Elvis's 31 Feature Films: Which are watchable?

Tonight, I watched "Clambake". I enjoyed it. Hard to argue with a movie with Elvis, Bill Bixby and Shelly Fabreas (vavavavoom!)

I thought the soundtrack was very strong. Every song was enjoyable, and a few were excellent, like "The Girl I Never Loved". Even tho I have read that Elvis was "disinterested" in making the film, to me Elvis seemed very engaged. He held his own against Bixby and had great chemistry with Fabreas, and it was fun to see the Red West cameo!!

I also got a kick out of picking out the "process shots" of Elvis in the boat and the sports car. That was SOP for Elvis movies. Reviews of the movie arent great, but if youre an Elvis movie fan, its what you expect. And there is nothing at all wrong with that!

My only real complaint is that there could have been better "scenery" shots. They could have really done more shooting in Miami for the movie and should have used more beautiful color footage shot there, (ala Blue Hawaii) by it looks like they didnt.

I still give it a B+.

 

Yeah. These are all duds IMO.

 

Add "Change of Habit" to that list, as it also was released on blu ray here two months ago

 

I'm sorta surprised they haven't done a full box set (ala the "Carry On" one) as aren't they all from the same company?

Or are 'cheap box sets' not their thing?

 

Man, I'm still waiting for a Blue Hawaii Blu Ray.... I mean it's for sure in the top 5 Elvis movies and the scenery is beautiful.

 

Well, the current releases that are out there (speaking of the US, as many of his films are OOP around here) are by three different labels: MGM, Warner, Paramount. Originally, they were by the same company (I think, at least) but rights seem to have wandered around the last few decades. To have a set of his 31 feature films would require a cooperation between those three - which I imagine to be not exactly an easy job.

 

The only set that has multiple studios is the 75th anniversary box, which includes 4 MGM films and 3 Fox most first time on DVD. Loving You remains out of print and expensive for an official issue.

 

I thought THE TROUBLE WITH GIRLS(1969), despite the unfortunate title, was way above average for Elvis' later films. It looks like a real movie, rather than an extended filmed sitcom, and Elvis' singing is great. ROUSTABOUT isn't so bad either.

 

Most of the later ones were at least trying to be something other than Spinout 2 or Clambake 3, after that crap stopped selling.

The Chautauqua one, yeah. Marlyn Mason was a lot better actress than Elvis usually got. She was versatile, more of a character actress. I don't remember if her and Elvis ever did more than light bickering in the flick. Elvis is gone for portions of the movie as there are other plot elements.

 

Elvis' films were definitely not all for the same company. Most of them were Paramount or MGM, but he also did films for 20th Century Fox, United Artists, and even one picture for Allied Artists. He was all over the map.

 

I think any Elvis movie can be fun if you're in the right frame of mind. I'm a big fan of a lot of Elvis' movie songs because they were often some of the weirder, more offbeat things that he recorded. I think Jailhouse Rock is probably the best, I love the songs in Fun in Acapulco and Roustabout, Viva Las Vegas is memorable for the production numbers and for Ann-Margret's spastic but sexy performance.

 

King Creole was directed by the great Hungarian director Mkchael Curtiz, who is probably best known for Casablanca, but was a prolific director with many impressive movies to his credit. King Creole came late in his career, and originally, James Dean was lined up to play the starring role, but we know how that ended up. Reportedly, Curtiz demanded that Elvis lose weight and cut his hair for the role. Which actually worked out well for Elvis, because he was drafted into the Army shortly after the completion of the movie. Hahahaha

 

I agree with you- not cinematic masterpieces but fun and entertaining. Some nights I want thought provoking well written and produced movies, other nights I want simple fun.

 

Just watched Charro!

Elvis's acting was ok, the end of the movie felt like they ran out of ideas though, bit of a lame surrender by the baddie.

 

My dad was watching it years ago and he couldn't work out what Elvis was actually doing in the film. I've HDed it so I'll watch it tonight.

 

Elvis is a seriously good actor in these films, which make no concession to
his "image" or his status. He's required to act a dramatic role, and he does
that very well. He takes to the western Flaming Star like was born for it. It's
a rugged tragedy that ends badly for the family he's in. Also, it's violent with
some bloodletting and psychological depth. Loving You is a rockabilly
keepsake of a lost era - of clothes, cars, manners, customs - and a character
driven drama of considerable merit. It's also in glorious dye-transfer color.
I enjoy look at it. I agree with comments made about the other films on my
list. Viva Las Vegas is a frothy musical but at least it's a legit musical with
taste, style and class and a couple who look right and good together.

1957 Jailhouse Rock
1957 Loving You
1958 King Creole
1960 Flaming Star
1962 Follow That Dream
1964 Viva Las Vegas

The rest of his films are junk. Pretty, cute, and stupid.

 

IMO, almost none

 

What you consider watchable depends on your expectations. In my opinion, the Elvis' movies can be considered a genre of its own. If you take them for what they are, you can enjoy them. (Kurt Russell once said “I love Elvis movies because Elvis is in them.”)

My favourite Elvis movies are not usually counted among his best. These include Kid Galahad, It Happened At The World's Fair, or Change Of Habit. I even like Stay Away, Joe, which is considered by some to be the worst Elvis movie ever.

My favorite Elvis movie is Live A Little, Love A Little.

In general, I think that the MGM movies (e.g. Viva Las Vegas, Girl Happy, Spinout) are more fun than the Paramount productions, which often have exotic locations, but also a boring script (Girls! Girls! Girls!, Fun In Acapulco, Paradise, Hawaiian Style).

Finally, I would like to recommend film critic Sheila O'Malley's essays. She regularly covers Elvis in general, and his movies in particular.

My talk at the old Memphian Theatre: Elvis in Hollywood | The Sheila Variations

TCM Diary: Elvis, Actor

Moreover, there's a new podcast called "Jailhouse Talk - An Elvis Movies Podcast", hosted by two non Elvis fans "who love movies and want to learn more about The King". The episodes so far have been very good.

 

Here are Sheila O'Malley's thoughts on Live A Litte, Love A Little. I couldn't have said it better.

The best of the bunch is 1968’s Live a Little Love a Little, directed by Norman Taurog. There is no reason this film shouldn’t be on any list of good ’60s comedies. Its nearly forgotten status is baffling. Presley plays Greg Nolan, a busy photographer, who gets caught up unwillingly in the crazy-making web of Michele Carey’s ditzy Bernice. Bernice takes one look at Greg and decides: I must have him. The film owes a lot to Bringing Up Baby, even down to the fact that it’s an animal that brings them together, Bernice’s gigantic dog Albert. (There are other nods: Presley racing around her house in a bathrobe because she has hijacked his clothes, and Bernice pretending to be a pre-recorded voice on the phone when he calls her, just as Hepburn did in Bringing Up Baby.)

Live a Little is not strictly a musical. Along with the title song, it features only two numbers, a psychedelic dream-sequence song called “The Edge of Reality” and the ferocious “A Little Less Conversation,” sung at a gigantic party at what is obviously meant to be the Playboy mansion. Many of the songs in the formula pictures are terrible, and so far beneath him that it’s vicariously insulting to listen to them (although he commits to these songs fully, evidence of his professionalism). But the two songs in Live a Little give him a chance to do some real singing. “A Little Less Conversation,” in particular, allows Elvis to do what got him famous in the first place: be a sexual dynamo. (Many of the “formula pictures” are quite coy about sex. Elvis is not coy here, and it’s a thrill.)

What makes the film so much fun—and an anomaly in Elvis’ movie career—is the tension between what Elvis’ character wants to be doing (get his photography career on track), and the roadblocks tossed in his way by Bernice. In his other movies, the “Elvis” character always got what he wanted: the main “conflict” was “Which one of these totally available scantily clad women chasing me around do I want? Maybe I can have all of them?” Here, though, he doesn’t want any of it. Throughout, he is irritated, cranky, unshaven, and frantic to get away from this screwball in go-go boots who won’t leave him alone. It’s such an unexpected sweet spot for Elvis, and it’s one of his best performances.

Source: TCM Diary: Elvis, Actor

 

Flaming Star which is his best and a decent western too...Kid Gallahad...Jailhouse Rock.

 

Always loved Clambake. The way he and Tom Wilson meet up and become best friends in minutes, like they know it's just a movie and we're all gonna have some fun. Look closely during "Confidence" for a young Corbin Bernsen.

 

Loving You is one of my favorite Elvis movies, one I'm glad I bought on DVD when it was released! I think it was affiliated with NBC somehow? One of the extras has some kind of retrospective, but is mostly NBC network stars being interviewed.

 

NBC purchased the film outright from Paramount. Thats why its so hard to get now. Only released on DVD once. They made a huge deal about its color broadcast, and the interviews in the bonus material were salted around the commercial breaks.

 

I'm sentimental about Elvis movies - I watched them all as a kid with my aunt, who was a huge fan - but there's a few that stand out as something more than the usual "Elvis as the singing, swinging helicopter pilot" or "Elvis as the singing, swinging race car driver". Of those, Loving You is easily my favorite (Elvis singing "Teddy Bear" in gorgeous full color while banging on his acoustic guitar is just...magic. As are the two girls clapping each other's hands.) followed by Jailhouse Rock, where the King shows off some acting chops while working his way through his best complete movie soundtrack.

 

So you’ve seen them all?