Elvis Presley In The Movies

[Elvis.com]

To the world he was the King of Rock and Roll, but Elvis Presley was also one of the top-10 movie stars of his era. Thirty-one of his films are included in this retrospective by film critic Timothy Knight, who practically...

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[monk37]

I think Elvis' film output is underrated

It's not fair to review it for just the music - since the music is largely dependant on the film context

and it's certainly not fair to critique it outside of the genre it belonged in - Elvis' career was certainly more successful than other singers turned actors - and more so than many actors

Before Loving You and Jailhouse Rock - rock n roll performers were just dropped in, as if by accident, to sing their latest hit in the middle of the movie

Elvis' were the first that integrated the songs

His mid 60's were more usual musicals - characters just burst into song - sometimes because his character's second job was a singer - sometimes because the characters just do.

Could Elvis have been a serious actor? Yes, if he'd taken acting classes and continued to play dramatic roles until the fans got used to the idea of seeing him differently than his stage persona.

Elvis had a strong comedy ability - including physical comedy - pratfalls, emotive facial express, and vocal timing when he was on form.


What's disturbing and you have to realize is that the movies were intended to remove Elvis from his 50s rebel image

many of the movie make fun of his early performance style - whenever Elvis performs in several films, there's either a child impersonating him or an older man - as if to make what he did innocent or commonplace