142 thoughts on “Elvis Presley Movies”

1. 1 In my previous post I touched on suggestions that Elvis Presley had become paranoid by the end of the 60s.

   2 The possibility was drawn to my attention in the recent film Elvis & Nixon which was about the meeting they had in Dec 1970. However that film was so tongue in cheek that I was unsure about how literally I should take it. Some of it seemed so preposterous. Others might face the same dilemma so it might help them to know that when I returned from the film I did as many cross-checks as I could on the subject.

   3 The International Movie Database asserts that the film is a true account of what happened.
   Wikipedia supports the film’s assertion that Elvis became obsessive about the harm the Beatles and ‘hippie’ groups were doing to American culture. Wikipedia also records that Elvis offered his services to the FBI. Above all I found on the Internet the reproduction of a memo written by
   the Nixon aide who recorded the meeting.

   4 This memo indicates that Nixon and the aide were flabbergasted when Elvis burst into a tirade about the Beatles spreading anti-Americanism. It also records that Elvis offered to help sort things out and that Nixon didn’t quite know how to respond.

   5. In my search I also encountered journalistic reports that suggested that by the time of his death Elvis’s state of paranoia had deepened to the point where he thought people were trying to kill him and persecute his friends.

   6 However such serious stuff shouldn’t dampen one’s enjoyment of the film which blends hilarious comedy with sharp observation of the Nixon White House which will give one a flavour of how Watergate happened. Michael Shannon was a joy as Elvis and Kevin Spacey good as the President. There is too a delicious twist at the very end. Refreshingly for a modern film there were not too many swear words in it which ironically was the one thing that still doesn’t ring true because the Watergate tapes did illustrate that Nixon and his administration swore a lot. Indeed some observers at the time claimed that the bad language on the tapes shocked America almost more than the alleged criminal activities !

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2. Never saw an Elvis. Movie untill I recently went to Graceland.apparently Elvis favorite film he did was king Creole. When I got home I saw a copy at our library so I got it. It was way better than I thought it would be. That’s why I never saw any. I always assumed they would be pretty much unwatchable. Just tonight I have seen jailhouse rock. Definitely not as good but it did make me want to borrow viva las Vegas. Especially since I live in las vegas.
   Any how your page was helpful in other movies to get and ones not to bother with.
   By the way go to Graceland if you ever get the chance. It is said people die twice. First when you stop breathing, and 2nd when the last person who knew you dies. It is hard to imagine a time when the 2nd thing happens. Long live the king.

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   1. Ironic your wording. When Ali’s funeral was held, the daughter of Malcom X spoke about how Ali was the final man among her father’s friends. Now they are all dead.

      I agree these pages are very useful about what movies to avoid.

      Because I want to see every movie of my favourites, I will see the bad films too. But I will see all the great and good ones first.

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      1. Hey Flora….like Elvis….Ali will be remember forever. Yes being a fan of actor….sometimes leads you to some truly horrible movies. I love Bruce Willis…..but his last 5 movies have all been horrible barley in theater low budget movies…..yet I still watch them.

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   2. Hey Tom….so glad to see somebody using this page as a reference. I think you have now seen my favorite two Elvis movies. King Creole is a well acted movie (even Elvis shines)…while Viva Las Vegas is just a fun movie to watch.

      I think the Elvis movie I disliked the most and is easily the best one to avoid is Clambake….it was Elvis last big payday for a movie role….he looks bored….most of the outdoor scenes are filmed in Florida…yet Elvis never left California. It is movies like Clambake that give so many other of his movies a bad rep. Based on your last comment….Elvis will live forever. Thanks for the great comment.

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3. I have every Elvis movie, on VHS, DVD, and those released on Laser Disc and Blue-Ray. I even have some on Beta-Max (a format that probably 90% of your readers have never heard of). In terms of acting alone, and acting with a great soundtrack, “King Creole” usually listed by critics as The King’s best, is also my favorite. “Loving You”, Elvis’s second film, and first in color, is second on my list, due in large part for the rockin’ and rollin’ he does while performing “Mean-Woman Blues” and “Got A Lot Of Livin’ to Do”.. Elvis moves like a “strange visitor from another planet” (Yes, stolen from “Superman” TV series). I think “Mean-Woman Blues” definitively shows that The King literally walked on water in those pre-Army years. Tough picking “Jailhouse Rock” over “Trouble”, from “King Creole”. Last hurrah, showing he still had the moves, probably “Come on Everybody” . with Ann-Margret, from “Viva Las Vegas”.

   Strictly on acting, Elvis gave good performances in “Flaming Star” and “Wild In The Country”. Unfortunately, these were really the nails in the coffin for serious roles, given that neither one did as well at the box office as the ever decreasing quality of the 10 song, no plot films they placed The King in during the 60’s. I actually enjoyed “Change Of Habit”, especially for “Rubberneckin”, and think it was a bad rap for the critics to complain about Elvis playing a doctor “In The Ghetto”..

   Most beautiful song in any Elvis film is clearly “Can’t Help Falling In Love”. Over-looked, and likely missed completely, was the heart-warming duet, “Today, Tomorrow, And Forever”, which Elvis and Ann-Margret sang in “VLV”. And the saving grace of “Clambake” was Elvis’s take on “You Don’t Know Me”. (Sorry for being so long-winded. I’m waiting for a 5:45 a.m. flight out of Spokane, WA, and it’s not quite 2: a.m. now.).

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   1. Hey Bob. Glad my Elvis page helped your time at the airport go a little faster. That is cool that you have every Elvis movie. Beta-max the HD of the 1980s. I remember the people that had beta machines talking about high great the quality was compared to VHS….it would be interesting to compare the two today!

      King Creole got the highest rating on our table when looking at critics and audience opinions. It is a very good movie….with Walter Matthau giving great support too. I will have to do a You Tube search and check out Elvis’ moves in Mean-Woman Blues….I guess he can thank Forrest Gump for showing him those moves…lol.

      Glad to see all the movies you liked so much…are ranked pretty high on our Elvis table. Viva Las Vegas is one of my favorite Elvis movies…..granted I have not seen nearly as many as you have…..but he and Ann-Margret made a great screen team.

      Thanks for an excellent breakdown….on Elvis and his movies, music and dancing….one of the best comments we have received….and we have had over 12,000 comments so far.

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   2. I think that “I got Lucky” from Kid Galahad, and “Long Lonely Highway”from Tickle Me are two if his most underrated movie songs.

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      1. Hey Timothy F. Thanks for sharing that information….I will have to get our Elvis experts to see if they agree with your comment. I am not a huge Elvis music person….but I aware and like Long Lonely Highway….so I agree with you on that song. Thanks for stopping by.

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4. Happy Birthday to the King. 81 TODAY!

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   1. Hey Blue Suede Shoes….I was wondering why Elvis was my most viewed page yesterday….that explains it. Happy Belated Birthday to the king!

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5. Hi

   I always really loved Elvis. As a kid one of my favourite songs was It’s Now or Never and Wooden Heart. As a teenager I bought a double LP of all his greatest hits and played repeatedly over and over. I enjoyed most of his movies, especially Blue Hawaii and Viva Las Vegas. But for all that, I’ve never really considered him a movie star. He was just always Elvis, the King of Rock n Roll. I know that Sinatra and Crosby were huge recording artists but they have left a body of work that’s part of Hollywood legend. And in that sense I don’t think Elvis fits in. But hey he was still the King!

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   1. Hey Chris….thanks for sharing your thoughts on The King. I think you are correct that he as an actor did not reach the same heights that Sinatra and Crosby reached. Elvis got off to a good start…Jailhouse Rock, King Creole and Blue Hawaii….but then the movie career ran off the train tracks. Sinatra and Crosby made musicals…but they also made lots of Oscar winning dramas too. But as you say “he is still The King”….seeing him in his prime in his early movies is like going to a museum and seeing greatness. As always…thanks for talking movies.

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      1. We can thank the Colonel for his ever declining movie roles in the 60’s. He was sought after for roles in “A star is Born”, “West Side Story”, and “The Sons of Katie Elder” (which would have had him co-starring with John Wayne and Dean Martin, how HUGE would that have been?) Who knows where his popularity would have gotten him, one huge hit with a huge co-star may have been all it would have raken for Elvis to take back creative control of his Hollywood years. I mean look at what he did for the 68 comeback special! Colonel Parker wanted him to dress as Santa and sing Christmas carols to kids, glad that never happened! Without the leather outfit portion, Elvis may have never fully realized how important his music still was!

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         1. 1 Apart from Col Parker misguiding his move career Elvis had two other main problems in the 60s. The first was undoubtedly self-indulgence and the second was apparently increasing paranoia. .

            2 It is said that he became obsessed with becoming an undercover FBI agent so that he could infiltrate Communist cells or at least what he perceived to be Communist cells. In particular he is supposed to have wanted to infiltrate the Beatles whom he regarded as Communists and he seemed to have it in for John Lennon especially.

            3 It is claimed that in trying to pressurise the authorities into letting him be an undercover agent he insisted that his calling cards were that (a) his appearance in some 30 films had trained him to play outside his own character (b) applying makeup and wearing different costumes for his screen roles had taught him to disguise himself in a way that would permit him to live incognito among the Beatles until he had ‘outed’ them as Communists.

            4 He was convinced too that he could successfully infiltrate student groups and the Black Panther Movement for the purpose of spying on them. Waiting for the big day he carried guns on his person both seen and hidden .

            5 Probably the four most conspicuous singers to also make a box-office impact in movies were Sinatra, Crosby, Dino and Elvis. The films of the first three were by far more commercially successfully than the Elvis pictures and as Bruce has pointed out Bing and Frank in particular had built up a reputation for at least some strong dramatic performances.

            6 With the possible exception of Viva Las Vegas in 1964 his 60s films were very much in the ‘when you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all’ category so gradually the audiences fell away. Apart from some documentaries his final film was Change of Habit
            and it was really embarrassing because not only was the script awful but he sported a Beatles haircut in it.

            7. Even if Col Parker had permitted him more meaty roles it has to be at least questioned whether he would have had the psychological capacity to perform them if reports of his increasing paranoia and confusion are accurate.

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