Elvis Presley was an American star of records, radio, stage and screen whose films won Golden Globe and Golden Laurel Awards . Starting out as a singer who revolutionised popular music, Elvis set his sights on Hollywood and publicly expressed an early career goal of following in the footsteps of his role models James Dean and Marlon Brando to become a top dramatic actor. [1] His manager Colonel Tom Parker's persistent lobbying of William Morris Agency president Abe Lastfogel for a Presley screen test paid off on March 26, 1956, when the singer auditioned at Paramount for a supporting role in The Rainmaker . [2] Although not chosen for the part, he signed a contract with Paramount producer Hal Wallis on April 25 that also allowed him to make films with other studios. [3]
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His feature debut was in Love Me Tender in 1956 for 20th Century Fox, which was the biggest acting debut of all time and a smash hit at the box office. [4] The film was named after the hit single from the film, which was number one on Billboard for Elvis. There was also a soundtrack EP which also went to number one on Billboard. Elvis dominated the box office and music charts and followed his acting debut with the same success in his next three films, Loving You , Jailhouse Rock, and in the acclaimed film noir drama King Creole.
Loving You was Elvis' first color film and it featured one of his most popular number one singles, Teddy Bear . This was the first film of its kind being autobiographical of a rock and roll singer. Elvis then starred in Jailhouse Rock and choreographed the standout musical sequence, which is considered the first ever music video. Dancer Gene Kelly watched in amazement when Elvis was shooting this scene. The song was another number one smash and so was the EP. King Creole was Elvis' favourite film and he was hailed as the next James Dean . [5] This was the last film Elvis made before he joined the army. It was another triumph.
Elvis returned to acting after leaving the army in 1960. He starred in the box office blockbuster G.I. Blues and the dramatic western Flaming Star . The popularity of his romantic musicals established a formula for the coming years, with Elvis films being credited as the start of the modern music video. [6] His dramatic abilities were praised for his role in Flaming Star which was originally for Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando, although Elvis got the leading role instead. [7] Praised for his work ethic, [8] this intense western has been compared to Shane . [9]
The 1961 film Blue Hawaii was another blockbuster, with massive box office success and the soundtrack album becoming an extraordinary success. This film also featured the hit song Can't Help Falling in Love . Blue Hawaii was the number one film at the box office and with the soundtrack album at number one for 20 weeks and a number one hit single, Elvis established himself as the biggest star in the history of film and music. [10]
Elvis experienced incredible success as both a singer and an actor in these years, doing what was and remains unheard of with hit films at the box office, hit singles, hit EPs, and hit albums all at the same time. [11] Elvis holds the unprecedented feat of starring in more top-ten films at the box office than any other actor between 1956 and 1970. Elvis was also number one with 8 albums, 5 EPs and 18 singles, and his albums, EPs and singles were a fixture in the top-ten whilst his movies were taking over the box office [12] [13] A feat unmatched then and now [14]
Elvis was able to mix musical films like Girls! Girls! Girls! with action films, like Kid Galahad . Although Elvis hated Charles Bronson, [15] the tough guy actor who was 5th billed in this modern boxing film and a template for Rocky . [16] Bronson was one of the ten most famous actors to ever have the pleasure of working with Elvis. [17] Girls! Girls! Girls! was the second film in Elvis' Hawaii Trilogy and it featured the smash hit single Return to Sender .
Elvis was also praised for his bad boy role in the 1961 drama Wild in the Country , where he has been compared to James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause . [18] Elvis also starred in the high-flying action musical, Fun in Acapulco , which was a smash hit in 1963 and was important in popularising the Latin sounds of South America in new ways. [19] Seen as a classic of the genre [20] this film also helped make Ursula Andress a major star alongside the James Bond adventure Dr. No . Andress had a major crush on Elvis. [21] as his leading ladies always did.
Unfortunately, many of the big stars of the sixties were jealous of Elvis and this is one of the reasons why he stopped working with other leading actors, such as Steve McQueen. [22] Even The Beatles wanted to appear in an Elvis film, but this wasn't considered a good idea. [23] Especially after Elvis showed in the 1964 musical classic Viva Las Vegas that he was a bigger box office attraction than The Beatles were in A Hard Day's Night . This was the highest grossing Elvis film at the box office [24] although there was no soundtrack album this time. But Elvis did have a great co-star here with Ann-Margret, who dated Elvis during the film. [25] This film has endured among the most popular movies of 1964. [26]
The 1964 hit film Roustabout was a favourite of Quentin Tarantino and proved that Elvis was still able to compete with new artists of the day when the soundtrack album from this film went to number one on the Billboard 200 during Beatlemania. [27] [28] Elvis excelled in this musical drama with strong action scenes and he held his own next to the likes of Barbara Stanwyck in his role as a tough biker. Roustabout foreshadowed future biker films in the later sixties, such as Easy Rider .
Elvis' 1965 film Tickle Me , which was a favourite of his, saved the film studio Allied Artists from bankruptcy [29] due to how much money it made with Elvis as the star. Tickle Me was the third highest-grossing film in the studio's history. [30] Allied Artists then went on to win numerous Academy Awards, although Elvis was never credited or thanked. Elvis was also generous enough to reduce his million-dollar salary to just $750,000 to help the studio. [31] There is a belief that Elvis should be awarded a special honorary Oscar for his contribution to cinema. [32] [33]
Over time, Presley became bitter that his hopes for dramatic roles were not coming to fruition, [34] and after missing roles in West Side Story , Thunder Road , The Defiant Ones , and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof . [35] But he was the first artist to bring Middle Eastern sounds to western audiences in Harum Scarum and Elvis then ended his Hawaii trilogy with the 1966 classic Paradise, Hawaiian Style .
Elvis celebrated ten years of movie stardom with the 1966 film Spinout , which was a major success for MGM as there was much hype surrounding his decade in Hollywood. The soundtrack album was another successful release and it featured a new modern sound for Elvis. [36] Elvis also starred in the traditional musical Frankie and Johnny in 1966, which was Broadway inspired and showed Elvis also had an ability for this type of musical. His outfit in the film inspired the Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band costumes worn by The Beatles. [37] For Elvis fans, the movie is much more lighthearted than the song it is based on, complete with a happy ending. In the film version, Johnny is a down-on-his-luck gambler who is told by a fortune-teller that a red-head will be his good luck charm. His girlfriend Frankie is not happy when Johnny starts to woo the red-headed Nellie Bly. Elvis also faces false accusations about him in this film with an important blues number.
Elvis stated that Clambake was his worst film and began to complain about the deteriorating quality of the films and his belief that his manager's objectives were more monetary than anything else. [38] This resulted in a change to his acting career and a stop to the formula films in 1968, after which Presley starred in the comedy western Stay Away, Joe , the popular screwball comedy Live a Little, Love a Little , the Spaghetti Western inspired Charro! and hip modern drama Change of Habit . [39] The 1968 film Speedway has been cited as an influence on the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction . It was the first film to feature NASCAR and Elvis worked with professional racing drivers. This was Elvis' 27th film and it also featured Nancy Sinatra as his love interest [40] Speedway was another box office hit for Elvis making $3,000,000. This was the biggest film starring any member of the Sinatra family at that time and it influenced the Tom Cruise NASCAR film Days of Thunder .
Stay Away, Joe was a film made with much talent involved [41] and Elvis had big hopes for this hilarious and exciting film, which was influenced by Paul Newman in Hud and is remembered for its great use of the locations in Sedona, Arizona and being a forerunner to films like Blazing Saddles . [41] Live a Little, Love a Little is fondly remembered today for its modern sensitivity and the exciting use of female models and cameos from Elvis' father Vernon Presley and singer Rudy Vallee, the biggest star of the thirties and forties. Elvis also did his own stunts in this film, including driving a dune buggy and a fight inside a newspaper office that influences a similar scene in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies . [42] This film also featured one of Elvis' most popular songs A Little Less Conversation .
Elvis also starred in the film The Trouble with Girls (and How to Get into It) which he filmed at the same time as Elvis: The 1968 Comeback Special. Elvis was always considered to be a class act by his supporting actors [43] and this film is considered to be among his top ten best. [44] This film was released when Elvis was redefining his career.
Charro! has been called the most convincing acting role of Elvis' career [45] and Change of Habit was a major success that Elvis' manager decided against being considered for Academy Awards, famously saying, "don't go buying no tuxedos." [46] [47] Change of Habit is also considered the best final film of any singer turner actor. [48] When this film was released Elvis was back on stage in Las Vegas and showing that he was still able to carry on with a career on stage, on record, and in films all at the same time.
At the expiration of all studio contracts, he returned to live entertaining full-time and soon became the biggest star in Las Vegas history and on tour in America. [49] The two concert documentaries Elvis: That's the Way It Is in 1970 and Elvis on Tour in 1972 were the final theatrical releases for Presley. He was paid his usual million dollar salary for these films and was at his creative peak [50] [51] Both were among the most successful concert documentaries of their day, with Elvis on Tour winning prestige with a Golden Globe award and starting off the career of Martin Scorsese. Whilst Tom Parker opted against Elvis: That's the Way It Is being submitted for Oscars due to the academy's bias against Elvis and because they would try to use his name for ratings and prestige. [52]
Presley was the highest paid actor in Hollywood but said that he did not need money to be successful [53] and that no amount of money was necessary for him to take a good role. His films grossed $284 million [54] and Elvis was paid 50% of those profits, [55] making him the richest actor in Hollywood history. [56] Adjusted for inflation, Elvis films made $2.2 billion. [57] He was also paid $250,000 royalties from each of his 17 soundtrack albums from the movies, giving Elvis $4.2 million. Adjusted for inflation this amounts to $44.3 million from soundtrack album royalties on top of his usual salaries and bonuses. Elvis was in the Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll for seven years, making $1 million per film. [58] [59] Elvis made $5 million in 1965, which is over $50 million when adjusted for inflation.
Of the many roles Elvis turned down, these included the John Wayne western True Grit. Elvis was asked to play the role that Glen Campbell played, but top billing with John Wayne was contested. [60]
Elvis also wanted to do a screentest for The Godfather and missed out on the leading role in Midnight Cowboy , which was turned down by his manager without Elvis knowing. Elvis was also considered for the leading role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory but was busy performing in Las Vegas. [35]
It was expected for Presley to be paid his usual million-dollar salary to star in A Star Is Born . Although interested in the role, Presley was ultimately not hired as Parker believed Presley would not receive top billing, and attempted to negotiate a higher salary and percentage of the film's gross profits. [61] Elvis regretted not making the film because he knew how good he would have been. But he also knew that this was a vanity project for Streisand and that she would have wanted to look better than Elvis, even though he was the better actor and bigger star. This is considered to be the biggest missed opportunity in cinema history. [62] [63] [64] Elvis did decide to produce, write and star a karate film called The New Gladiators , which was a true passion project for the actor and 8th degree black belt, although this remained unfinished at the time of his death and lost out on its classic status. [65] [66]
Over the years and with a reassessment of his acting career, roles in films like Charro! , Wild in the Country , Change of Habit , and Live a Little, Love a Little have led to Presley receiving high praise as an actor. [67] [68] Many consider him to have been the best and most successful singer-actor in Hollywood history. [69] Elvis also holds the unique distinction of every single one of his films making money at the box office. [70]
In his remarkable career, Elvis activated film and TV spaces like never before, and because of Elvis Presley, there's a there's a direct thread from Love Me Tender and Jailhouse Rock to the Beatles A Hard Day's Night to Prince's Purple Rain and more. [6] Presley's onscreen innovation also extends beyond cinema: 1973's Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite was revolutionary in that it was the first live satellite broadcast to feature a single performer.
Elvis' films have also been very popular on television over the years, with major ratings for his films in the sixties, seventies and eighties. Elvis was also paid large sums of money for his films to be shown on television, such was the demand to see his movies. Many networks and film festivals have decided themselves to showing Elvis films. [71] [72]
Over the course of Elvis' life, he achieved some of the highest accolades in music and film. [73] Although it's well known that the film academy was against Elvis, which is why he was never awarded an Oscar, but this has been reassessed and the success Elvis had in Hollywood remains the benchmark for every singer-turned-actor. [74] [75] [76] [77] Nobody in the history of entertainment has had a multimedia career like Elvis Aaron Presley.
