I was born too late to join in the early hoopla surrounding Elvis Presley. "The King" first charted on Billboard in March 1956 with Heartbreak Hotel, which soared to # 1 and stayed there for seven weeks. I was a wee lad of eight years. For the next two years Elvis reached the Billboard Top 40 an astonishing twenty-one more times, including nine records which peaked at # 1. Not only was the Tupelo native a music sensation, but also a cinema star, making four hit movies during that two year period. One of those four films was 1957's Jailhouse Rock, described below.
Then Uncle Sam came calling. From March 1958 to March 1960 Elvis served as a (more or less) regular Army grunt, turning down chances to put in his time as a Special Services musician. The media, and some of his fans, wondered whether this two year stint doing his patriotic duty would spell the end of his music and film careers. Not to worry. Even though he was stationed in Germany during most of his time in the Army, he used furloughs to record ten chart-busting songs, two of which hit # 1, while in uniform. His acting career did take a two year hiatus, however.
Following his honorable discharge, Elvis went on to record seventy-two -- that's not a typo, it's 72 -- more Top 40 singles, six of which topped the charts at # 1. He also added to his post-military film catalogue with twenty-seven more starring roles, plus two feature length documentaries. Numerous appearances on television, particularly the Ed Sullivan Show, played a major part in his meteoric rise. The FCC's requirement that Sullivan's camera crew only televise Elvis above his swaying hips is legendary.
Just as the peace time Army obligation turned out to be a mere speed bump to his celebrity status, so did the British Invasion. Not even the Beatles, the Stones or any of their fellow countrymen could derail Presley's path to stardom. In fact, during 1964 and 1965, the peak years of the British Invasion, Elvis still managed to chart on the Top 40 thirteen times. One more amazing fact about Elvis the singer: With only one exception (1973), from 1956 until the year of his death, 1977, at least two Presley singles achieved the Billboard Top 40 singles list each year.
Then Uncle Sam came calling. From March 1958 to March 1960 Elvis served as a (more or less) regular Army grunt, turning down chances to put in his time as a Special Services musician. The media, and some of his fans, wondered whether this two year stint doing his patriotic duty would spell the end of his music and film careers. Not to worry. Even though he was stationed in Germany during most of his time in the Army, he used furloughs to record ten chart-busting songs, two of which hit # 1, while in uniform. His acting career did take a two year hiatus, however.
Following his honorable discharge, Elvis went on to record seventy-two -- that's not a typo, it's 72 -- more Top 40 singles, six of which topped the charts at # 1. He also added to his post-military film catalogue with twenty-seven more starring roles, plus two feature length documentaries. Numerous appearances on television, particularly the Ed Sullivan Show, played a major part in his meteoric rise. The FCC's requirement that Sullivan's camera crew only televise Elvis above his swaying hips is legendary.
Just as the peace time Army obligation turned out to be a mere speed bump to his celebrity status, so did the British Invasion. Not even the Beatles, the Stones or any of their fellow countrymen could derail Presley's path to stardom. In fact, during 1964 and 1965, the peak years of the British Invasion, Elvis still managed to chart on the Top 40 thirteen times. One more amazing fact about Elvis the singer: With only one exception (1973), from 1956 until the year of his death, 1977, at least two Presley singles achieved the Billboard Top 40 singles list each year.
Back to the movie topic. In truth, most of the Presley films were what Hollywood writer/director Frank Darabont calls "frothy confections." They were formulaic, with only enough of a plot to kill time in between Elvis songs. Back then, I wouldn't have known. The Legion Of Decency, a Catholic Church morality watchdog, published its ratings of movies every week in the archdiocesan paper to which my parents subscribed. Virtually all of the Presley movies were rated "B," meaning that Catholics should not view them. No official reason was given, but it's safe to say that by today's standards, the Elvis movies were all very tame. At least the Legion didn't blacklist them with a "C," for "condemned"! In any event, I did not see more than a couple of Elvis flicks until many years after they were first released. According to most of the critics, I wasn't missing much.
However, there was one early Presley movie which went beyond just a bare bones plot. That movie was Jailhouse Rock, thought by many to be Elvis' best film. The difference was the extra layer or two of depth to the plot. Elvis plays a young prisoner, Vince Everett, whose cellmate, Hunk Houghton (Mickey Shaughnessy), is a lifelong jailbird about fifteen years Vince's senior. When Vince performs as a singer-guitarist on a show televised from prison, hundreds of fan letters pour in. But because Hunk runs the prison mail room, Vince never sees the letters. Hunk, realizing Vince will probably become a rich star when he's released, dupes Vince into signing a contract which, among other things, stipulates that Vince will share 50% of his singing revenue with Hunk in return for vague managerial services to be provided by Hunk.
Naturally, Vince does become a star, although it is a slippery slope complete with many setbacks. A beautiful music promoter, Peggy Van Alden (Judy Tyler), is indispensable getting Vince started and focused. There is chemistry between the two and a love connection develops, but will business interfere? Throughout the story we also wonder, what will happen with that contract Vince signed when Hunk gets out of prison?
I did not evaluate Jailhouse Rock as highly as most critics. In what I believe to be an attempt by director Richard Thorpe to present Presley as a serious actor, Elvis' character has a surliness and rudeness which come off as fake. Perhaps Thorpe decided such negative attributes were more in keeping with a "prison movie," except this is not really a "prison movie"; it is a musical. Elvis' best moments on screen are when Vince is being civil, not bratty, to Peggy. As you will see below, I gave this film a C+. Of the handful of Elvis films I've seen, I would rank at least two higher: Follow That Dream (1962) and Kissin' Cousins (1964).
There are two very noteworthy items surrounding Jailhouse Rock. On screen, the three man band backing Elvis are his real-life band, not some session musicians or actors going through the motions. The trio consists of Scotty Moore (later dubbed by some as the "Father Of The Rock Guitar Solo") on lead guitar, Bill Black on standup bass, and D.J. Fontana on drums. For many years that group together with Elvis called themselves the Blue Moon Boys. They are all, individually, inductees of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
The second item is almost too sad to print. Leading lady Judy Tyler was a twenty-four year old actress. Prior to being cast for Jailhouse Rock, only her second film, she was nationally known as Princess Summerfall Winterspring on the Howdy Doody Show, a kids' television show I watched religiously. The final shot in Jailhouse Rock is a close-up of Elvis and Tyler standing close to each other as he sings her a love song. Less than a week after the movie finished production, Tyler was killed in a terrible automobile accident in southeastern Wyoming. She and her husband of three months were on their way to a family function in New York. Elvis was so shaken by the news that he chose not to attend the film's premier, and according to some sources, refused to watch the film at all throughout his life.
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Here are the movies I watched at the Quentin Estates during the second quarter of 2017.
1. Above And Beyond (1952 war biopic; Robert Taylor is Army Air Corps Colonel Paul Tibbits, chosen to pilot the plane which will drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, but for security reasons unable to tell his exasperated wife, Eleanor Parker, anything about his assignment.) B+
2. Baby The Rain Must Fall (1965 drama; Lee Remick travels with her young daughter to an East Texas town with dreams of reuniting with her troubled ex-con husband, Steve McQueen.) B+
3. Blood Simple (1984 crime noir; Saloon keeper Dan Hedaya correctly suspects his wife, Frances McDormand, and his employee, John Getz, are having an affair, so he hires private dick M. Emmet Walsh to surveil them.) B
4. Chisum (1970 western; New Mexico cattle baron John Wayne gets help from notorious gunman Geoffrey Deuel in an attempt to thwart the cunning and evil Forrest Tucker, who owns most of the town and hopes to control the region's livestock industry.) B
5. The Founder (2016 biopic; Michael Keaton, as Ray Kroc, doesn't let ethics or honesty stand in the way of building the fast food burger empire, McDonalds.) B
6. Gone With The Wind (1939 drama; Vivian Leigh is a southern belle, willing to go to any length to preserve her Georgia plantation, Tara, while debonaire millionaire businessman Clark Gable's feelings for her go hot and cold.) A-
7. The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939 drama; Charles Laughton is the hunchback bell ringer who falls in love with gypsy dancer Maureen O'Hara in squalid 1490's Paris.) A-
8. Jail House Rock (1957 musical; Elvis Presley is an ex-con who, with the help of agent-manager Judy Tyler, becomes a pop music star.) C+
9. Light In The Piazza (1962 romance; American tourist Olivia De Havilland has misgivings about her slightly mentally impaired daughter, Yvette Mimieux, falling in love with local Florentine George Hamilton.) D
10. Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing (1955 romance; In Hong Kong during the Chinese Civil War, William Holden, a married but separated American foreign correspondent, pursues Eurasian physician Jennifer Jones, a woman who finds herself in the middle of a culture clash.) B-
11. The Sugarland Express (1974 drama; Goldie Hawn and William Atherton, a young married couple each with criminal records, take Texas Highway Patrolman Michael Sacks hostage in his squad car, and force him to accompany them to Sugarland where their son is being put up for adoption by child welfare officials.) B
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Here are the movies I watched at the Quentin Estates during the second quarter of 2017.
1. Above And Beyond (1952 war biopic; Robert Taylor is Army Air Corps Colonel Paul Tibbits, chosen to pilot the plane which will drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, but for security reasons unable to tell his exasperated wife, Eleanor Parker, anything about his assignment.) B+
2. Baby The Rain Must Fall (1965 drama; Lee Remick travels with her young daughter to an East Texas town with dreams of reuniting with her troubled ex-con husband, Steve McQueen.) B+
3. Blood Simple (1984 crime noir; Saloon keeper Dan Hedaya correctly suspects his wife, Frances McDormand, and his employee, John Getz, are having an affair, so he hires private dick M. Emmet Walsh to surveil them.) B
4. Chisum (1970 western; New Mexico cattle baron John Wayne gets help from notorious gunman Geoffrey Deuel in an attempt to thwart the cunning and evil Forrest Tucker, who owns most of the town and hopes to control the region's livestock industry.) B
5. The Founder (2016 biopic; Michael Keaton, as Ray Kroc, doesn't let ethics or honesty stand in the way of building the fast food burger empire, McDonalds.) B
6. Gone With The Wind (1939 drama; Vivian Leigh is a southern belle, willing to go to any length to preserve her Georgia plantation, Tara, while debonaire millionaire businessman Clark Gable's feelings for her go hot and cold.) A-
7. The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939 drama; Charles Laughton is the hunchback bell ringer who falls in love with gypsy dancer Maureen O'Hara in squalid 1490's Paris.) A-
8. Jail House Rock (1957 musical; Elvis Presley is an ex-con who, with the help of agent-manager Judy Tyler, becomes a pop music star.) C+
9. Light In The Piazza (1962 romance; American tourist Olivia De Havilland has misgivings about her slightly mentally impaired daughter, Yvette Mimieux, falling in love with local Florentine George Hamilton.) D
10. Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing (1955 romance; In Hong Kong during the Chinese Civil War, William Holden, a married but separated American foreign correspondent, pursues Eurasian physician Jennifer Jones, a woman who finds herself in the middle of a culture clash.) B-
11. The Sugarland Express (1974 drama; Goldie Hawn and William Atherton, a young married couple each with criminal records, take Texas Highway Patrolman Michael Sacks hostage in his squad car, and force him to accompany them to Sugarland where their son is being put up for adoption by child welfare officials.) B
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