Elvis movies!

[yemina]

We all have our favourite Elvis movies and then the ones we criticize and categorize as bad ones. I'd like to know your favourite movies and the disliked movies of Elvis and to have defining as well!!! THANK YOU!!

Now,because I started this off I may list mine

Good movies

Charro! - he does a very good acting!!! And it's not that teenage bubblegum stuff

Wild In the Country - the way he empathizes to his role is amazing!!!

Kid Galahad - it's more about sports and i love sports :D

King Creole - again he empathizes into his role perfectly!!

Clambake - it has a story in it and not so bad one (y)

The worse movies

Kissing cousins - :blink: what is it all about?

Girls, Girls, Girls - hmm it's girls, girls, girls

Tickle Me - the tittle explains a lot and he doesn't seem like acting at all.

Frankie and Johnny - i feel like being at circus not in a good way (n)

[_Elvis_]

hello yemina my favorite movies of elvis are viva las vegas, blue hawaii , it happened at the world,s fair,
paradise hawaiian style, and fun in acapulco that are my favorite ones. I have all the movies on dvd from elvis.

viva las vegas is my absolute favorite one. :D

[J.P]

there ain't many elvis movies that i like. i'm more friend of music:) but here's my list Flamingstar, King Creole, Viva Las Vegas :D and :hmm: i dunno let's say Wild In the Country..... and the rest of the movies are more and less crap.... there are some ok films to but as you phrased it to many are just that bubblegum stuff:doh:

[Elisabeth]

My favorite movies are Change Of Habit, Charro, King Creole and Jailhouse Rock.

[spanish eyes]

I tend to look deeply at the characters Elvis plays in his movies, I don't see Elvis I only see the character he's protraying.

My fave 2 Elvis movies are :-

Jailhouse Rock - I love the way his character changes, he goes from a happy go lucky, polite, helpful young man and cos of the circumstances he changes so he just looks after No 1, its like he buries the real him inside I've glad Vince found himself again before the movie ended. One of the things that amazes me about this movie is at the beginning when he's singing but somehow he's singing without any heart and soul, I mean to me that took a lot to pull that off, cos its totally against his nature to sing without heart and soul, without feeling the lyrics and the melody. The part where he got whipped God the expression on his face, I couldn't look... the sound of the whip and his expression went right through me, I really believed in the character Vince Everett.

Change of Habit cos it doesn't follow the Elvis usual movie formula, boy meets girl, girl falls for boy. Instead it deals with a lot of serious issues, frightening, dark issues and touching issues, it shows real life and there's no conclusion at the end of it, you don't know if Dr John Carpenter won the lady's heart, you have to decide that for yourself, that's the way life is you don't know how its gonna be you just have to wait and see.

Followed by these that I like to watch:-

Loving You Deke's character was so vulnerable on the inside but he didn't show it. The part that I found touching was when he went back to the graveyard and he was telling his Manager his real story of who he is and where he came from, very touching and very vulnerable.

King Creole Beautiful acting and beautiful songs. Danny and his father didn't get along at all but they loved each other they just didn't know how to show it to each other. Danny wanted out of where he was living, he wanted something better, he got mixed up with the wrong people, and cos of that his Father was disappointed in him, he wasn't interested in hearing him singing in the nightclub. So at the end when Danny is singing at the nightclub and his Father walks in and hears him sing the way Father and son look at each other brings tears to my eyes, I find that scene very touching.

GI Blues I love the fact that in this movie he falls in love and he wasn't expecting too. The scene in the kitchen where the baby is crying and Tulsa is panicing and he pulls the fridge door open with such force that the baby's bottle falls out and smashes on the floor, his facial expressions are so funny gol

Blue Hawaii I watched this when I was little and I thought wow what a beautiful place, one day I'll get to go there so thanks Elvis for showing me Hawaii. I love the part where he opens the music box and it starts to play Can't help fallin in love with you and he sings along with it.

The not so good movie for me are The Trouble with Girls but I found that even in the not so good movies there were some beautiful ballads and without those movies I wouldn't have heard them like Almost, Could I Fall in Love, Tender Feeling, I love his ballads :D so I say thanks for the good movies you made Elvis and thank you for the beautiful ballads

I don't class Elvis-That's the Way It Is and Elvis on Tour as Elvis movies cos he's being himself. I just wanted to mention them to say I'm glad he made those two documentaries to see him on stage singing, to see his humour, I loved seeing the man, seeing the human being behind the image.

[monk37]

Mine vary depending on the mood.

which is what I think is great about Elvis' entire movie catalog - there's something for most moods.

the ones he did his best acting may well have been the worst movies - since he was able to do a credible part with whatever material he was given.

[SleepyJack]

Like everything else my "favourites" change from time to time as well but "King Creole" and "Jailhouse Rock" would probably be my two regular favourites,they were both great movies and Elvis does a good job with them,good supporting actors,great atmosphere and Elvis obviously enjoying being in them. Other movies,like "Follow that dream" are just good fun to watch..they make you feel happy and are just good fun plain and simple.The real selling-point for me is just that Elvis is in them,so they aren`t oscar-quality and without elvis I probably wouldn`t give them a second-look but they are innocent,happy bits of entertainment.
If I had to pick my least favourite it would probably be "Harum Scarum"...so much about that movie makes me cringe..I just end up feeling embarrassed for Elvis..the cheapness of it and the poor quality of everything about it..I don`t think too many people,even Elvis fans would try to defend it.
The real shame is that in many of the movies you get glimpses of what could have been,it`s pretty hard to take sometimes..especially when you know how much Elvis wanted to be a good actor in good movies.

[Unchained Melody]

I enjoy about all of Elvis' movies. Take them for what they are, pure entertainment.

[debtdbruno]

fav acting role.........Jailhouse

looks the hottest........Change of Habit......lol

[Lisarose]

I love them all, really BUT, I always go back to Roustabout & King Creole.

Blue Hawaii always makes me laugh, & not just Elvis, but Angela Lansbury with that southern accent "mah baby boy is back from the wa-ahr!"

Loving You, I love the song sequence in the restaurant, Elvis singing Hard Headed Woman, and telling the troublemaker to reupholster his carseats

Flaming Star - it leaves me speechless

[Cliff]

Good post Yemina. I guess my favourites are the ones that bring me the happiest memories. And they are:

Love Me Tender

Jailhouse Rock

Loving You

King Creole

Follow That Dream (the best)

I was going to make a list of the ones I didn't like. But although a lot of his later films weren't the best they took us away from ourselves & the real world and for a moment made us smile or laugh. This is what movies are all about. They are supposed to entertain and for a moment make us forget our worries of everyday life. People will say " Oh, but they were'nt realistic. ". My answer is "So?". Look at what we have today.

[KPM]

Well mine are separated by drama, musical, or comedy:
Drama
Jailhouse Rock-great self centered realistic performance and great songs added in.
King Creole-Elvis shows some depth and realism also cries-great songs.
Flaming Star-western with a social statement, Elvis conveys the caught in the middle feeling of the character with great strength.
Musical
Viva Las Vegas-sparks, fire with Ann Margret and some of the best production numbers in his career.
Girl Happy-Spring break, girls, fun plot, great songs and good cast.
Loving You-catches the raw essential Elvis in his prime, good acting, good cast great soundtrack.
GI Blues-great energy, Elvis looks fit and trim, good acting and great soundtrack.
Comedy
Follow that Dream-Elvis plays the "naive but intuitive" role well, good laughs, good cast-a little out of the formula.
Kissin Cousins-plain fun, no real heavy story, great music, double role, and some great performances by Arthur O'Connell, Frank Albertson and others.
Tickle Me-plain nonsense, fun, written and directed by Three Stooges alumni, good character actors Jack Mullaney and Julie Adams.
Least favorite films
Clambake-Elvis looks tired, bored, and overweight with little interest in the role-cheap looking sets and production in general.
Paradise Hawaiin Style-once again weight problems, songs were not all that great, and some of the sets look cheap.
Frankie and Johnny-Cheap look, most of the music not that good, and the same weight problem.

[Cliff]

I love them all, really BUT, I always go back to Roustabout & King Creole.

Blue Hawaii always makes me laugh, & not just Elvis, but Angela Lansbury with that southern accent "mah baby boy is back from the wa-ahr!"

Loving You, I love the song sequence in the restaurant, Elvis singing Hard Headed Woman, and telling the troublemaker to reupholster his carseats

Flaming Star - it leaves me speechless

Totally agree !! I always felt she should have got an Oscar for this part. Any other movie she probably would have. With her acting & Elvis singing,;what more could you ask for?

[Diane]

Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, Roustabout, Blue Hawaii, Roustabout. I like the stories and songs in all of these. And,,,, Charro only because I get fascinated by Elvis in a beard. I don't generally like them but I was surprised that he'd look so good in one.

[yisagirl1]

My favorite is Viva Las Vegas. As we all know he didn't like his movies. Col. Parker!

[Raised on Rock]

When Elvis movies declined, they still made millions because of Elvis past glory. Today, because of the awful movies he did and still people dare to show and sell, critics forget that there were actually some really fine moments on Elvis filmography.

This are Elvis lucky 13 to me:

1. King Creole (1958): Well... Elvis looks good and did the acting performance of his live, this kid can act and could have a great career as an actor. The plot is more than good enough, the director made a fine job, the cast is tops of the tops, and the soundtrack is some of Elvis finest performances even among the non-soundtrack material. What else you can ask? this is a classic movie Elvis fan or not, is a movie that really stands on its own.

2. Wild in The Country (1960): This is a really fine movie, Elvis is confident of his skills and this is probably the best acting performance of his life. This is Elvis the actor he wanted to be, this is the kind of movie in which he did wanted to be. If subsequent movies have followed on this direction, by '64 he could have been at the level of any of the tops actors from the era. The plot is great, and supporting cast is great to. The direction, the movie is a bit slow at some points, and so the movie itself doesn´t match the intensity of King Creole, yet there are plenty of great scenes where Elvis shows his true potential even beyond King Creole, it is not a classic movie of the era as "King Creole" and "Jailhouse Rock" where, but it should be a classic among Elvis films. Elvis was a good actor, and this is one fine movie. Take a look a it again PLEASE!!!

3. Jailhouse Rock (1957): Not the best production ever, not the best supporting cast, not the best direction (and his is why is not on the no.1 spot on my list), but somehow,it is an amazing film, beyond Elvis related books, most cinema books name it as 50's classic movies. Why then? well just because Elvis fantastic and intense performance: He is Rock and Roll rebeliousnes (and everythin else that rock might be or mean) incarnated. Only Dean (Rebel without a Cause) or Brando (The WIld One) are above Elvis performance in Jailhouse Rock in terms of: what's rebelion in 50's culture, now that's a valuable actor or what? Plus the soundtrack is superb.

4. Blue Hawaii (1961): And suddenly Mr. Rock and Roll was Mr. Nice guy, well that's good acting by any yardstick! This was the archetype of the Elvis movie formula, yes blame it for Elvis not having any more chances to become the serious actor he wanted to be, blame it for initiate the formula that latter on hurted his career so much, BUT, in 1961, it it took him to mainstream superstardoom, gave him his highest grossing performance in the box office, and gave him the best selling album of his career and the best selling album of the 60's second only to "West Side Story" which ironically was first offered to him. Blue Hawaii might be far away from Elvis true aspirations as an actor, but still, it was high quality in every sense, and Elvis performance as an actor was convincing enough that it became the prototype for almost the rest of the characters he played in the next 5 years.

5. Viva las Vegas (1963): Pure bubble gum? And what is wrong with bubble gum if its flavour is Elvis Presley & Ann Margaret and in a glossy pack? this is a classic, period. Great soundtrack too. Beatlemania didn't hurt Elvis at the cinema, Viva reached #6 at '64 top grossing films, while A Hard Days Night reached at #8.

6. Girls Girls Girls! (1962): Never ever Elvis Presley or a man looked that good! I mean how he did it?lol, no fun, he is the best looking coolest guy in hollywood, now and then, don't believe me? watch this movie. Sure the plot is mere buble gum teenage fun, call it Blue Hawaii 2 if you want to, and so what, this is 1962 drive in stuff, remember American Graffiti days? have fun, not everything has to be french art cinema. But there is something more about Elvis performance in this picture that is unmached in any other 60's elvis movie: despite being one fo those light musical comedies on the Elvis formula, he manages to bring out his rebelious and intense sexually charged persona in the coolest way, when most of this kind of pictures, even the best ones as Viva Las Vegas and Blue Hawaii, where successful in hiding those aspects of Elvis personallity, in Girls Girls Girls ! what we have is simple but unmatched: THIS IS ELVIS THE 60's SEX SYMBOL. Anything else? well we got Return To Sender, anything else? well the tango dancing scene where Elvis happens to suffer an erection on screen, said what?

7. Loving You (1957) Indulge yourself in this 50's rock and roll travelogue! That Mean Woman Blues scene followed by the famous fighting scene? Teddy Bear? A bit naive and corny at times, but so was the cinema of the era. Elvis performance is actually quite intense and revealing of his acting talents for such a light musical comedy. Plus, anything Elvis did in the 50's turned gold, so... shut up and enjoy. P.S. Elvis clothes in this one are so cool!!!! and the soundtrack is classic 50's rock and roll.

8. Fun in Acapulco (1963) Girls Girls Girls 2? Blue Hawaii 3? lol iT doesn't matter, this are the days where the Elvis formula did worked and turned out to be more than entertaining but exiting. An amizingly good looking Elvis exuded charisma until the big screen got wet.

9. Live a Little Love a Little (1968): Ok not the greatest movie ever, but it is not bad either, it is actually an entertaining one, and there is something quite refreshing in watching Elvis: 1-doing a movie that was diffrent from the usual formula, 2-Enjoying himself again while acting after the '65-'67 nightmare of crappy films. More than everything, it is a joy to see Elvis not only enjoying himself but actually delivering, that is one convincing performance on his character, quite a bunch of scenes of acting talent display. Good songs too.

10. Flaming Star (1960) Elvis is a bit stiff and maybe overacted in some scenes, the movie might also be a bit slow in some points, yet, for the most part, YES, this is one good taste of how much of a great actor Elvis was and could have been, if more material like this was given to him to improve himself. Warhol used a pic of this movie for his most famous work on Elvis: Matinee Idol.

11. Stay Way Joe (1967): They say the movie script (based on a novel from the same guy who wrote A Clock Work Orange) was much better but they cleaned it up (they made it boring) at Parker's request, they also added it musical numbers, oh well, no wonder. Yet although there is no much of a plot, Elvis looks confident and sexy, more than that, he is (if not the movie itself) hilarious!, a natural born comedian. To bad he didn't have the orignal grittier script to work with it.

12. Change of Habit (1969): Why did I charted it so low? Productions values are low, and the movie lacks of certain intecity, that's to say, I got bored in some bits, come on! if Elvis wheren't in this one, who'll remember it? But in Elvis filmogaphy, 11 is still a high spot, and why? it showed to things: Elvis not only still had intact his dramatic acting instincts after a decade of crappy films, but they had increased. He could be so intense and so relaxed, so natural, that is one thing he had achieved and showed it off in this film, he looked so natural in his character, to bad this movie was his last one, as what this movie did, was to show what Elvis the actor could have been in the early 70's if the right movie was choosen for him.

13. Charo (1968): You do buy Elvis portrayal of an outlow any time, you'll never had guessed in '68 that a character like that could be taylor made for Elvis, but it was. To bad the movie is so dam boring. Again the movie value was that showed us a big promise: that Elvis still had a chance to shine in the big screen as a serious actor during the 70's. To bad Elvis choosed to quit Hollywood for good, casue he had it, man look at that movie, he had it... errr, obviously the director and the script hadn't. Altough, I've seen way more boring movies in TV lately.


Elvis Worst movies to me, the unlucky 13:

1. Paradise Hawaiian Style (1965): Elvis looks so ackward in this one, not just because he's obviously overweighted and with a terrible haircut lol (and aware of it), but because he seems all the time like he wished to be anywhere but in front of the camera (except for the last sequence which is the only ok scene), the plot is like duh and so is the soundtrack, and there is no meat in Elvis character except in his waist, this movie introduced fat borred Elvis to the world for the very first time, a disgrace. Is this the guy who did Girls Girls Girls just 4 years earlier? how come?

2. Clambake (1967): The movie that made Elvis rather wish to slip and hit his head on the shower than go the movie studio to film this crap? Elvis looks terrible and his performance is the one of a zoombie, but what else you can do with a plot that obvious. The soundtrack, they released one? god who's trying to kill the guys career?

3. Easy Come Easy Go (1966): Yoga is as Yoga Does? that was Hal Wallis idea to fit Elvis into the new pop culture? No wonder this is the movie in which Elvis finally lost his temper and in the middle of a scene he told the director: now wait a minute, where doing this shit just because its fun to do it, the moment stops being fun, will stop doing this crap... Well why didn't you just stopped right there Elvis? At least in this movie Elvis looks slim, good and with a smile, but I think he was laughin at the plot, not really smiling for the camera.

4. Harum Scarum (1965): Man, Elvis looks good in this one, but what's on the movie besides that? Well Mary Ann Mobley... but did a 4 year old wrote the scrip? And not the most creative one for sure, I mean ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...

5. Kissin Cousins (1963): Hollywood answer to the Beatles? and the answer was: we are cheap and stupid, you brits are great? At least there are a couple of good tracks, and Elvis co-stars are fun to watch :blush: if you know what I mean, but really? girls hidden in the woods looking for GI's to jump all over? Elvis twin brother? this is not the work of a 4 year old, this is the work of a horny chimp on drugs.

6. Frankie and Johnny (1965): BOOOOOORING. Ok but what about the soundtrack? BOOOOORING.

7. Double Trouble (1966): This one has the most exciting opening credits sequence on an Elvis movie, it is just so cool!!!! ok the sequence has ended, you can turn the thing off. When Elvis was told he had to sing Old McDonald on this one, he simply said: we have come to this...

8. Spinout (1966): Well... not that bad but not good at all. Definetively Elvis heart was not there, not even on a single scene.

9. Tickle Me (1964): At his point, after the top worst 5, things doesn't look that bad, but really? Tickle Me? Elvis was a great comedy actor, but this kind of comedy, doesn't seem to fit him

10. Speedway (1967): A pleasant time waster at best, this is the perfect Elvis forumla movie, trying to emulate his golden era (1960-1964), and although all the elements of the formula are there, Nancy Sinatra included, this movie was done at the time where neither Elvis, neither his audience, enjoyed those kind of pictures anymore, this happens to be the last one. A positive note: Tarantino (know for his taste for crapy cinema which he seems to take and turn into gold) have said he was inspired in this movie to build up the burgers and dancing club on Pulp Fiction.

11. The Trouble With Girls and How To Get Into It (1968) Elvis looks amazing in this one, his character fits him and he delivers in a total believable way, he is dam good in fact! OK, but nothing else happens and he didn't even appears so much on screen, insomnia? this one will fix you up, sweet dreams. This one is only good if you are an Elvis fan, because, once again, HE IS GOOD! lol

12. It Happened At the Worlds Fair (1962): Some good songs, some good scenes like Kurt Russell kicking Elvis, but even in the Elvis formula category, even in the ultra light musical comedy, even in the happy go lucky pleasant early no substance 60's films area, sometimes during this film, it does feels as if not much is happening, which makes it totally forgetable. Yet production is still high quality.

13. Girl Happy (1964): Well this is actually in many ways, better than the Bealtes Help!, but nobody has said Help! was a good movie beside the songs. It is just a teen beach party film, and it has its charm in that area, but at 29 years old, Elvis needed to move away from that or simply quit hollywood. It is a mere exploitation film, only good if you're a fan of kitch cinema.

******

Middle of the way ones:

1. G.I. Blues (1960) No a bad one at all, high value production, this are the times when producers minded to invest money and at least a bit of brains into an Elvis movie. Yet it is more glossy than substance, no real classic songs or musical numbers, and to know that Elvis didn't wanted at all to do this movie as he felt it mock the true hard living of the people in the army plus it wasn't the kind of movies he wanted to do, well, it makes things a bit sour. Anyhow, Elvis does good on this one, its all right to watch once in a while but not a favourite of mine.

2. Roustabout (1964) If GI Blues was the begining of the Elvis formula movies golden era, Roustabout was the end, you can see way less money invested, time and brains where invested too, and while you can see Elvis giving away his heat on GI Blues even if he didn't like the movie, you can´t see that in Roustabout, that Elvis was by now obviously not into it, he seems a bit bored and not knowing what to do with such a weak plot, yet, Roustabout is still far superior than the top 5 worst movies on my list, is still entertaining, and Elvis still manages to get along with his character. There is also certain charm in watching him all in black leather, as if he really was about to deliver a reall rocking movie, unfortunatelly he was not. The soundtrack on the other hand is far superior than the film and superior than most films of the era, it was his last No.1 album until aloha from hawaii, it was the end of an era.

3. Kid Galahad (1961): Well, its all right isn't it? just don't expect much, just a happy go lucky musical from the early 60's.

4. Follow That DReam (1961): Elvis is charming and funny, another happy go lucky film. After stuff like Wild in The country or even Blue Hawaii or Gi Blues, why Elvis was wasting his talent on such enjoyable but low profile pictures?

5. Love Me Tender (1956): A bit boring, not the best western at all. But to see Elvis giving his all in his first ever acting role, even if he totally overacts at some points, turns out to be quite enjoying.

[Lisarose]

Great review Raised on Rock! I especially loved this!


5. Viva las Vegas (1963): Pure bubble gum? And what is wrong with bubble gum if its flavour is Elvis Presley & Ann Margaret and in a glossy pack? this is a classic, period. Great soundtrack too. Beatlemania didn't hurt Elvis at the cinema, Viva reached #6 at '64 top grossing films, while A Hard Days Night reached at #8.
Excellent viewpoint!
King Creole, I think that's the best written musical with Elvis on Stage, I don't recall that any of the songs seemed out of place - or did he sing to Dolores Hart at the water's edge? I don't remember,
I do love Kid Galahad - great acting on his part - the singing - oh well, I did love most of the songs & who doesn't like watching Elvis do the twist?
But now, Harem Scarem - what a ridiculous title!, btw - but when you think of the story board they might have been considering - it starts off with a great plot - sadly
it just didn't translate from idea to story to screen...

[Raised on Rock]

But now, Harem Scarem - what a ridiculous title!, btw - but when you think of the story board they might have been considering - it starts off with a great plot - sadly
it just didn't translate from idea to story to screen...

Could help my self from reviewing all the movies lol, last year I did got them all and seen it all more than twice, some are actually great and way underated, some are a guitly pleasure, they should be burried lol.

Anyhow, yes, Harum Scarum, when you just read the idea, it does actually sounds good, like Elvis first action/adventure movie, right? but when you actually see the movie, Christ! there is not a single scene that escapes from ridiculous. Its just bad direction (looks like some just filmed a school play in some points), ultra cheap budget, and poor poor script writing (as the one of a 4 year old as I said). As you well stated, the idea never got to the screen.

Yes, I like Kid Galahad a lot.