Elvis Has Left the Building | |
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Directed by | Joel Zwick [1] |
Written by | Mitchell Ganem Adam-Michael Garber |
Produced by | Sharon Harel Tova Laiter Jane Barclay Susanne Bohnet Nava Levin Manfred D. Heid Gerd Koechlin Josef Lautenschlager Hannah Leader Andreas Thiesmeyer |
Starring | John Corbett Kim Basinger Annie Potts Sean Astin Mike Starr Phill Lewis Denise Richards Philip Charles MacKenzie Tom Hanks |
Cinematography | Paul Elliott |
Edited by | Heather Persons |
Music by | David Kitay |
Production companies | Capitol Films Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG |
Distributed by | Lions Gate Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $11.5 million |
Elvis Has Left the Building is a 2004 black comedy film directed by Joel Zwick and starring Kim Basinger as a cosmetics saleswoman who accidentally kills a series of Elvis impersonators as she travels to a convention in Las Vegas. [1] John Corbett plays an advertising executive and her love interest. Tom Hanks has a cameo appearance as one of the dead Elvis impersonators. Angie Dickinson plays Basinger's mother, a former mechanic for the real Elvis.
The film opens with Harmony (Basinger) driving down a long, winding road, the music of Elvis playing on the radio. She feels that her life is empty and artificial. She is a traveling cosmetic saleswoman, setting up "Pink Lady" training seminars in the western portion of the United States. When she is asked if she's "one of those Mary Kaye ladies," she replies, "No, we're pink, they're more salmon." While she is popular and successful selling "Pink Lady," there is nothing real or honest in her life.
As Harmony travels around the country, trying to figure out what is missing from her life, Elvis impersonators keep dying in her wake. She is romantically pursued by Miles (Corbett).
These songs appear in the film, listed alphabetically.
"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being given also to Presley. A newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window inspired the song. Axton presented the song to Presley in November 1955 at a country music convention in Nashville. Presley recorded it on January 10, 1956, in a session with his band, the Blue Moon Boys, the guitarist Chet Atkins and the pianist Floyd Cramer. "Heartbreak Hotel" comprises an eight-bar blues progression, with heavy reverberation throughout the track, to imitate the character of Presley's Sun recordings.
Priscilla Ann Presley is an American businesswoman and actress. She is the ex-wife of American singer Elvis Presley, as well as the cofounder and former chairperson of Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), the company that turned Graceland into one of the top tourist attractions in the United States. In her acting career, Presley costarred with Leslie Nielsen in the Naked Gun film trilogy and played Jenna Wade on the long-running television series Dallas.
An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and rock singer Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators, commonly known as Elvis tribute artists (ETAs), work all over the world as entertainers, and such tribute acts remain in great demand due to the iconic status of Elvis Presley. In addition, there were several radio stations that exclusively feature Elvis impersonator material. Some of these impersonators go to Graceland Memphis, Tennessee on the anniversary of Presley's death to pay tribute to the beloved artist.
A tribute act, tribute band, tribute group or tribute artist is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the songs and style of an artist, such as Elvis impersonators covering the works of Elvis Presley or groups like The Iron Maidens, an all-female band that pays tribute to Iron Maiden.
Moody Blue is the twenty-fourth and final studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on July 19, 1977, by RCA Records, about four weeks before his death. The album was a mixture of live and studio work and included the four tracks from Presley's final studio recording sessions in October 1976 and two tracks left over from the previous Graceland session in February 1976. "Moody Blue" was a previously published hit song recorded at the earlier Graceland session and held over for this album. Also recorded at the February session was "She Thinks I Still Care". "Way Down" became a hit after Presley's death less than one month after this album's release. The album was certified Gold and Platinum on September 12, 1977, and 2× Platinum on March 27, 1992, by the RIAA.
Walter Louis Garland, known professionally as Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and released a jazz album in 1960. His career was cut short when a car accident in 1961 left him unable to perform.
Elvis Presley has inspired artistic and cultural works since he entered the national consciousness. From that point, interest in his personal and public life has never stopped. Some scholars have studied many aspects of his profound cultural influence. Billboard historian Joel Whitburn declared Presley the "#1 act of the Rock era".
Elvis in Concert is the live album released by RCA Records in October 1977 in conjunction with the television special of the same name which featured some of the final performances of American singer and musician Elvis Presley. Videotaped and recorded in June 1977, both the special and album were broadcast and released on October 3, six weeks after Presley's death. The album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard chart in late 1977. It was certified Gold and Platinum on October 14 and 3× Platinum on August 1, 2002, by the RIAA.
Elvis is a 1979 American made-for-television biographical film aired on ABC. It was directed by John Carpenter and starred Kurt Russell as Elvis Presley. It marked the first collaboration between Carpenter and Russell.
Charles Franklin Hodge, better known as Charlie Hodge, was an American singer, vocal coach and musician who was a confidant and best friend of Elvis Presley, and lived at Graceland.
The Rockin' Berries are a beat group from Birmingham, England, who had several hit records in the UK in the 1960s. A version of the group, emphasising comedy routines as well as music, continues to perform to the present day.
Elvis Herselvis is the stage name of the American actor and singer Leigh Crow, whose rise to international exposure was performing as a female Elvis Presley impersonator. Crow still performs as Elvis Herselvis on occasion as well as sings, acts and performs regularly; including performing with the all female rockabilly band called The Mighty Slim Pickins.
Janis Darlene Martin was an American rockabilly and country music singer. She was one of the few women working in the male-dominated rock and roll music field during the 1950s and one of country music's early female innovators. Martin was nicknamed the Female Elvis for her dance moves on stage, similar to those of Elvis Presley.
Welcome Home Elvis is a 1960 television special on the ABC Television Network starring Frank Sinatra and featuring Elvis Presley in his first televised appearance following his military service in West Germany. The special, commonly known as Welcome Home Elvis, was officially titled It's Nice to Go Traveling, a reference to the Sinatra song "It's Nice to Go Trav'ling". This was Presley's first TV appearance in three years. This was also Frank Sinatra's fourth and final Timex sponsored outing for the 1959–60 television season.
Elvis the King is a box set comprising 18 singles of the recorded work of American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released in 2007 by RCA Records. The box set is available in both CD and 10" vinyl formats.
Elvis is an American drama series about the early life of Elvis Presley that aired on ABC from February 6 until May 19, 1990 before its cancellation due to the high cost of each episode. These ten episodes, along with three unaired episodes, were edited into a four-hour mini-series titled Elvis: The Early Years. The series starred Michael St. Gerard as Presley, Jesse Dabson, Blake Gibbons, Millie Perkins, and Billy "Green" Bush. Elvis voice-impersonator Ronnie McDowell provided the singing voice for St. Gerard on the series.
Pete Vallee, known professionally as Pete "Big Elvis" Vallee, is an Elvis impersonator. At one stage and possibly even now, he is the world's heaviest Elvis impersonator.
Dean Vegas is an Elvis tribute artist and politician. He has performed around the world as Elvis. He has been referred to as the top Elvis Presley impersonator in Australia.
The Super Bowl XXIII halftime show took place on January 22, 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida. It was entitled "BeBop Bamboozled in 3-D". It featured a 1950s theme, an Elvis impersonator, 3D effects, and a magic trick.