Elvis Musicals: The 1950's movies
The King's Rock and Roll Musicals: Loving You, Jailhouse Rock
Sep 17, 2008
Elvis Presley's musical career started in 1954, but it was in January 1956 that the young Memphis singer came to prominence with several TV appearances that made him a polemic figure.
In a matter of weeks producer Hal Wallis decided to capitalize on Elvis popularity among young record buyers and recognizing the singer’s intense charisma offered him a contract.
The resulting films would be Loving You (1957) and King Creole (1958) but Presley’s first film was civil war drama entitled Love Me Tender.
Produced by David Weisbart, who had recently produced James Dean’s Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Love Me Tender included 4 musical numbers to capitalize on Presley’s musical popularity. Sometimes criticised for the anachronism of including songs, the film is in fact partially reminiscent of the musical westerns of the 30s and 40s.
Presley's Loving You Belongs to Backstage Musical Genre Like A Star is Born
Loving Young the first rock and roll musical to be filmed in colour puts Elvis in the role his fans really wanted to see him, a young singer who makes it big in show business.
The movie, like the Jailhouse Rock that followed, was clearly conceived as a semi biography of the young Presley. Although the critics disliked his musical performances and somewhat stiff acting, both Loving You and Jailhouse Rock, belong to the tradition of the backstage musicals and classics like 42nd Street and A Star is Born.
The critical reception of the Presley musicals often reflected the cultural and musical bias of film critics more inclined to appreciate the Tin Pan Alley musical tradition than the innovative vernacular style that Presley represented.
In Jailhouse Rock, Presley plays Vince Everet, a young construction worker sent to jail for involuntary manslaughter. In prison Vince will discover a talent for singing that he will try to turn into a successful carer. The movie’s second act follows his struggle to became a recording artist and leads us through his rise to fame, his TV performances (the classic Jailhouse Rock number) and finally his arrival in Hollywood, becoming a movie star.
Casablanca Director Michael Curtiz Directs King Creole
Presley’s last 1950’s movie was King Creole, adapted from a successful novel, a Stone for Danny Fisher. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz, one of the most important Hollywood directors of the 1930s and 1940s who directed such classics as the Adventures of Robin Hood and Casablanca. Although King Creole mixes the problem teenage film of the 50’s with the backstage musical structure it also incorporates elements of the film noir genre so popular during the 40’s and 50’s.
A few weeks after King Creole was completed Elvis Presley was inducted in the US Army, returning in March 1960 to resume a movie carer that would have to make some adjustments to the new reality of the entertainment business.
