How did Elvis Presley get started in the movie business?

Answer 1

The change was instigated by his manager Col. Tom Parker. He was never contracted exclusively to one studio and worked freely with all the majors (20th Century, Paramount, MGM), producing 31 feature films (and 2 documentaries) throughout his career. Most of his films were made during the 60s after he returned from his tour of duty and many have almost interchangeable storylines, and are now referred to just as Elvis films. The budgets for each film got increasingly smaller when producers realised any film starring Elvis was going to be a hit and make a hefty profit because while Elvis was making films, it was the only way for fans to see and hear Elvis as he never toured or recorded albums apart from film soundtracks during that time. Col. Parker pulled the plug on movie deals for fear of losing control of Elvis.