Runtime: 116 minutes
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Elvis, Carolyn Jones, Walter Matthau, Dolores Hart, Dean Jagger
From: Paramount
Finally, I am able to say “RIP Lisa Marie Presley.” It took a few weeks but considering I have a Letterboxd list of Elvis films, it was about time to admit that her passing away due to a bad heart-a family issue; those horrible rumors about her death were pretty gross-was a shame. Sure, I’m not a fan of Scientology yet I have no issue personally with her & I still feel bad for her family & friends.
As for this movie, it’s me finally talking about “serious Elvis” rather than all those cornball pictures he made in the 60’s. Via a rental on Amazon, I saw this movie—in 4K, believe it or not. It’s a Paramount release and well, from reviews I know that in the past year or so some of the catalog titles they put out on UHD have been rather bad in terms of picture and consistency of same. As it’s a stream a comparison is not fair… it mostly looked fine in that format. The movie is available on Blu with that same transfer as part of their Paramount Presents line, which has had at least no issues with the Blu discs they release.
Elvis is a teen who lives in New Orleans on Bourbon Street; his family has had its struggles. His mom passed away and that wrecked his father (Dean Jagger) so The King has to work along with going to school and as the jobs involve sweeping, stacking chairs, and other busboy activities--there definitely is conflict between Elvis and his old man. Meanwhile, there are hoodlums he ends up befriending, and conflict with Maxie, played by Walter Matthau, who owns most of the clubs in the area and is NOT the nice charming character most of us know him to typically play. In fact, Maxie was a real evil SOB and his performance was the highlight for me. Presley ends up singing at the one club in the area not owned by Matthau.
Unlike most musicals, the songs here come naturally; what I mean is that Elvis has to sing in a scene for fun, to disguise a burglary, to prove he is a singer, then at the King Creole nightclub. This is more “a drama that happens to have some music.” He is a sympathetic figure despite his lot in life and how he is a hot-headed person at school. His biggest sin is being awfully friendly to someone’s mistress. He even sticks up for someone who I’ll describe as “mentally impaired”. Plus, the director gave us F'ing Casablanca & Mildred Pierce among many other notables (Michael Curtiz) and there are several other famous names in the cast besides the previously-named actors: Carolyn Jones, Dolores Hart, and Vic Morrow. It was an enthralling story and I wish that The King could have made more serious roles as he was fine here in his role where he got to show dramatic chops; it was more than just his natural star charisma.
If you want to see a serious piece surrounding family issues and a troubled teenager trying to make it big which happens to have a nice soundtrack appropriate for the New Orleans setting (including Hard Headed Woman, which became a number one hit) then this may be of interest to you… much more so if you’re a Presley fan. Incidentally, this was rather loosely based on the Harold Robbins novel A Stone for Danny Fisher. One of the people who adapted it to screen: Michael V. Gazzo! The Godfather, Part II actor used to be a playwright, yet that credit still was quite the shock.
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