D6

By Jeffrey Bento-Carrier

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Most of the Elvis flicks we loved in the 1950s and 1960s remain a big draw for current fans of the rock-and-roll movie genre.

Five decades ago, not too many people could turn themselves away from the turnstiles when The King made another appearance on the big screen.

In 2008, we're still fascinated with how bad, and how good, these movies were.

Elvis never made a movie we didn't like because he was Elvis. He would always get the girl, defeat the bad guy and win acclaim in less than 100 minutes.

Often times, he would be seen in exotic locations, with exotic women, doing exotic things with his exotic looks and exotic personality.

Whether he was a race car driver, or a doctor, or a helicopter pilot – he was the man of a million rock and roll sneers.

During Elvis' key Hollywood era, which peaked in the early 1960s, he would often be seen in at least three films per year.

Most times, these low budget attempts at advancing his acting career would keep to simple plots – as well as a soundtrack made up of at least 10 catchy tunes of two-and-a-half minutes to keep the loyal Elvis fans, who were ever-faithful, rockin'-and-rollin'.

Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was the main architect of his film career.

For obvious reasons, he held the purse strings on these releases – and it showed. To say the Colonel was frugal would be an understatement – on average, he would spend less than $3 million per film.

This would allow him to invest The King's money for a return of between $5 and $15 million at the box office from the flick and other film-related sales of merchandise, posters, and records – especially vinyl singles.

As the years went by, the fans – and Elvis – would get less and less for their money's worth.

The King's downturn on the big screen was finally realized in full in 1969. During an era which gave us Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider, he rode into the fray for the last time in the aptly-named urban drama Change of Habit.

He played a pro bono doctor who eventually falls in love with a nurse, an undercover nun (yes, you read that correctly) played by Mary Tyler Moore.

The best, and most telling, scene came at the end of the movie. Elvis is seen playing in a Catholic church, and singing a song about love and redemption, because he knows the person he loves has chosen, yet again, the real king over The King.

Elvis loved gospel like a fish loves water, and it shows in his final scene as a paid thespian.

Could Elvis have gone on to an award-winning drama career in the 1970s?

Yes, but we will never know – because 31 years ago, his hard living, and bad decision-making in the last 10 years of his career, eventually caught up with him, and he went to that big recording studio in the sky.

Granted, no one could play Elvis like Elvis.

Kurt Russell came close in a 1979 made-for-TV outing directed by John Carpenter (Halloween, Escape From New York).

But close is no gold lame suit, is it?

Jeffrey Bento-Carrier is the sports editor at the Bugle-Observer in Woodstock and a longtime movie buff.