Main Cast: David Keith, Tuesday Weld, Charlie Schlatter, Angela Goethals, Jacque Lynn Colton
Release Year: 1988
Country: US
Run Time: 101 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Johnny Wolfe (Charlie Schlatter) is an Ohio teen whose alcoholic mother Marie (Tuesday Weld) has been a huge Elvis Presley fan since the 1950s. To cheer her up on her birthday, Johnny kidnaps the king of rock & roll (David Keith) after a 1972 concert. Elvis settles in to the Wolfe's den by decorating the house to his flamboyant tastes and helping Marie and her daughter Pam (Angela Goethals) through some difficult times. After Johnny convinces Elvis to perform with him at a high-school talent competition, he also lectures Elvis that he has lost touch with his roots and urges him do drop his schmaltzy Las Vegas image. This implausible but entertaining feature was given the go-ahead by the Presley estate and contains none of the legendary excesses that led to the king's death in 1977. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Chris Mulkey - Steve Ayres; Karen Landry - Irene; Dana Barron - Beth Devereux; Michael Costello - Dr. Charles Devereux; Blue Deckert - Jones; Noel Derecki - Tony Vandelo; Clarke P.Devereux - Teacher; Paul Harkins - Brian Gasternick; John Hawkes - Talent Show M.C.; Jerry Haynes - Mr. Hansen; Dennis Letts - Alan Fortas; Diane Robin - Donna; Tudor Sherrard - Paul Quinine; Monica Devereux - Monica; John L. Martin - Sheriff Abrams; Miles Mutchler - Furniture Salesman; Cheryl Beckham - Nurse; Graham T. Brown - Jerry Schilling; Stephen Lee Davis - George Klein; Al Dvorin - Himself; Hal Ketchum - Steve's Friend; Urban Kneupper - Accordian Player; Debra Luijtjes - Cheryl; Christine M. Poole - Judy; Ruth Sadlier - Aunt Anne
Credit
Dan Webster - Art Director, Stacey Sher - Associate Producer, Steven Saxton - Associate Producer, Todd Thaler - Casting, Monica Devereux - Choreography, Debra Hill - Co-producer, Lynda Obst - Co-producer, Nord Haggerty - Costume Designer, Mark A. Radcliffe - First Assistant Director, Chris Columbus - Director, Raja Gosnell - Editor, Georges Delerue - Composer (Music Score), Robert Kraft - Musical Direction/Supervision, Gigi Coker - Makeup, John Muto - Production Designer, Dan Webster - Production Designer, Stephen Dobson - Cinematographer, Robin S. Clark - Production Manager, Timothy Silver - Production Manager, Stephanie Austin - Producer, Anne Kuljian - Set Designer, Randy Moore - Special Effects, Donald Summer - Sound/Sound Designer, Stephanie Austin - Supervisor/Manager, Chris Columbus - Screenwriter
Heartbreak Hotel is a 1988comedy film written and directed by Chris Columbus and starring David Keith and Tuesday Weld. Set in 1972, the story deals with one of the many "legends" involving Elvis Presley (Keith) about his fictional kidnapping, and his subsequent redemption from decadence.
The story opens on a single mother and her two children, a teenage son and nine year old daughter, who run a boarding house. The mother is hurt in a car accident after her drunkard boyfriend crashed, so the son kidnaps her favorite singer, Elvis Presley, for her birthday, getting the owner of a local pizzeria who looks eerily like Elvis' mother to pose as his mother's ghost as a distraction. Elvis awakens, after being drugged by the boy, in the boarding house. Elvis and the boy don't get along at first. The boy has no respect for the 70's Elvis saying that he sold out to Vegas. Through the course of the movie, however, the boy and Elvis get to know each other and develop a friendship. Elvis even plays "Heartbreak Hotel" with the boy's band at a talent show.
Music
The songs contained in the movie are actual Elvis Presley recordings despite the film being fictional.
