Overview
Fifty years after his death, Elvis Presley remains one of America’s strongest cultural exports—an indelible musician who started a youthquake and redefined the concert stage. What’s forgotten, however, is that Elvis spent half his professional life in Hollywood, acting in 31 films that have all but disappeared.
Elvis’s movie career began in 1956 with Love Me Tender—a period drama about train robbers—and ended in 1969 with Change of Habit—a wrongheaded social justice flick co-starring Mary Tyler Moore as an undercover nun. He sings for every movie, tunes ranging in quality from Fun in Acapulco’s rollicking “Bossanova Baby” to Girl Happy’s mollusk-inspired clunker “Do the Clam.” Most of his films were money-makers, but few were critically favored (Pauline Kael ranked them “from mediocre to putrid”).
But what do we miss when we count out the movies? A hunk-a-hunk of a lot. Elvis worked with Oscar-winning directors, former silent film stars, and child actors who grew up to be screen legends. He made Westerns, melodramas, and one decidedly trippy sex farce. And if you look closely, you can see Presley’s life story woven throughout these movie plots.
In this gonzo trip through Elvis’s filmography, award-winning writer and one-time (well, maybe two-time) Elvis impersonator Elena Passarello finds Presley’s persona, his motley impact, and his defining performance style. These 31 Elvis flicks become keys to understanding the postwar pop culture that fueled his celebrity, the fan obsessions that keep him “alive” today, and the conflicted feelings of folks who, like the author, were born after Presley’s reign but still feel the divisive pull of his legend.
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