Acting careerPresley had been interested in acting since before his singing career had taken off. Fellow Humes High students recall that, despite Presley later declaring that he had no acting experience, he was often cast as the lead in the Shakespeare plays they studied in English class. Presley had admired actors such as James Dean and Marlon Brando, and reportedly studied their acting skills long before he himself ever set foot upon a movie set. In 1956, following the success of his first album and his sudden rise to fame, Presley auditioned for Paramount Pictures by lip-syncing "Blue Suede Shoes" and performing a scene as 'Bill Starbuck' in The Rainmaker. Despite being quietly confident that The Rainmaker would be his first film—even going as far as saying so in an interview —the role eventually went to Burt Lancaster.
After signing a seven-year contract with Paramount, which also allowed him to work with other studios, Presley made his big-screen debut with the musical western Love Me Tender (1956). Its commercial success led to the release of three more Presley film vehicles over the next twenty months. The singer would go on to star alongside several established or up-and-coming actors, including Walter Matthau, Carolyn Jones, Angela Lansbury, Charles Bronson, Barbara Stanwyck, Mary Tyler Moore—and even a very young Kurt Russell in his screen debut. Although Presley was praised by directors, like Michael Curtiz, as polite and hardworking (and as having an exceptional memory), "he was definitely not the most talented actor around." Others were more charitable: Howard Thompson of the New York Times began his review of King Creole (1958), "As the lad himself might say, cut my legs off and call me Shorty! Elvis Presley can act."
A couple of Presley's early films, Jailhouse Rock (1957) and King Creole, called for relatively serious performances. The erotic (at least one critic has argued homoerotic) dance sequence to the former's title song "is considered by many as his greatest performance ever captured on film." But the majority of Presley's movies were simplistic musical comedies made to "sell records and produce high revenues." For most of the 1960s, he committed to a "beefcake formula comedy mode". Exceptions to the formula were rare: "a few isolated, quirky efforts like Flaming Star, Change of Habit, and Charro".
Presley's movies were generally poorly received, with one critic dismissing them as a "pantheon of bad taste." The scripts of his movies "were all the same, the songs progressively worse." For Blue Hawaii (1961), "fourteen songs were cut in just three days." Julie Parrish, who appeared in Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966), says that Presley hated many of the songs chosen for his films; he "couldn't stop laughing while he was recording" one of them. Others noted that the songs seemed to be "written on order by men who never really understood Elvis or rock and roll." Sight and Sound wrote that in his movies "Elvis Presley, aggressively bisexual in appeal, knowingly erotic, [was] acting like a crucified houri and singing with a kind of machine-made surrealism." However, several reputable songwriters/partnerships contributed soundtrack songs, including Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Don Robertson, Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett, and Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott. Whatever the quality of the material, some observers have argued that Presley generally sang well in the studio, with commitment, and always played with distinguished musicians and backing singers. Despite this, it was a critical commonplace to observe that "no major star suffered through more bad movies than Elvis Presley." According to Priscilla Presley, in the late 1960s, Elvis himself would blame his "fading popularity on his humdrum movies".
Presley's movies were generally poorly received, with one critic dismissing them as a "pantheon of bad taste." The scripts of his movies "were all the same, the songs progressively worse." For Blue Hawaii (1961), "fourteen songs were cut in just three days." Julie Parrish, who appeared in Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966), says that Presley hated many of the songs chosen for his films; he "couldn't stop laughing while he was recording" one of them. Others noted that the songs seemed to be "written on order by men who never really understood Elvis or rock and roll." Sight and Sound wrote that in his movies "Elvis Presley, aggressively bisexual in appeal, knowingly erotic, [was] acting like a crucified houri and singing with a kind of machine-made surrealism." However, several reputable songwriters/partnerships contributed soundtrack songs, including Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Don Robertson, Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett, and Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott. Whatever the quality of the material, some observers have argued that Presley generally sang well in the studio, with commitment, and always played with distinguished musicians and backing singers. Despite this, it was a critical commonplace to observe that "no major star suffered through more bad movies than Elvis Presley." According to Priscilla Presley, in the late 1960s, Elvis himself would blame his "fading popularity on his humdrum movies".
Presley movies were nevertheless commercially successful, and he "became a film genre of his own." Hal Wallis would later remark, "An Elvis Presley picture is the only sure thing in Hollywood." Elvis on celluloid was the only chance for many of his fans around the world to see him, in the absence of live appearances (the only time he toured outside of the U.S. was in Canada in 1957). Some of his most popular songs came from such movies, like "Can't Help Falling in Love," "Return to Sender", and "Viva Las Vegas." His 1960s films and soundtracks grossed some $280 million.
Change of Habit (1969) was Presley's final nonconcert movie. His last two theatrical films were concert documentaries in the early 1970s, though Presley was still keen to consider dramatic movie roles. He was offered a costarring role in the 1976 remake of A Star is Born, and expressed interest, but the producers turned to Kris Kristoferson after Colonel Parker made extravagant demands for Presley's salary and billing.
Legacy
Presley transformed the world of popular music and paved the way for many artists, black or white, that followed in his footsteps. Not only did his emergence in the mid-fifties influence the changing musical styles of the time, it also had a huge effect on the popular culture. His music helped to break down racial barriers, especially within the USA, and his ability to appeal to both a black and white audience made him popular on many segregated radio stations.
Performers like Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, came to national prominence after Presley's mix of musical styles was accepted among White American teenagers. Little Richard commented, "He was an integrator, Elvis was a blessing. They wouldn't let black music through. He opened the door for black music." Al Green agreed, saying; "He broke the ice for all of us." It has also been argued that Presley's sound and persona helped to relax the rigid color line and thereby fed the fires of the civil rights movement.
Despite his inability to be taken seriously as an actor, his films throughout the fifties and sixties were always financially successful, and to this day are replayed on television all over the world. In the late 1960s, composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein remarked: "Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it's a whole new social revolution... the 60's comes from it."
Legacy
Presley transformed the world of popular music and paved the way for many artists, black or white, that followed in his footsteps. Not only did his emergence in the mid-fifties influence the changing musical styles of the time, it also had a huge effect on the popular culture. His music helped to break down racial barriers, especially within the USA, and his ability to appeal to both a black and white audience made him popular on many segregated radio stations.
Performers like Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, came to national prominence after Presley's mix of musical styles was accepted among White American teenagers. Little Richard commented, "He was an integrator, Elvis was a blessing. They wouldn't let black music through. He opened the door for black music." Al Green agreed, saying; "He broke the ice for all of us." It has also been argued that Presley's sound and persona helped to relax the rigid color line and thereby fed the fires of the civil rights movement.
Despite his inability to be taken seriously as an actor, his films throughout the fifties and sixties were always financially successful, and to this day are replayed on television all over the world. In the late 1960s, composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein remarked: "Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it's a whole new social revolution... the 60's comes from it."
Presley's informal jamming in front of a small audience in the '68 Comeback Special is regarded as a forerunner of the so-called 'Unplugged' concept, later popularized by MTV. His Las Vegas engagements are amongst the most famous and well known of any performer, and due to regular releases by RCA, younger audiences are discovering those performances today. The worldwide satellite concert, Aloha From Hawaii, is still the biggest single concert any solo entertainer has given to date.
For much of his career, Presley enjoyed the kind of worldwide fame that had never been seen before, and that has rarely been seen since. His name, image and voice are instantly recognisable on every continent and within most cultures, and has led to him being one of the most impersonated stars of all time. In music polls worldwide, he is constantly recognised as one of the most important musical artists of all time, and is considered by music historians to be one of the top selling artists of all time.
In 2002, it was observed:
For more of the king of rock & roll please visit his website full of information.
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