Elvis

As Baz Luhrmann's biopic "Elvis" opens in theaters, here are the top 10 movies starring Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

But Elvis was never better as an actor than he was in “King Creole.” And he never made a better movie. Here, Elvis plays Chad Gates, an ex-G.I. who, upon returning home to Hawaii, rejects a job with his father’s fruit company in order to hang with his beach buddies, surf and swim, and work as a tour guide in partnership with his curvy sweetie (Joan Blackman). It’s one of Elvis’ most ingratiating performances, in one of his most undemandingly pleasant movies — with (except for the title song and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”) some of his most forgettable songs. (Elvis’ first song actually is an ode to crawfish.) The superior supporting cast includes Dean Jagger, Vic Morrow, Carolyn Jones (in one of her all-time best performances), Paul Stewart and Dolores Hart, and the songs include “Trouble,” “Hard Headed Woman” and the rockin’ good title tune. If you looked up the term “guilty pleasure” in the “Illustrated Dictionary of Cinema,” you’d likely see a photo of Elvis and Ann-Margret shaking their groove things and generating high-potency chemistry in director George Sidney’s well-nigh irresistible extravaganza. After beating a man to death with his bare hands in a barroom brawl (which, to be fair, he didn’t start), construction worker Vincent Everett (Presley) spends a year behind bars as the cellmate of a washed-up country singer (Mickey Shaughnessy) who teaches him how to play a guitar and carry a tune. But take a second look: In sharp contrast to the formulaic fluff frequently concocted for The King throughout the ‘60s, “Jailhouse Rock” actually attempts to package Presley as a semi-sensitive anti-hero with pronounced tendencies toward badassery. The King already had seven features to his credit by the time he made “Blue Hawaii,” but this frothy musical comedy more or less set the mold for what most folks now think of as “an Elvis movie” – lightweight fun and frolic, often in an exotic locale, involving a lovable hunk who sings and sways his way through minimally daunting challenges while encountering only temporary impediments to happily-ever-aftering with a young lovely. “However, I think one of the reasons the picture did not get the recognition I feel it deserves, especially in terms of its presentation of a racial conflict, is that the public was unable to get beyond the fact that Elvis Presley was in it.” He’s torn between a good girl (Millie Perkins) and a not-so-good one (Tuesday Weld), but winds up falling hard for the (slightly) older psychologist (Hope Lange) who wants him to be all he can be. Elvis is a co-star, not the lead, in his first big-screen outing, a creaky but compelling post-Civil War drama about a Confederate soldier (Richard Egan) who returns home to find his sweetheart (Debra Paget) married his younger brother (Elvis) after receiving greatly exaggerated reports of his death. While Young feasts on the scenery with relentless relish, Elvis goes the distance with easygoing aplomb — even during credibility-straining scenes where his character takes a licking but keeps on ticking in the ring — and Charles Bronson lends strong support as a seen-it-all trainer who suffers greatly for his loyalty to the young fighter. To cushion the blow for The King’s many fans — who, of course, helped turn the film into a box-office smash — the filmmakers superimposed an image of Elvis crooning the title song over the final graveside scene.

Beyond his concert specials—and Baz Luhrmann's Elvis—The King's narrative film career deserves a second look.

“Jailhouse Rock has that great production number,” Doll said, “but in King Creole, it’s just a man on a stage, and he has everybody in the palm of his hand.” As singing delinquent Danny Fisher, Elvis was in the best of hands with Michael Curtiz, who directed Bogie in Casablanca, Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy, and Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood. He was also ably backed up by his strongest supporting cast, including Walter Matthau as a ruthless mob boss who insists that Danny sing at his nightclub, Carolyn Jones as Matthau’s good bad girl, and Vic Morrow as a Matthau henchman who tries to lead Danny down a darker, more violent path. It’s a “demanding” role in a film with something for everybody, Variety said at the time: “Indians-on-the-warpath for the youngsters, Elvis Presley for the teenagers and socio-psychological ramifications for adults who prefer a mild dose of sage in their sagebrushers.” Plus, there are decent songs, including the ballad “ Puppet on a String” and the unlikely dance sensation “ Do the Clam,” which was invented by choreographer David Winters. (He also created the Slide for Viva Las Vegas.) The title tune is a keeper (Bruce Springsteen has performed it in concert), but the film’s few songs take a back seat to the story. By the late 1960s, as he got his singing and concert career back on track, The King was “chomping at the bit to get back on the stage,” Doll notes. Blue Hawaii had 14, the best of which is “ Can’t Help Falling in Love.” But in the films he made prior to Blue Hawaii, which set the template for the rest of his screen career, Elvis took his film career seriously. The title tune is great, and “ Big Boots” is a lovely lullaby. With only three songs, it’s not your typical Elvis fare, but with a script credited to Clifford Odets, this was probably the type of prestige film that Presley envisioned for himself when he pursued an acting career. It was also his last attempt at a straight dramatic role following the box office success of G.I. Blues. Here, Presley is not an aspiring singer, but a troubled kid whose social worker (Hope Lange) inspires him to develop his writing talent. His best films show his potential: the raw energy, the presence, the commitment to embody a character that was distinctly not himself.

The Baz Luhrmann Elvis biopic is in cinemas now, and film critics have given the movie a mixed reaction; Many have praised lead actor Austin Butler an ...

Less knowing viewers, however, may well be sucked in by Luhrmann's lively telling of the tale.' She concludes of his performance: 'Worse yet, Hanks plays the part as cartoonishly villainous, always lurking, lying, and leering. Lurhman obviously put his heart and hormones into making Elvis, but relax, Baz!' A star is born right here.' but lead Austin Butler is hailed as an 'electrifying new star' - The Baz Luhrmann Elvis biopic is in cinemas now, and film critics have given the movie a mixed reaction

Get all of the latest Film news from NationalWorld. Providing fresh perspective online for news across the UK.

“He’s a pretty unreliable storyteller,” he says of the character. Butler’s portrayal of her late father, which she continued to admire, had "channelled and embodied my father’s heart and soul beautifully... Butler says he spent every day listening to Presley’s music, live concerts, and interviews. “The story, as we all know, does not have a happy ending. Elvis’s ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, shared her thoughts on the film in a Facebook post, saying: “ Tom Hanks was Col Parker in this film. rather than just telling a story.

If you've seen Baz Luhrmann's 'Elvis' and are hungry for more, here's all the albums, films, books and more to keep the conversation going.

A TV movie of the book emerged in 1988. Simply for the music. “You can feel him breathe.” “Elvis steps from the page,” Bob Dylan said of the books. Across two episodes, they tackle the biggest Presley myths. The Events

As hardcore fans, Greg and Angela Robinson didn't mind Elvis singing Suspicious Minds as they wed. Greg says: “It just made us laugh and still makes us ...

So let them continue to give couples the day of their lives.” Greg’s wedding vows included the lines: “Honey, I promise always to love you tender. none of them seemed to be disrespectful to the King’s memory.

The movie is elevated even higher by Oscar-winning co-star Tom Hanks and the stunning visual style of acclaimed writer/director Baz Luhrmann ("Romeo + Juliet, " ...

The colonel is an equal character in this film, and Hanks demonstrates Parker's immense skills as a promoter to full-effect, especially in a scene at a country fair where he does a sort of dance with his potential new client– first in a disorienting hall-of-mirrors attraction, and then on a Ferris wheel. Priscilla Presley (played well by Olivia DeJonge of "The Visit") does figure in the story, but just like many other parts of Elvis' life, that could have been its own movie. It also provides a closer examination of the manager who manipulated the entertainer for more than two decades. The film begins with a big visual splash – Presley's famous "TCB" ("Taking Care of Business") logo, which blends into the Warner Bros. shield. The movie is elevated even higher by Oscar-winning co-star Tom Hanks and the stunning visual style of acclaimed writer/director Baz Luhrmann ("Romeo + Juliet, "The Great Gatsby"). Numerous actors have tried playing the King in big and small-screen productions: Don Johnson in "Elvis and the Beauty Queen" from 1981, Michael Shannon in 2016's "Elvis and Nixon," and David Keith in the 1988 effort, "Heartbreak Hotel," just to name a few.

Whether you want to marvel at the King or some sci-fi-infused Black art, our critics have you covered for the next seven days.

Host Mitra Kaboli follows the complicated lives of seven locals in summer 2021. Lenny Henry’s two-part series celebrating the contributions of Caribbean culture to the UK is a joy. Thematically, Spektor still tackles the big topics, with recent single Becoming All Alone featuring a conversation with God. MC After disbanding in 2012, they reunited three years later for various tours and festival appearances, before a trickle of one-off singles arrived in 2019. It’s a mix of classic Japanese adventure and town-building sim, and its nostalgic aesthetic is earning rave reviews. The ambitious, confounding and occasionally controversial sci-fi series – which began by following androids working in a wild west theme park and later migrated to a world controlled by a powerful AI – returns for a fourth series. It’s been 40 years since charismatic barman and DJ Terry Higgins became the one of the first Britons to die of an Aids-related illness. This exhibition shows them as a series, inspired by the Bayeux tapestry, on tour from the Orangerie, Paris. Jonathan Jones This blockbuster survey of that epic tale also includes contemporary art commissions by Aimée Cornwell, Tihoti Faara Barff and Matt Houston. Will Todd’s new opera interweaves six narrative strands, all focused on migration, in both the natural and the human worlds. Expect a fair amount of the 80s classics, and hopefully not a lot from 2008’s bloated Chinese Democracy. Michael Cragg Ahead of his debut solo album, Hideous Bastard, the xx’s velvet-voiced crooner plays a one-off London show.

Elvis' longtime manager Col. Parker plays an oversized role, but that's not this film's only problem. There may be a great movie hiding in Elvis, ...

You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic.

Trinkets, artwork, and collector's items that hardcore fans of the King of Rock 'n' Roll Elvis Presley won't help but fall in love with.

From special edition collector's items to coffee table books and artwork, here are 13 gifts every Elvis fan won't help but fall in love with. He used it regularly during his performances, including the 1973 satellite-televised Aloha From Hawaii concert. Name a rock and roll artist more legendary than Elvis Presley—go on, we'll wait.

Warner Bros' Elvis is the headline act in 742 cinemas across the UK and Ireland this weekend – the latest post-pandemic title to break the 700-location ...

Downton Abbey: A New Era recorded the second-widest opening of all time with 746 sites, but took a comparatively slim £3.1m – down 40% on the opening of the first film. He appears indirectly in Robert Zemeckis’ 1994 Forrest Gump, and was the subject of 2017 documentary The King by Eugene Jarecki. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore did better with £5.9m from 714 sites, but was still significantly down on the £15.3m and £12.3m openings of the first two titles in the series. The cast includes Ethan Hawke as a character named The Grabber. Fox (since bought by Disney) scored a hit with Queen story Bohemian Rhapsody, which opened to £9.5m in 2018 on its way to a £55.4m cume. It usurps Top Gun: Maverick’s 737 screens from May as the fifth-widest opening of all time in the territory. The film, about a young girl who stows away on a ship that hunts sea monsters, had its world premiere at Annecy International Animation Festival last week. Paramount’s Elton John biopic Rocketman also performed well, starting with £5.3m in 2019 on its way to £23.5m. It is directed by Scott Derrickson for Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions. Horror habitué Derrickson previously collaborated with Blumhouse on the Sinister franhise, directing the first film (opened: £1.4m; closed: £6.6m) and writing and producing the second (£1.1m; £3.4m); as well as directing Marvel’s Doctor Strange (opened: £9.3m; closed: £23.2m). It was up to £57.4m as of last weekend – the latest signifier of a successful post-pandemic box office recovery for blockbusters. Belfast started with £2.2m from 705 sites, but is considered a better result since the feature is a non-franchise title and not based on pre-existing characters. Warner Bros’ Elvis is the headline act in 742 cinemas across the UK and Ireland this weekend – the latest post-pandemic title to break the 700-location barrier.

Designer Catherine Martin shares how Graceland was recreated in Queensland, Australia for Baz Lurhmann's new biopic "Elvis."

“It was really important to have a touchstone for the audience where they felt familiar with the interior,” Martin explains. “There was just something quintessentially Elvis about it, even though it was a fictionalized interior,” Martin says. The interior also jumps to how we see Graceland today—with a more neutral palette, pops of color, metallic accents, and stained glass with peacock motifs. “There's actually a bit of that blue paint extant in the closet, so we were able to take paint chips and match the color.” “We were lucky enough to be taken around [Graceland] by the head archivist, Angie, and she took us into the hall closet,” Martin says. Shooting the film completely in Queensland, Australia, called for meticulous recreations, especially when building Graceland. The production team did a huge analysis by visiting the real Memphis estate multiple times, accessing original plans through the Graceland archives, and pouring over photographs for hours on end.

SATURDAY AM UPDATE: In an amazing feat for an adult-skewing, 2 hour and 39 minute running movie at the box office, Warner Bros' Baz Luhrmann directed Elvis ...

Also beating expectations this weekend is Universal/Blumhouse’s horror movie The Black Phone, with a $23.2M take after a $10.2M Friday (which included $3M previews) in 4th place. 10.) The Bad Guys (Uni) 1,033 (-461) theaters, Fri $130K (-56%), 3-day $440K (-56%), Total $95.4M /Wk 10 The romantic comedy directed by Raj Mehta, follows an estranged couple, Kuku and Naina, who come to India from Canada, looking to tell their family about their impending divorce after their huge wedding. Disney’s second weekend of Lightyear stands between $17M-$19M, in 5th place. 9.) Bob’s Burgers (20th/Dis) 590 (-760) theaters, Fri $156K (-55%), 3-day $511K (-56%), Total $31M/Wk 5 Elvis pulled in a crowd that was close to 80% over 25, 61% over 35 and close to half over 45. Both those over 50 (43%) and the 35+ crowd (60%) on CinemaScore gave Elvis a solid A. Diversity demos were 62% Caucasian, 20% Latino and Hispanic, 7% Black, and 11% Asian/other. Elvis triumphed in the South, where the movie notched five out of its ten runs. It’s always been said that it was the older demo tentpoles such as Top Gun 2 and No Time to Die that would pave the way for adults to come back, and to keep coming back, especially for a movie like Elvis. While critics have waned to 79% certified fresh on Elvis, audience exits are great enough with an A- CinemaScore (higher than Luhrmann’s last big feature, 2013’s Great Gatsby which did a B) and a great 89% positive and 72% definite recommend in PostTrak exits. That Tom Cruise movie isn’t far behind with a fifth weekend of $30M, -33%. Some believe that Paramount could have final bragging rights for No. 1. Reason being, he is untouchable, no one can come close to representing him. Women and older adults have been the hard demos to pull out during the pandemic, and it’s clear in the wake of elder demo movies, such as Top Gun: Maverick cracking past the half billion point this weekend with $521.2M, everyone is feeling a lot of more comfortable about moviegoing.

Warner Bros.' "Elvis" from Baz Luhrmann is tracking to open to $30 million, while Universal's "The Black Phone" is at $23.25 million.

Some analysts project “Lightyear” will gross $18 million over the weekend. Disney’s “Lightyear” will round out the top five. “Maverick” will push its domestic gross past $520 million through Sunday as the film sets its sights on surpassing a $1 billion worldwide gross in the coming days. “Jurassic World Dominion” looks to take bronze on domestic charts. “Top Gun: Maverick” refuses to back down from domestic charts. Those are two strong signs for “Elvis,” which will need to show some staying power in order to recoup its production budget of $85 million from domestic theaters.

Baz Luhrmann's 'Elvis' is opening bigger than expected at the box office to find itself in a close race with 'Top Gun: Maverick' for No. 1.

One bummer is Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear, which is falling steeply in its second outing after opening to a subdued $51 million a week ago. The dino pic is looking at a third-place finish with a projected $26.2 million. Directed by Scott Derrickson, The Black Phone boasts an 87 percent critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and earned a B+ from audiences. Naturally, Luhrmann’s frenetic Elvis Presley biopic performed best in the South. Audiences bestowed it with an A- CinemaScore, compared to a 79 percent critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. Also, the marquee is the most crowded it has been since COVID-19 struck between holdovers such as Top Gun 2, Jurassic World Dominion, Lightyear and new horror entry The Black Phone. (Last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home earned $804.7 million in North America.)

Elvis is set to go up against Top Gun: Maverick for the number one spot this weekend, with both films headed towards an estimated $30 million finish.

Derrickson pivoted to the well-reviewed original picture after dropping out as the director of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. He was replaced on the Marvel film by Sam Raimi. Incidentally, Doctor Strange 2 is looking at the number six finish this weekend, with $1.76 million. The film also debuted on the Disney+ streaming service earlier this week and has so far grossed over $409 million domestically. The film could potentially be looking at the biggest non-franchise domestic opening weekend of the pandemic era, if it finishes higher than Paramount’s The Lost City, which made $30.4 million in its first three days earlier this year. Many, however, are expecting Maverick to pull off yet another miraculous feat and finish at number one, although Paramount is still projecting a $30 million fifth weekend for the picture. This will take the film’s running domestic total to over $302 million. By comparison, Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci made $14.4 million in its opening weekend, while Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story did $10.5 million.

The two time Oscar winner also compared his role as Col. Tom Parker to Pontius Pilate.

And I don’t think it had been done the most righteous justice in order to capture why Elvis was this bend in the river of American culture.” “Why include the Colonel in all of this?” he said. “And it doesn’t really matter who plays Pontius Pilate because if you have a good Jesus, you got it.” Baz Luhrmann’s “ Elvis” is sure to be one of the more polarizing music biopics ever, with its flashy trailers generating plenty of discourse in recent months. “Because I don’t know what Colonel Tom Parker looks like. In a new interview with EW, Hanks opened up about the research he did about the shadowy power broker and what ultimately convinced him to make the movie.

The 14-karat gold-filled Lord Elgin watch, which the star also wore to sign his first contract, sold at the auction in Devizes, Wiltshire. A replica of it ...

Mr Aldridge said the collection of items were "a classic cross collectable and appealed to fans of Elvis and watch connoisseurs as well". Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the amount reached "reflects the importance and enduring appeal of Elvis Presley". Other Elvis items in the sale included a spiritual book for £15,000 and a pair of white boots which sold for £18,000.

Austin Butler plays musical legend Elvis Presley in the musical biopic 'Elvis.' But did he actually sing in the 'Elvis' movie? Here's all the details about ...

"Dude he is literally Elvis. He’s not Austin acting as Elvis. It's not Austin trying to sing like Elvis. It’s literally Elvis. Right in front of our eyes Austin has become Elvis!!" one fan commented. "I think it's certain situations trigger it," he explained to Yahoo! Australia. "That was the voice I spoke in for two years. "I'd hear him say a certain word and I would clip just that bit out so I knew how he said that word," he told the outlet. According to Austin, he's not speaking like the King of Rock and Roll intentionally. The short answer: If you go and see Elvis in theaters, that is Austin's actual singing voice. In the age of musical movie biopics, we've seen quite a few come to life over the last few years.

ELVIS Presley's stepbrother has recalled Lisa Marie Presley's heartbreaking words after finding out her dad had died from heart failure.Speaking exclu.

I was a wreck." "I saw his face buried in the carpet. I don't know what that was. He needed a new challenge. “So I knew that something was very wrong. There had to be something. Vernon was at his feet moaning: 'My son is dead'. I didn't panic because I'd pulled him out of a dozen overdose situations. "The bigger question is what did he have on Elvis to make him to succumb to his wishes. we cannot wake him up." "I ran up the steps, into his room, the bathroom where Elvis was laying in the fetal position...I saw his face buried in the carpet." "I ran up the steps, into his room, the bathroom where Elvis was laying in the fetal position.