Elvis Presley amassed impressive Hollywood film credentials

Elvis Presley, the undisputed King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, racked up more than 30 movie credits during the 13 years that he spent pursuing his dream to become a Hollywood movie star, according to Joe Leydon of New Orleans, a film critic and correspondent for Variety magazine since 1990.

Leydon (shown below) selected his list of the top 10 films that featured the work of Elvis, who was dubbed “Ol’ Snake Hips” and “the Tennessee Troubadour.”

 

Receiving top billing from Leydon was “King Creole” (1958).

 

The movie was “a first-rate, hard-boiled…musical drama (based on the Harold Robbins novel ‘A Stone for Danny Fisher’) about a sullen New Orleans youth (The King, of course) whose overnight success as a singer in a Bourbon Street nightclub attracted the unwanted interest of vicious gangster and part-time talent manager Maxie Fields (Walter Matthau),” Leydon said.

 

“The superior supporting cast included Dean Jagger, Vic Morrow, Carolyn Jones (in one of her all-time best performances), Paul Stewart and Dolores Hart.” The soundtrack includes 11 Elvis songs, including ‘Hard Headed Woman.’”

 

“The other films on this list are enjoyable for a variety of reasons,” Leydon suggested, “but Elvis was never better as an actor than he was in ‘King Creole.’ And he never made a better movie.”

Leydon selected “Viva Las Vegas” (1964) as his second favorite Elvis flick, featuring “high-potency chemistry” between Elvis and Ann-Margret “shaking their groove things” in this “well-nigh irresistible extravaganza.”

“The plot, no more complicated than it has to be, revolves around Lucky Jackson (Elvis), a race-car driver who unluckily loses the money he needs for a new engine and seeks employment as a hotel waiter, while romancing swimming instructor Rusty Martin (Ann-Margret) as a fringe benefit.”

“Presley is at the top of his game here, striking the perfect balance of smirk and sincerity…and rambunctiously blowtorching his way through the title song in a low-concept, high-impact production number,” Leydon commented.

Other original songs performed by Elvis in the movie include “I Need Somebody to Lean On,” “Today, Tomorrow and Forever” and “If You Think I Don’t Need You.”

Leydon’s third place medal goes to “Jailhouse Rock” (1957). “Most folks remember this musical melodrama only for the classically campy, insistently exuberant production number (arguably Elvis’ greatest on-screen moment ever) that hard-sells the title song,” he said.

 

“But take a second look; ‘Jailhouse Rock’ actually attempts to package Presley as a semi-sensitive anti-hero with pronounced tendencies toward badassery,” in Leydon’s words.

“After beating a man to death with his bare hands in a barroom brawl, 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.”

“Once released,” Leydon said, “Vincent becomes a chart-topping recording star, signs a contract to make Hollywood movies – and devolves into an unpleasantly selfish lout until his former cellmate shows up to provide tough-love discipline.”

No. 4 on Leyton’s list of top Elvis films is “Blue Hawaii” (1961). “This frothy musical comedy more or less set the mold for what most folks now think of as ‘an Elvis movie,’” Leyton noted.

It’s packed with “lightweight fun and frolic, 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.”

“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),” Leyton said.

 

“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. Go figure.”

Leyton’s selection in the No. 5 slot of all-time top Elvis films is “Flaming Star” (1960), an American Western, based on the book “Flaming Lance” by Clair Huffaker. Critics agreed that Elvis gave one of his better dramatic acting performances as the mixed-blood character Pacer Burton.

 

“Director Don Siegel was able to keep the songs to an absolute minimum and, more important, convince Elvis to risk giving his all during some highly emotional moments in this engrossing Western about a half-Native American torn between white and Kiowa cultures,” Leyton remarked.

 

“Elvis earned appreciative notices for his performance in a role that originally was intended for Marlon Brando.”

Getting the nod at No. 6 on the Leyton’s list of Elvis’ best movies is “Wild in the Country” (1961). In this film, “Elvis proved conclusively here that he had the potential to tackle even more challenging roles,” Leyton wrote.

 

“With his affecting portrayal of an angry young man who, while on probation for inflicting serious bodily harm on his brother, reveals previously untapped potential as a writer.”

Elvis is “torn between a good girl (Millie Perkins) [shown above] and a not-so-good one (Tuesday Weld) [shown below], but winds up falling hard for the (slightly) older psychologist (Hope Lange) who wants him to be all he can be,” Leyton said.

“Under Philip Dunne’s sensitive direction, Elvis and Lange share the most tender love scene ever to appear in any of The King’s movies.”

 

Placing 7th through 10th as Elvis’ best films, in Leyton’s learned opinion, are:

7. “Love Me Tender” (1956).

8. “Kid Galahad” (1962).

9. “Elvis on Tour” (1972). This was the only Elvis movie to receive a significant award, winning a Golden Globe for Best Documentary in 1972.

10. “The Trouble with Girls” (1969).