography (Easy Come, Easy Go‘s Yoga Is As Yoga Does number with Elsa Lanchester notwithstanding). I read an essay about it recently which only served to whet my appetite further, but I haven’t been able to find the link again (apparently it’s also a favourite of Quentin Tarantino’s).

But here’s the trailer, anyway: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/9253/Stay-Away-Joe-Original-Trailer-.html

Posted By Juana Maria : July 30, 2012 5:48 pm

Swac44:I too have seen most if not all of Elvis’ movies. I have seen them over the course of serval years. Usually I find them on TV around the birth or death date of the King. They can be found on Amctv and TCM and on occasion TVLAND. That’s how I have been able to see most of them. Though I do remember FOX or one of local channels playing “Charro!” as the late night movie. Oh,
the memories. I recommend “Charro!”because it’s one of my favorites. I also suggest “Love Me Tender”. It has L.Q.Jones. So do “Flaming Star” and “Stay Away Joe”. As a real Native American,I don’t really like white people with brown make-up on pretending to be “Indians” such as in “Stay Away Joe”,but it all pretty silly so I don’t get too upset by it. Unlike,certain Westerns that really bother me. That is for another post.Thanks!

Posted By Jenni : July 30, 2012 6:18 pm

Stay Away Joe, looks like fun-especially with Burgess Meredith, Joan Blondell, and Katy Jurado in the cast. I think I even caught a glimpse of LQ Jones in that clip. Interesting points about the media’s views on Elvis pre and post Army. The media’s criticisms pre Army Elvis do seem to have been a backdoor way for the media to scorn Elvis and his Southern culture.

Posted By robbushblog : July 30, 2012 8:00 pm

Swac- Come on down to Florida and we can have an Elvis film festival. I have them all on DVD except for Loving You, which is currently out of print. I do have it on VHS though. The late 60′s movies are probably the worst of the bunch. They each have things about them that are fun or entertaining, but they aren’t even as good as the early 60′s stuff. Stay Away, Joe, in my opinion, is Elvis’s worst movie. Charro! and Change of Habit did seem like earnest attempts to do something different, but they don’t quite make the grade.

Despite the later movies not being very good, some of the music from them is rather decent. Some of the songs from The Trouble with Girls and Live a Little, Love a Little are really pretty good.

The media still seems to look down on Southerners and Southern culture. We’re all mentally slow and what not. And we’re all fat and have been brainwashed by organized religion too. And we’re still all racists. We may never change the perceptions that others have of us, so why bother?

Thanks for this part 2, Suzi!

Posted By swac44 : July 31, 2012 7:44 am

Thanks for the invite Rob, that would be fun! Preferably in the winter, I can’t think of a better February escape. I guess I’m curious about the late ’60s films because of how they make these faint attempts to remain in touch with what’s going on in the real world, but somehow fail miserably in the attempt, and there’s a camp factor I find appealing. As for Stay Away, Joe, any movie with Katy Jurado, Joan Blondell, Burgess Meredith and LQ Jones has to be worth watching on some level.

As for Loving You, strangely enough it is available on DVD, from a Canadian company (Alliance Films, I think). I’m not sure how they wound up with it (I think the last American version was via GoodTimes Home Video). You can get it via Amazon.ca for the grand sum of $5! It was originally released by Paramount, via Hal Wallis, I have no idea how it fell through the cracks, rights-wise. (It also had a few title changes during production, with Lonesome Cowboy, Something for the Girls, and Running Wild as contenders.)

Posted By robbushblog : July 31, 2012 9:21 am

Thanks for the heads up on Loving You. I’ve never been on Amazon.ca, only its American cousin. I spend a lot of time on there.

Posted By swac44 : July 31, 2012 2:17 pm

I think it’s also on the American site as a “Canadian import” (the only other time I’ve seen that was when A Hard Day’s Night was only on blu-ray in this country) for $20, best to get it from over the border!

Posted By Lamar : July 31, 2012 4:07 pm

Fascinating to read those reviews. I vote for “Stay Away, Joe” as the worst as well, btw there was a Broadway musical based on the “Stay Away, Joe” book called “Whoop-Up” in 1958, it got bad reviews too and closed after a few months. Speaking of EP films, I’ve finally compiled a complete soundtrack for “Viva Las Vegas,” something I’ve wanted for years. The FTD (Follow That Dream label) album filled in the blanks and is great if you’re a fan of the movie. I’ve long treasured your Elvis Album book Suzi. Thanks.

Posted By swac44 : July 31, 2012 4:53 pm

That reminds me, I’ve always meant to make a mix-CD of great songs from Elvis movies, possibly a double disc set of pre-Army and post-Army titles, or maybe use Blue Hawaii as the centre point (the films after that have fewer memorable songs to choose from). I have the complete series of film soundtrack CDs that RCA/BMG issued in the early ’90s (one of the perks of doing a record review column at the time) and always planned to cherry pick the best tunes from those for a killer compilation.

I couldn’t resist some of the campier tunes though, like There’s No Room to Rhumba or Yoga Is As Yoga Does, maybe it’d have to be a disc (or iTunes playlist) of good songs and another of so-bad-they’re-good songs.

I’m surprised RCA/BMG (now part of Sony Music) never got around to a Elvis Movie Music compilation or box set, or maybe they did and I never noticed. There’s some great stuff on that FTD label though, I should look into their catalogue as well.

Posted By Susan Doll : July 31, 2012 5:04 pm

Lamar: Oh my gosh. Thank you for the compliment about ELVIS ALBUM, which is my favorite Elvis book of the many I am responsible for. (I can’t say “written” given that there is no text in it.)I don’t think I have ever come across a TCM-blog reader who also has one of my Elvis books. I appreciate it.

Posted By Susan Doll : July 31, 2012 5:08 pm

swac44: I wrote the liner notes for one of those film soundtrack CDs for BMG/RCA back in the 1990s. I wonder if you have that one.

I like a lot of the Elvis-movie music, even the songs from the 1960s. It’s just that the soundtrack stuff is so uneven that some movies will contain both great songs and really goofy ones. Unlike you, I don’t have an affection for the campy stuff. I like the titles but don’t like to listen to the music!

Posted By Susan Doll : July 31, 2012 5:11 pm

Just to weigh in on the worst movie conversation, STAY AWAY JOE ranks up there with one of the worst. But, the two that I just can’t watch all the way through are THE TROUBLE WITH GIRLS and EASY COME, EASY GO.

Posted By robbushblog : July 31, 2012 5:47 pm

The Trouble with Girls is a contender. It is pretty boring, and the parts that aren’t boring are just plain silly. The yoga part in Easy Come, Easy Go is the worst part. The rest of it is not so bad, if I recall correctly. It has been a long time since I’ve seen it though.

Anyone up for a top 5 ranking of Elvis’s leading ladies? Who should be in there?

Posted By Susan Doll : July 31, 2012 5:52 pm

My top five Elvis leading ladies would be: Ann-Margret, Dolores Hart, Judy Tyler (who died tragically just after JAILHOUSE ROCK), Shelley Fabares, and Nancy Sinatra.

Posted By robbushblog : July 31, 2012 5:54 pm

Swac- They never did release a boxed set of all of Elvis’s movie songs. That’s one I’ve been waiting on for over 20 years. They released a film can with I think 8 Elvis soundtracks in it several years ago and an Essential Masters 2 disc collection of soundtrack songs from the 60′s, which has some of the best songs from those movies, but still no complete collection of all of the movie songs.

Susan- To which CD did you write the liner notes? I have the King Creole soundtrack. It’s my fave. Jailhouse Rock would be a close second.

Posted By robbushblog : July 31, 2012 5:55 pm

Swac- Thanks again.

Posted By robbushblog : July 31, 2012 5:59 pm

Suzi- I’d probably have to throw Debra Paget in there somewhere.

Posted By swac44 : August 1, 2012 9:24 am

Susan: I have the complete set of those “Double Features” Elvis soundtrack CDs from 1994 (although some of them are triple and even quadruple features), plus the expanded Blue Hawaii CD. I think that’s about it (plus the regular studio albums). I even had the pleasure of interviewing Ernst Jorgensen, the man in charge of Elvis reissues, to discuss one of the box sets and the discovery of some exciting early Elvis acetates. Now I just need to get to Memphis one of these days.

As for Elvis’s leading ladies, off the top of my head I’d go with Ann-Margret, Tuesday Weld, Nancy Sinatra, Judy Tyler and Yvonne Craig, with an honorable mention for Teri Garr, who appeared (usually as a dancer) in five Elvis movies.

Unsurprisingly, there is a webpage devoted to his leading ladies, called Elvis’s Women.
http://elviswomen.greggers.net/index.html

Posted By Susan Doll : August 1, 2012 5:12 pm

I should have included Tuesday Weld in my group, too. Love her.

I wrote the liner notes (actually a booklet) for the Essential Masters, I think. I can’t remember the title. All of those collections tend to have titles that sound alike. I can’t look it up because it’s packed and on its way to Florida.

Posted By robbushblog : August 1, 2012 10:48 pm

There was the Essential 50′s Masters, the Essential 60′s Masters, the Essential 70′s Masters and the Essential 60′s Masters, Volume II which consisted of two discs of movie songs. I have all four.

Posted By Juana Maria : August 5, 2012 11:49 am

There is a connection to Elvis’ movies and “Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!” One of the dancers in some of the Elvis’ movies,is also a dancer in “Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!”. Also Tura Satana dated Elvis but turned down his marriage proposal,yet kept the ring! OK-she said this in a “Rock Doc” made by VH1-and she stated that she taught Elvis his dance moves! Maybe she was an “exotic dancer”. I always heard them termed “girlie shows”,but then again I’m old-fashioned!

Posted By swac44 : August 22, 2012 11:25 am

Just watched Stay Away Joe and actually quite enjoyed it, especially in comparison to my previous EP viewing, Double Trouble, where he’s in full-on robot mode. Elvis actually looks like he’s enjoying himself in SAJ, maybe because so much of it was shot on location (I get the impression he didn’t get to do much travelling outside of touring, and his army stint) and because he was surrounded by so many top notch actors. Notice how the better his cast is, the better Elvis is (probably the reason I like him in Roustabout as well).

The plot is kinda silly, but he, Joan Blondell, Burgess Meredith, Katy Jurado and LQ Jones make the most of it, and it’s an unusual, often non-PC, romp with a couple of good songs (aside from that one about Ferdinand the Bull). At least it’s a little less cookie-cutter than some of his other ’60s titles.

Next up: Charro. Been wanting to see it for years, but only in widescreen. Thanks TCM for a proper showing of it.

Posted By swac44 : September 1, 2012 9:27 am

BTW, got my $5 DVD of Loving You, and despite the bargain bin price, it’s a beautiful transfer of this VistaVision classic, the colours really do pop off the screen. I thought I’d seen it before, but I now realize I’d only seen a few clips here and there. Elvis is in full-on pre-Army snarl mode, and has a lot of that early attitude here that would vanish after King Creole. And it’s great to see him performing with bandmates Scotty Moore and Bill Black, who try not to look too awkward when they have to stand around in the background and actors take centre stage. It’s pretty charming.

Someone explained to me the story of how the film slipped through Paramount’s fingers around the time the company was acquired by Viacom (Viacom controlled producer Hal B. Wallis’s film rights, which then passed back to Paramount after the merger). For some reason Loving You had been licensed to Warner Bros. for a VHS edition, and when those rights lapsed they were snapped up by another company, and now rest with Canadian company Lionsgate/Alliance. But I can’t imagine this title being out of print for much longer in the U.S., maybe Paramount will get it back when it’s time to do blu-rays of their other Elvis titles like Blue Hawaii and King Creole.

Posted By Anonymous : September 1, 2012 9:40 am

SWAC44: That’s interesting about LOVING YOU. I had a VHS copy back in the day but have never seen it promoted on DVD. From experience back in the VHS days when I worked in the home-viewing industry, I don’t think the people in charge know much or think much of Elvis, and they don’t know one film from another. All of the Elvis movies were alike to them back in those days. I suspect that is still true now.

Posted By robbushblog : September 2, 2012 9:59 am

Factoid about Loving You: At the climactic concert at the end of the movie, Elvis is performing at a theater dressed fully in blue denim. At one point, he leaves the stage to go out among the crowd. He walks up to one woman wearing a light blue dress (If memory serves me correctly it is light blue) and she is clapping with her hands held high. Elvis has a huge smirk on his face. That woman is Glady: Elvis’s mama.

Posted By swac44 : September 3, 2012 4:11 pm

Yup, and I believe his dad Vernon can be spotted as well. After his mother’s death he could never watch this film again, much like with Jailhouse Rock and the untimely death of Judy Tyler.

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