Themes: Sibling Relationships, Unlikely Criminals, Love Triangles
Main Cast: Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Elvis Presley, Robert Middleton, William Campbell
Release Year: 1956
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
Plot
Elvis Presley made his motion picture debut in the Civil War drama Love Me Tender. Elvis, however, is not the star of the proceedings: that honor goes jointly to Richard Egan and Debra Paget. The story concerns three brothers--Egan, William Campbell and James Drury--who steal a Union payroll on behalf of the Confederacy, only to discover that the war is over and that they're now technically outlaws. Rather than return the money, the brothers divvy it up amongst themselves. Upon returning home, Egan discovers that his sweetheart (Debra Paget) has married Elvis, his youngest brother. Since Love Me Tender has been played incessantly on TV since the early 1960s, it is giving away nothing to reveal that the film is one of two in which Elvis Presley's character dies at the end. Naturally, Elvis is afforded plenty of opportunities to sing: the scene in which he launches into an anachronistic hip-swivelling performance at a county fair is one of the high points of mid-1950s kitsch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
It would take an enterprising brain to grab the hip-swivelling, rock 'n rolling Elvis Presley more or less straight from the Ed Sullivan show and dump him smack into a Civil War melodrama -- complete with screaming, albeit period-clad, teenage girls. But that is exactly what veteran scribe Maurice Geraghty set out to do in Love Me Tender and without apparently giving it a second thought. The results are uneven at best but the burgeoning teen idol actually handles the straight acting better than could be expected. In fact, Elvis is the only member of the cast with a somewhat realistic accent. Fox had enough trust in Presley's drawing power to award Love Me Tender Cinemascope (but not color) which, unfortunately, mostly succeeds to dwarf Geraghty's quaint little story of brotherly love and perceived betrayal. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Love Me Tender is the film debut of Elvis Presley and an Americanblack and whitemotion picture directed by Robert D. Webb, released by 20th Century Fox on November 15, 1956. The film, named after the song, stars Richard Egan, Debra Paget, and Elvis Presley. It is in the Western genre with musical numbers. Because it was Presley's movie debut, it was the only time in his acting career that he did not receive top billing. Love Me Tender was originally to be titled The Reno Brothers, but when advanced sales of Presley's "Love Me Tender" single passed one million—a first for a single—the film title was changed to match.
Presley plays Clint Reno, one of the Reno brothers who stayed home while his brother went to fight in the American Civil War for the Confederate Army. The family is mistakenly informed that one of the brothers, Vance, has been killed on the battlefield. When his brother Vance comes back from the war, he finds that his old girlfriend, Cathy, has married Clint. Although Vance accepts this wholeheartedly ("We always wanted Cathy in the family"), the family has to struggle to reach stability with this issue. As a Confederate soldier, Vance is involved in a train robbery, in which he steals Federal Government money. A conflict of interest ensues when Vance tries to return the money against the wishes of some of his fellow Confederates. The film reaches its tragic conclusion with a gunfight between the two Reno brothers, ironically ending with Clint's murder.
Instead of a full long-playing albumsoundtrack, for Love Me Tender the four songs appearing in the film were released as an extended-play, seven-inch 45 RPM record on RCA Records, Love Me Tender, catalogue EPA 4006, during November 1956. It peaked at #9 on Top Pop Albums chart, as well as making it to #35 on the singles chart. The four EP soundtrack songs were recorded in a single at Fox's Stage One in Hollywood, at three sessions in August, September, and October 1956. The title song, "Love Me Tender," had already been released as a single on September 28, 1956, and went to #1 on the singles chart. The music was based on the Civil Warballad "Aura Lee," with new lyrics by Ken Darby. Darby, in fact, wrote all of the soundtrack songs, but credited them to his wife, Vera Matson, while the Colonel cut his publishing company, Hill and Range, in on the royalties by further crediting the writing to Presley as well. This was somewhat common practice in the 1950s.[citation needed]
A reprise of "Love Me Tender" was also recorded and is heard at the end of the film; this short track was not released until after Presley's death. The sessions for these songs were the only time in the decade that Presley recorded with musicians outside his regular coterie.
During one scene in the movie, Elvis plays a Gibson L-5, which was not invented until 1922, even though the movie is set during the American Civil War.
Elvis' mother, Gladys, was so upset that her son's character had died in the movie, that Elvis told Colonal Parker that he never wanted to be killed in any more movies. And he never was.
Elvis' first stand-in on the movie was a young struggling actor from Los Angeles, the young man's name was Marco Lopez, and he would make a name for himself in the Jack Webb produced NBC/Universal series Emergency!
In the summer of 2006, the film was released on DVD in a special 50th anniversary issue. It was featured in a slipcase, and included a set of 4 lobby card reproductions. The disc contains the movie in its original widescreen letterbox format, plus audio commentary by noted Elvis historian (and Memphis Mafia member) Jerry Schilling. The disc also includes 3 featurettes: "Elvis Hits Hollywood", "The Colonel & The King", and "Love Me Tender: The Birth & Boom Of The Elvis Hit". Also part of the disc are original trailers for "Love Me Tender", "Flaming Star" and "Wild In The Country".
