Elvis Presley: The Movies - Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Bink, Aug 22, 2021.

  1. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident Thread Starter

    That's The Way It Is

    Year of release: 1970
    Studio: MGM
    Director: Denis Sanders

    Synopsis:
    Elvis is filmed as he prepares for his August 1970 residency at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. He is seen rehearsing with his band and then on stage during the concerts. Fans and various staff members involved in the concerts are also interviewed.

    Release History:
    There are of course 2 versions of this documentary. The synopsis above describes the original 1970 release. However in 2000 a new version subtitled 'Special Edition' was released. This version arguably improved upon the original in many ways by removing some of the annoying talking heads and fan convention section. However there are some performances in the original that I miss in the Special Edition. A comprehensive collection of all the existing footage is begging for a release.

    Trailer:

     
  2. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    The new version is arguably a better movie, but some of the best performances from the original movie is not included.
     
  3. I do enjoy the original cut a bit more, those interviews crack me up. I hate to say it but they’re not a completely inaccurate representation of Elvis fandom!
     
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  4. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Perhaps we should rank them from bad to worse! I just don't need to hear about how much their cat likes Elvis!

    But actually the fan convention is possibly the most dispensable section - that version of Tiger Man....
     
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  5. Hooperfan

    Hooperfan Your friendly neighborhood candy store owner

    Location:
    New York
    Right? All that awesome footage unused of Elvis, and they go with that?
     
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  6. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    TTWII is a great film in either version. Watching the progress of the arrangements from the rehearsals to the concert is fascinating. I've always assumed that Madonna got her idea for In Bed with Madonna from this.
     
  7. Jayson Wall

    Jayson Wall Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I like both cuts of TTWII, but 1970 is my go-to version just because it's the way it was originally shown....and I have a faded scope 16mm print that looks OK but damn, the optical track on this print is amazing! However, I don't have to deal with the Cat lady in the new cut, so....lol

    [​IMG]
     
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  8. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    That's The Way It Is and Elvis On Tour are the two I've watched more than any, and if the 1968 tv 'comeback' special counts, that three. The movies Love Me Tender and It Happened At The World's Fair mean the most to me, enough to have a copy, the rest I don't (but do have DVDs such as the Classic Albums entry, Return To Tupelo and Elvis '56).

    I probably should get the Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite DVD set as I do remember seeing it on tv (age five).
     
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  9. Dave112

    Dave112 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Carolina
    I guess that I'm a bit harsh on the Elvis movies where he played various roles. He definitely had the acting ability to do great things in cinema but never really fought to make that happen.

    That's The Way It Is has Elvis in his arena. No other performer that I can think of ever had a stage presence like Elvis (I doubt anyone else will for a very long time). Just like with the NBC television special in '68, we see some of his best performances of all time. He is in top shape and totally engaged in what he does best.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2021
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  10. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident Thread Starter

    What I have always wondered is who is GG (Gigi?) who Elvis talks about with one of the Sweet Inspirations during rehearsals. Elvis describes GG having to leave due to family matters.
     
  11. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Is this the first time an artist had put out a film like this? I know it's been done many times since.
     
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  12. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Depends exactly what your criteria is - Bob Dylan's Don't Look Back, released in 1967, was a film of him on tour, but it did not include rehearsal footage.
     
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  13. Hooperfan

    Hooperfan Your friendly neighborhood candy store owner

    Location:
    New York
    I believe he was a member of The Imperials
     
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  14. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    The more I think about it, no.
     
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  15. Pelvis Ressley

    Pelvis Ressley Down in the Jungle Room

    Location:
    Capac, Michigan
    Marvin "Gee Gee" Gambill. Patsy Presley's (Elvis's double first cousin) husband.
     
  16. Pelvis Ressley

    Pelvis Ressley Down in the Jungle Room

    Location:
    Capac, Michigan
    There was some back and forth about TTWII being released in stereo mag. Would you know anything about it?
     
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  17. And I love how Elvis had to clarify GG had a baby, an ‘infant’ baby - clarifying in case anyone thought Elvis meant a woman on the side.

    I took someone to see a special screening of TTWII in LA in Century City around 2004. She absolutely was not looking forward to it but humored me by going. She was completely riveted watching the movie and went and bought the DVD immediately afterwards. The screening was the redone version, perhaps a blessing in this instance as I’m not sure how the fan convention scene would have gone over.
     
  18. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thank you. Another mystery solved!!
     
  19. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident Thread Starter

    That's All Right (Rehearsal):

     
  20. Jayson Wall

    Jayson Wall Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Not 100% sure about TTWII but I did see Elvis On Tour in faded 4-Track Mag twice in the late 80’s in a theater/private screening in the OC—A projectionist I knew owned this print and I also looked at it on the bench, had fox-hole perfs, mag striping, but there was no Optical track as back-up. I found that to be odd on a title from 1972 (early 2.55 scope titles which would be normal). The fidelity on the print in Mag was stunning—however, there is no record that EOT was ever released or screened-in 4-track publicly. Did the print truly have a Stereo mix? Was it a temp stereo mix? I clearly do remember the audience would come from the surrounds, but was it just the mono mix locked in the center with just the audience sweetening in the surround channel? Was this some sort of test print? As I learned more about EOT over the last 35 years, this print became more of a mystery why it was produced and I have so many more questions…

    The projectionist had some in at MGM, having a bunch of fun stuff from the late ’60s to mid-70’s—promos, sizzle reels, trailer reels, features, oddball reels—everything I got to see was a nice shade of Metrocolor pink—also had a full 70mm print of GWTW. He ran a few reels of that, and boy, it sucked—lol—Anyhow, I lost contact with him in the early ’90s, and when I started digging around on EOT in the mid 2000’s I learned he died a few years before. Never got a clear story on what happened to his films, but from what I gathered it sounds like sold everything in the mid-’90s for medical expenses.


    Other fun stuff on Elvis films:

    There is a rumor on Girls, Girls, Girls that the first wave of Tech prints was made with extra songs in Reel 2, which were then physically cut out before going into general release.

    The International TV version of GI Blues has a different / longer cut of Tonight Is So Right For Love.

    All of Elvis MGM films from the '60s that were released in the UK were issued in dye-transfer Technicolor
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2021
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  21. PepiJean

    PepiJean Forum Resident

    :D:uhhuh:
     
  22. Pelvis Ressley

    Pelvis Ressley Down in the Jungle Room

    Location:
    Capac, Michigan
    Elvis On Tour is a bit of a mystery. I've never found any evidence of a theatrical stereo/4-track run. The first MGM VHS and LD issues in the early 80's were in stereo. Was this a vintage stereo mix, or was it remixed for home video?

    That's The Way It Is, I've read in a few places that it was 35mm 4-track mag. I've also found there was a 70mm 6-track blow-up screened in Denmark!

    [​IMG]
     
  23. Jayson Wall

    Jayson Wall Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Never heard about the 70mm blow-up on TTWII, but thanks for sharing the ad!!! WOW!

    That’s right!!!! I just found (and bought) a copy of the 1982 Silver Top P&S laserdisc this morning thanks to your posting, so I will give a listen to it when it arrives and see if I can tell if it's one of those Chace Audio upmixes studios did in the 80's.
     
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  24. Please keep us posted - I have that LD too but my player is in need of repair so I can’t check it myself.
     
  25. rudybeet

    rudybeet Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I was waaaaaay ahead of you with this question. I posted this thread 13 years ago!

    Elvis Trivia: Who is Gigi?
     
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