Elvis in Hollywood, again for a painful experience

Elvis Presley has released 31 films in Hollywood from 1956 to 1969, averaging two to three a year. This is the time when the singer received a lot of money between her royalties, her percentage receipts and her royalties on the original tapes. But it is also a period of rejection of any cinematic ambition by Elvis in the name of profit.

It was at Paramount that he spent a trial period of three days before producer Hal B. Wallis agreed to sign it for the film in 1956, with six more options if the result would be. But unable to find what to do with his new “Money” play, Wallis lends a novice actor to twentieth-century Fox, who finds him his first project, Western.

Crucial Trial Run: Love Me Tender

Originally titled The Reno Brothers, planned for Series B, this Western sees its budget increase to $ 1 million when Elvis Presley joins the actors in third place on the poster. If Elvis is then known in the music world, it is only after filming that he becomes the country singer who sells the most records.

To accomplish this trend, four musical numbers are added to the film, including a song I love you so much, Which becomes the final title of the feature film. Elvis, who is set to star in a classic feature film, becomes the protagonist of the musical. The tragic fate of his character is also mitigated by the addition of a final appearance that hums with a few excerpts from the title song. The feature film is successful and others are put in the box very quickly.

Create a recipe

Hal Wallis from Paramount decides to use Love Me Tender *’s success and starts 2 months after the filming of Loving You, when Elvis just celebrated his 22nd birthday. The recipe is simple and serves as a basis The following two films of King: King Creole And Prison Rock. Elvis is a star, he embodies a professional singer who is met by caring (family, economic or both) who is met with success and love. Each film is sold with its own soundtrack, sing screen and disc.

They are also distributed primarily in the provinces (where the heart of the Elvis community lives), with maximum sessions per day.

At the same time, the star’s salary exploded and went from $ 15,000 to Love Me Tender to $ 20,000, then $ 25,000, etc., to $ 100,000 for the seventh contract film **! This does not include bonuses ($ 50,000) and various singer fees ($ 30,000).

In addition, Elvis impresario, “Colonel” Tom Parker receives half of the actor-singer’s salary and has the right, once a year, to move to a studio other than Paramount. Opportunity Parker uses every year, starting with Fox, which pays Elvis $ 100,000, then $ 150,000 to shoot the Flaming Star (1960) in Westerns and the drama Wild in the Country (1961).

In the first, Elvis plays a half-Indian, a role that was meant for Marlon Brando. Directed by Don Siegel (Invasion of the Grave Snatchers) and allowing himself only two musical passages in the film, his performance was generally well-received at the time. In Wild in the Country he plays a bad guy who gets back on track.

The recipe is sophisticated and abandoned by Elvis

Elvis still managed to incorporate elements into his films before the early 1960s, then abandoned his ambition to become the great actor A la James Dean, whom he admired, and whose last film, Giant, was released the same week as Loving You. Since then, most of his projects follow the above recipe and all become the same.

Is what might be called the “Hawaiian Trilogy”, which begins with Blue Hawaii (1961), then Girls! Girls! Girls! And ends in Paradise, Hawaiian style (1962). There are also military themes GI Blues (1960), Kissin ‘Cousins ​​(for two Elvis for one price, 1964) and Easy Come, Easy Go (1967), in which Elvis is a professional soldier. Sometimes he returns from military service, as in Blue Hawaii.

The public demanded the presence of songs in the films because at that time Elvis was no longer holding concerts. To see his song, you have to go to the cinema. And even when he is not playing the singer, the story finds an excuse for a microphone to appear in front of his mouth. And regularly, a song of nonsense that has nothing to do with the rock’n’roll that made him famous:

Movies that sell him almost in his own role, and Elvis adores cars, we often find that he drives the cars of that moment on screen through the Chevrolet to the Cadillac via the Dodge Charger. Several intrigues are solved during car racing (Viva Las Vegas, Spinout, Speedway), but we also see Elvis piloting a helicopter and a plane, among other things.

At the heart of it all is always a recipe created by Loving You and the years gone by, with less and less original story and always more girls, travel, changeable quality songs and cars.

Breathless recipe since 1964

In 1964, eight years after his first appearance on screen (including a two-year hiatus for military service) and the phenomenal success of his Viva Las Vegas, Elvis suffered a full burden after being discovered by the United States. The Beatles .. While the young British band is playing concerts and selling millions of records, Elvis has been in the movies for six years, releasing only soundtracks to his films.

Cash registers are beginning to be affected by these sequential events. It was actually formed by Harum Scarum (1965), in which Elvis plays an actor who travels to the Middle East to promote a film and finds himself in an incredible conspiracy case, with all the tangled fillers, with at least eight (bad) songs.

Where his films grossed an average of $ 100 million (inflation-adjusted figures), Harum Scarum grossed about $ 30. This first slag is alleviated by the fact that even in the event of such a significant downturn, the project is a lucrative studio.

So feature films continue to follow, including the devastating Clambeck (according to some sources, the film that Elvis hated the most), the story of a millionaire’s son who decides to change his identity to discover “real life and get involved in it.” Boat racing competition. The film is coming down to 20 million. It is superfluous to list the following feature films: If not everyone is ashamed, none will be successful.

In 1968, when he saw the recipe completely exhausted and tried to show that it still existed artistically, Elvis filmed a TV show on NBC at the end of the year. He shows him his master of music, the king of rock and roll and the monster of the stage. He will never make a film again, linking to original recordings, concerts and meetings with his audience before his death in 1977.

Should we watch movies?

Here are 5 movies worth watching for the curious:

• Prison Rock: A cult choreography on the title track that allows actors to show off what they are capable of, a theme of sudden fame that can be dizzying, and a supporting role for Dean Jones, what more could you ask for ?!
• King Creole: Of only one of Elvis ’first films to have a“ bidé, ”Bagarres au King Creole allows the actor to give his all in this dramatic role. Directed by Michael Curtis (Casablanca). Be careful: the depiction of female characters shows the severity of the years.
• I love you: A scenario that fits on a subway ticket, but at a time when the recipe was not yet one. It exudes old-fashioned charm, the music is very good and the color adds a real plus to the visual quality of the film.
• Follow this dream: Gordon Douglas was a talented director and that speaks volumes about how Elvis plays and shows that he felt comfortable in comedy. Too many songs are unquestionable, but clearly at the top of what the singer’s filmography offers.
• Charo: The inspiration of Italian westerns influences Elvis, who turns out to be the first and only beard in his career! The film is accompanied by none of the songs and is signed by the excellent director Charles Marquis Warren, whose works always deserve a look. It is one of the last three Elvis films to be released in 1969.

These actors played Elvis on screen:

* Movie titles are saved in the original version, for easier reading and instructions for related songs.

** For comparison, this equates to $ 1 million in 2022 inflation.