Themes: Musician's Life, Rags To Riches, All Washed Up
Main Cast: Kurt Russell, Shelley Winters, Bing Russell, Season Hubley, Pat Hingle
Release Year: 1979
Country: US
Run Time: 117 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
The first volley in the never-ending "Presley movie" blitzkrieg, the made-for-TV Elvis: The Movie stars Kurt Russell as the King, Season Hubley as Priscilla, Pat Hingle as Col. Parker, Shelley Winters as Elvis' mom, and Bing Russell (Kurt's real-life father) as Elvis' dad. The film recounts Presley's life from age ten to his 1969 Vegas comeback. Presley imitator Ronnie McDowell expertly dubs in Kurt Russell's renditions of "Love Me Tender," "Heartbreak Hotel," et al. When first telecast on February 11, 1979, the ratings for Elvis: The Movie went through the roof, even beating out a competing telecast of Gone With the Wind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
There's something about Elvis Presley that seems to polarize people, especially today, when, more than two decades after his death, his absence in the present tense has caused common perception of him to evolve into a strange variety of clichés, with Elvis usually portrayed either as redneck saint or white-trash clown. However, John Carpenter's TV movie Elvis manages the increasingly rare feat of taking Elvis seriously as a human being, without dwelling excessively on his faults or trying to portray him as the world's most wonderful human being. While Anthony Lawrence's script fudges a few facts here and there (Elvis was not at his mother's bedside when she died) and misses a few details (where's the 1968 comeback special?), for the most part he recounts a familiar story with a surprising degree of enthusiasm and respect without becoming fawning, and Carpenter gets it on film with both efficiency and an admirable feel for time and place. Kurt Russell is a real surprise as Elvis; he not only gets Presley's trademark drawl and one-of-a-kind moves down with startling accuracy, he also manages to give a real sense of the tug of war between modesty and arrogance that truly defined the King's personality; it may well be the strongest and most affecting work of Russell's career. And while Shelley Winters lays it on a bit thick as his mother, Gladys, the performance can hardly be called historically inaccurate, and Season Hubley displays great chemistry with Russell as Priscilla Presley (apparently the chemistry wasn't mere professionalism, either, since they got married shortly after making the film). Elvis may not be a great movie -- its pace is a bit erratic and occasionally betrays its relatively low budget -- but it is a very good one, and one of the few films about one of the key cultural figures of the 20th century (love him or hate him, you have to give Elvis that much due) that shows a real understanding about what made him special, and that alone makes it well worth watching. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Melody Anderson - Bonnie; Ed Begley, Jr. - D.C. Fontana; Nora Boland - Teacher; Jim Canning - Scotty; Dennis Christopher; Robert Christopher; Charles Cyphers - Sam Phillips; Jesse Dabson; Robert Gray - Red West; Jim Greenleaf - 2nd Reporter; Peter Hobbs - Jim Denny; Charlie Hodge - Himself; Les Lannom - Sonny West; Joe Mantegna - Joe Esposito; Larry Pennell; Ken Smolka; Dennis Stewart; Elliott Street - Bill Black; Ellen Travolta - Marion; Meg Wyllie - Grandma; Mario Gallo; Mark Denis; Ted Lehmann; Galen Thompson - Hank Snow; Will Jordan - Ed Sullivan
Credit
Tracy Bousman - Art Director, James Newport - Art Director, John Carpenter - Director, Ron Moler - Editor, Tom Walls - Editor, Dick Clark - Executive Producer, Joe Renzetti - Composer (Music Score), James Newport - Production Designer, Donald M. Morgan - Cinematographer, Anthony Lawrence - Producer, Tony Bishop - Producer, Anthony Lawrence - Screenwriter
