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After his celebrated Army 3hitch, however,
Elvis' pictures became more bland and standardized.
Blue Hawaii (1961), Viva Las Vegasand Roustabout (both
1964) were fun, but the formula soon wore thin, and
the scores produced fewer Presley hits. Col. Tom Parker,
who guided Presley's career, had no interest in the
quality of his movie vehicles; he just counted the money
and made sure Elvis kept working. Producers like Hal
Wallis and Sam Katzman had no incentive to make better
Presley movies when the potboilers they were turning
out kept turning a profit. By the time someone realized
it was important to give Elvis' screen career a shot
of adrenalin, audiences weren't interested, and mediocre
films like Charro! and Change of Habit (both 1969) couldn't
turn things around. The entertainer fared much better
in a pair of whitewashed cinéma verité-style performance
documentaries, Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970) and
Elvis on Tour (1972). Barbra Streisand approached Presley to play the Norman Maine role in her rock remake of A Star Is Born (1976), which could have changed the course of his career-and offered him his greatest challenge-but Colonel Tom nixed the idea. Presley died of a heart attack at his Tennessee mansion, Graceland; his death at the age of 42 was brought on, apparently, by years of dependence on amphetamine drugs. He has been portrayed in a number of films and TV movies, most notably John Carpenter's telefilm Elvis (1979), in which he was played by Kurt Russell, who as a child had appeared with Presley in It Happened at the World's Fair (1963). He has also been the subject of many documentaries, including the theatrically released hybrid film This Is Elvis (1981), which combined actual Presley footage with reenactments of incidents in his life. Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia: |
he King of Rock 'n' Roll scored big
in his initial screen outings, revealing early on a
genuine charisma; later he even learned to act. After
a creditable debut in a supporting role in Love Me Tender
(1956, renamed at the last minute to capitalize on that
hit song, which had been released just prior to the
movie), he went on to star in Loving You (1957) and
the film many consider his best, Jailhouse Rock (1957).
These films depicted a snarling Elvis, not the kind
of boy a girl would bring home to Mother. He seemed
to get better with each new film, and was given some
solid properties like King Creole (1958) and Flaming
Star (1960, in which he played a half-breed Indian).
