Reply With Quotethankyou Peter
James Brown, aka The King. Check out his other work on Return to Splendor and Gravelands. I'd heard him sing covers of "No Woman No Cry" and Nirvana's "Come As You Are" several years ago and wanted him to be involved in the movie. Thankfully, he graciously agreed to sing a couple of tunes, including "Rebel."Originally Posted by debtdbruno
thankyou Peter
"NO-ONE, BUT NO-ONE,IS HIS EQUAL, OR EVER WILL BE. HE WAS, AND IS SUPREME".Mick Jagger
i enjoyed this movie much more than i thought i would.
the actors Elvis speaking voice was poor, however when copying elvis, its hard to get anything right!
And Doug Church would have been the best person to sing the song in the movie too.
good job.
Great work Peter!
Best job on an Elvis related movie I have seen in ages!
Robert Patrick, even after a 3 hour make up session, and not be recognized as him, is amazing as The King!
My biggest compliments on one of the better Elvis stories ever!
Is it released in Danmark and the rest of Europe in January?
I don't think it will be in a lot of cinemas in Europe, so is it a straight to DVD release in Europe?
b.t.w. the Rebel song should be a hit record!!!
And of course welcome to our site.
Last edited by Sonny; 11-21-2009 at 07:56 AM.
A lot of credit goes to Steve Brewer, who wrote the original novel (from which the movie is based) as well as Robert Patrick and the amazing makeup guys who transformed him.
But it takes more than just that to make a character come to life, and Robert was very diligent in his prep work and research, and we always talked about making the character an interpretation rather than a caricature or a straight out impersonation. Everyone has in his/her mind what he would look/act/sound like today, and everyone's idea is no less important than anyone else's. But we tried to make it the best, most respectable portrayal we could to hold up under the scrutiny of true Elvis fans.
Did we succeed 100%? Probably not. Does the rest of the movie hold up? Let's say I'm proud of many areas and less than satisfied in others. But that will help me grow as a filmmaker. And hopefully garner a few much appreciated "thank you's" from people who, even if they don't like the movie, at least appreciate the effort and spirit that went into making it.
Again, a big thank you to everyone who has watched it -- I truly hope you enjoyed it.
~Peter
My thoughts, and I guess that will go for the majority of Elvis fans, is what makes a diffrence here, is that this is done with respect to our man.
You guys portrayed him in a way that could have been the truth.
Absolute agreement Sonny
This looks like a really cool film! I certainly appreciate the insights from the director -- thank you, sir -- and the approval and excitement from a number of our members. I will be tracking it down as soon as possible.
Thank you! That was always the goal, to have people watch this performance and be reminded of what could have been as reverently and accurately as possible (yes, I believe he'd let his hair gray naturally!). Luckily, there are a lot of fans and other performers who also keep Elvis alive through music and other movies.
By the way, I don't think it has been mentioned here but I am guessing that the selection of Patrick for the Mr. Aaron role probably had something to do with his having played Vernon Presley in the Elvis TV movie a few years ago. He looked great as Vernon too; there was a natural resemblance in terms of facial structure.
Interestingly he also played Johnny Cash's father in Walk The Line. He should watch it or he's gonna start being typecast and that well will dry up in no time -- not too many superstars like EP & JC!
Funny enough, Robert had agreed to do this movie BEFORE signing on to play Vernon (such is the long road of an indie movie)! And you're absolutely right, he has now played "Elvis," Vernon and Ray Cash... now he needs to play an older Johnny Cash!
It's a credit to Robert's acting and your make-up department that I never guessed that it was him when I saw the movie.
'Taking Care of Beaulieu'.
I looked at our local video store Friday night but couldn't find this. Is it at the video stores or do you have to order it online? I really would like to see this one as I like the trailers I've seen on it.
Forever Best Friends
I got mine from Amazon...
Ha ha, there you go! And thanks for the info. I shouldn't have assumed that the chronology of those events would necessarily have been in sync with those movies' productions/releases.
agree with you
I also never guessed it was him...It's a credit to Robert's acting and your make-up department that I never guessed that it was him when I saw the movie.
franny
Hi everyone,
I answered some questions on another site. I thought I'd share them here as well to offer more insight into the making of the movie (apologies to anyone who has already read this!).
Are there any plans for a sequel?
There are seven books in the Bubba Mabry private detective series. The first of which is Lonely Street. There has been interest in a TV series and possibly other movies. I’d like to keep Elvis alive here and there (even though his character is unique to only the first book) and have him show up in fun ways to help Bubba on his cases.
Do you want to take this story any further?
As far as this story goes, no.
If you were able to do a sequel. Any future story lines' in mind?
The book series does offer other fun possibilities for cases that could involve Elvis. Or perhaps a cool spin-off with just Elvis and what happens afterwards.
Was Robert Patrick filmed, lip syncing to any more song's, other than "When The Rebel Comes Home"?
No, unfortunately. But I love the video set to “Waiting For This Moment” you posted – I hadn’t seen it before!
By the way, finding out you used a older song, originally sung by the group Dakota, is pretty cool. The song has certainly grown on me. Especially, since, someone like Jim Brown aka "The King", recorded it, but, the icing on the cake, is seeing Robert Patrick, in Elvis make up, LIP SYNC the song, too.
The song was written by Tom Jans and I think it’s a poignant rocker. Robert does a great job.
Did you have any other song's in mind for the movie? If you did, what were they?
I had big dreams of actually using Elvis songs, but they were just too expensive. Burning Love, Suspicious Minds, Mystery Train and Jailhouse Rock were some of the ones I’d wanted… but combined, those accounted for just about our entire budget!
Did your team, have anyone else in mind, other than Jim Brown aka "The king" to do the Elvis vocals'
A music supervisor friend of mine coincidentally turned me on to The King back in ’03, not knowing I was planning an Elvis-themed movie. I was hooked immediately and was lucky enough to have him record the songs. But there are several top-notch singers I would have been lucky to have as well.
Do You have any more movie still's of Robert Patrick in Elvis makeup, that you could share here, which have not been posted before?
Yes, I will post some in the coming days.
How many hours of outtakes' are there, for this movie, with Robert Patrick in Elvis' make up?
Robert’s performance was crucial for the movie. And it’s the main “hook.” So we squeezed pretty much every last drop of footage we had to get him on screen as much as possible. Plus, being a low-budget movie, I had limited takes to shoot so there is not a lot of waste. But there are some deleted scenes (not involving Elvis) that I’d like to put back in when I can do a proper Director’s Cut.
What scenes' were deleted from the movie and why?
There is more to the Marty/Kathy subplot (the couple Bubba encounters at the beginning of the movie). There is some funny stuff in there, but it was decided at the time it was taking away from the main story. I think the footage could be used well and offer more true comedic moments.
If your budget would have been bigger, what further plans' did you have, with this script?
With more money would have come more time to shoot. We shot the movie in 20 days. But if you notice, a lot of it takes place at night, which means more lights were needed. I like the nighttime feel of it, as if this story is happening in the wee small hours. I would have liked more time editing the movie as well. We needed to have audience preview screenings ahead of time like most movies are afforded, but we had no money to do this. They would have been useful in determining how many of the story/comedy elements worked or didn’t. And more marketing!!
What more would you have done with the story?
The shootout at the end is a real disappointment for me. We had Robert for 12 hours everyday. But he was in makeup for the first 5 hours. Then it took an hour to remove the makeup at the end of the day. So suddenly, I only had 6 hours to shoot him on a given day. With all those characters and action taking place, I needed one more day to film it right and make it work. We had to cut an entire exchange on the day that would have really linked it all together and made Elvis’ “resurrection” even more powerful and make the whole sequence make better sense. Also, there is a through-line to Bubba’s character from the book about him being chronically gullible, based on his family history. I really wanted to shoot that bit of back-story to set up his character, and how the irony of that leads to him being involved here with the biggest story (or hoax) of a lifetime!
Why was it decided to go with the 70's aviator glasses, instead of up to date spec's, to go along with Robert Patrick aka Elvis up to date look?
For me, the glasses are so iconic and they complete his look so well. It’s also a physical link to his legacy that he passes along to Bubba. Kind of like a new generation accepting the gift from the previous one. I know there is a lot of debate on the hair color. But there would be as much of a debate had I picked different, more modern shades.
Was there any other actor you had in mind to portray Elvis, other than Robert Patrick? If so, who was it or who were they?
Well, that is so tough to say because once Robert came on board, he was Elvis. He’s a true fan and delved into the character. Early on we’d talked about several people, including older actors. But I wanted someone who would disappear and make the audience believe this IS Elvis and not just see it and go, “Oh, there’s so-and-so doing Elvis.” I don’t think it would have worked as well otherwise.
Who's idea was it, to set up, the make up job on Robert Patrick to begin with? This was brilliant, by the way! if anything, that is what this movie should win an award for. As anyone can see here, Robert Patrick win's hand's down for getting the closes' to what Elvis looked like or would have maybe looked like.
Thank you. One of the producers was able to get the script directly to Robert. He read it and loved it immediately. I mean, who wouldn’t want to play Elvis, right? Especially one that is treated with such respect and care in both look and performance.
Why was the decision, to use the DVD insert on the left, verses the insert on the right for the DVD release?
Once a movie is finished, there are a number of things that are beyond a director’s control. This was more of a producer/distribution company decision (although the back cover has a very nice Elvis image). There are some other versions floating around that seem to do a better job of conveying the tone, characters and Elvis element. Ultimately, I’m not sure what the marketing decision was in going with the one on the left.
I ask this, because, the one of the left gives really No promotion this has anything to do with Elvis, yet, the poster on the right, at least gives, some indication. Was this a bad marketing mistake, in your opinion?
Definitely not something I would have chosen. I like the direction these were going in here:
http://www.bunnydojo.com/pac_LonelyStreet.php
If there was anything you would have or could have done differently for this picture, what would those thing's have been?
Stuck with my instincts and fought harder for things I believed in and knew worked better than some other ideas I was given.
How did Steven Tyler get involved in the movie, as one of the producers?
One of the producers knew Steven from Boston. Steven saw some footage and was interested in helping immediately.
Did the movie make a profit?
I’m hoping as more Elvis fans come to hear about it and appreciate it, they will take the time to buy a copy (or two)!
Suggestion, if in the near future, if a sequel could be done and Robert Patrick were willing to do the makeup again, may I suggest, using Red West, Sonny West and maybe a few of the other original guys who knew Elvis, in cameo appearances'.
Absolutely, that would be really fun!
Thank you, for your time.
You’re very welcome. Thank you for helping spread the word!
~Peter
If you need a young handsome british actor pm me
Thank you for sharing this here with us Peter!
Sonny
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