Early in his career, Elvis Presley realised that if he wanted to promote all his records, he would have to stop doing exhausting concert tours.
So, not having the incredible television networking facilities of later decades, he took a chance and threw himself wholeheartedly into the lap of the Hollywood Dream Machine – the movies.
In 1956, 20th Century Fox signed Elvis up for a cheap black-and-white CinemaScope western called The Reno Brothers. The effect was shattering . . .
That one lucky stroke of casting would ensure their production costs would be recouped within the first three days of opening.
The movie’s title was changed to its ballad, Love Me Tender,and Elvis proved a natural screen presence, effortlessly dominating the film despite being third-billed behind stars Richard Egan and Debra Paget.
When the movie opened in New York, the city’s truancy officers had to be called out because 3,000 kids, mostly girls, had lined up outside the cinema before eight o’clock in the morning.
During the last days of the Civil War, a bunch of Confederate soldiers hijack a Union payroll. The pursuit that follows is destined to set brother against brother and tear a loving family apart.
The young Texan farmer Clint (Elvis) learns that his older brother Vance (Richard Egan) has been killed. Unaware that Vance is actually still alive, Clint marries his brother’s great love, Cathy (Debra Paget). A fatal mistake that turns the brothers into bitter rivals.
There’s a marvellous mid-section where the whole plot stops to give audiences a taste of the singing sensation in his prime, as Elvis performs Let Me and Poor Boy with that wonderful self-mocking air that distinguished his early performances. He knows he’s good, and here the talent is still fresh and raw.
Elvis was a natural talent – certainly not one destined to win Oscars – but with his method-acting style, he delivered a convincing performance in Love Me Tender, although the press of the time still attacked the film and his performance. The reviews were almost universally nasty and spiteful
The film’s producers made one mistake, though. They killed off Elvis at the end. There was such an outcry that they had to reshoot the ending, with Elvis singing his way to heaven (as a ghost superimposed over a tombstone).
Recognising a gift horse when they saw one, the studio produced Loving You(1957), Jailhouse Rock(1957) and King Creole(1958)in rapid succession. But Elvis’s film career stopped abruptly in 1958 when he was drafted into the army.
Vance
Richard Egan Cathy
Debra Paget Clint
Elvis Presley Siringo
Robert Middleton Brett Reno
William Campbell Mike Gavin
Neville Brand Mother
Mildred Dunnock
