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The New Gladiators is a documentary movie by Elvis Presley and Ed Parker centered on the fights of the United States Karate team in London, England and Brussels, Belgium. Narrated by Chuck Sullivan, it was filmed between 1973 and 1974 but finally remastered and later released in 2002. The movie was financed by American singer and actor Elvis Presley, who began to practice karate during his duty years in the United States Army.
In 1974, George Waite presented the idea of the film to Ed Parker, Presley’s karate instructor. In the film, Presley was playing the main role, introducing Karate...
Elvis on Tour is a Golden Globe Award-winning American musical-documentary motion picture released by MGM in 1972. It was the thirty-third and final motion picture to star Elvis Presley before Presley’s death in 1977.
A follow-up to the 1970 release Elvis: That’s the Way it Is, another musical-documentary, this film followed Presley as he embarked on a 15-city tour of the United States in April 1972. The working title of the film was Standing Room Only and a soundtrack album was planned with this title, but never released. (Elvis on Tour was the only Elvis Presley film not...
Elvis: That’s the Way It Is is a documentary movie directed by Denis Sanders about Elvis Presley that was released on November 11, 1970. The film documents Elvis’ Summer Festival in Las Vegas during August 1970. It was his first non-dramatic film since the beginning his movie career in 1956, and the film gives us a clear view of Presley’s return to live performances after years of making movies. The original concept as devised by Colonel Tom Parker was in view of Elvis’s triumphant return to live performances was a closed circuit television presentation of one show but...
Change of Habit is a 1969 musical drama film starring Elvis Presley and Mary Tyler Moore. It was Presley’s final acting role; his remaining two film appearances were concert documentaries. It was also Tyler Moore’s fourth and final film under her brief Universal Pictures contract; she wouldn’t appear in another theatrical movie until Ordinary People in 1980.
Dr. John Carpenter is a physician in a ghetto clinic who falls for a co-worker, Michelle Gallagher, unaware that she is a nun.
Elvis stars as a professional man for the first time in his career. Dr. Carpenter heads a...
The Trouble with Girls (full title The Trouble with Girls (and How to Get Into It)) is a 1969 comedy film starring Elvis Presley. It was the only Elvis movie to have a subtitle in its name and is an odd mixture of music, comedy, and melodrama. The Trouble with Girls is unique for an Elvis Presley picture because Elvis is on screen for less than half the film.
The film takes place in a small Iowa town in 1927. A traveling chautauqua company arrives in the town, but internal squabbles create friction amidst the troupe. The new manager, Walter Hale (Elvis Presley), is trying to prevent Charlene,...
Charro! is a 1969 Western film starring Elvis Presley. It was among his final films, and his only role that didn’t feature the star singing on-screen (Flaming Star was not a musical, but he did sing one song onscreen), but Elvis does do the off-screen singing of the main title theme. Presley also sported a stubble beard, in contrast to being clean-shaven in all his other films. Co-starring with Elvis were Ina Balin and Victor French. It was also the only Elvis film released to theaters by National General Pictures. The film made a profit, but wasn’t a runaway success, and remains...
Elvis, starring Elvis Presley, was the title of a 1968 United States television special. Sponsored by The Singer Sewing Machine Company, it aired on December 3, 1968 on the NBC television network. The special is commonly referred to as the ‘68 Comeback Special, because of subsequent developments in Presley’s career, but the soundtrack album was released simply as NBC-TV Special. It was directed by Steve Binder and produced by Binder and Bones Howe.
Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, wanted the show, which was scheduled as a Christmas season broadcast, to be little more...
Live A Little, Love A Little is a 1968 musical comedy starring Elvis Presley. It was directed by Norman Taurog, who had directed several previous Presley vehicles; this was his final film. It had a more mature tone than other Presley musicals, with coarse language, drug references, and an implied sexual encounter. The film introduced the song “A Little Less Conversation”; a later re-recording of it would form the basis of a remix that returned Presley to the American music sales charts in the early 2000s.
In Live A Little, Love A Little, Elvis Presley plays Greg Nolan, a newspaper...
Speedway is a 1968 action film musical film starring Elvis Presley as a racecar driver and Nancy Sinatra as his love interest.
Scenes were shot at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The film features guest appearances by several of the top stock-car — better known now as NASCAR — drivers of the day.
This would be the final “formula” musical film of Presley’s career. His later films would be less musical and more adult in tone.
Although the film was completed in the early summer of 1967, it was not released in theatres until the spring of...
In Stay Away, Joe, Elvis Presley stars as rodeo rider Joe Lightcloud, a Navajo whose family still lives on the reservation. Joe persuades his congressman to give him 20 heifers and a prize bull so he and his father, played by Burgess Meredith, can prove that the Navajos can successfully raise cattle on the reservation. If their experiment is successful, then the government will help all the Navajo people. But Joe’s buddy accidentally barbecues the prize bull, while Joe sells the heifers to buy plumbing and other home improvements for his stepmother, portrayed by Katy Jurado. Former...
Clambake is a 1967 musical film starring Elvis Presley and Shelley Fabares.
Scott Heyward is the son of a rich oilman. He decides to leave so he can discover life for himself. He runs into Tom Wilson, a water-skiing instructor who has no luck with the women. Tom offers to switch places with Scott so they can have a taste of what life is like in each other’s shoes. Scott goes to work teaching water skiing for a Miami hotel, while Tom has fun pretending he is rich. Scott is taken with Dianne Carter, who is searching for a rich guy to snag. She decides to make a play for James J. Jamison...
Double Trouble is a 1967 musical film starring Elvis Presley.
Despite being set in London and Europe, Elvis filmed it entirely in Hollywood.
Co star Norman Rossington holds a unique place in music/ film history as being the only actor to have appeared with Elvis and The Beatles (A Hard Day’s Night).
Priscilla Presley later claimed that when Elvis was told he had to sing Old MacDonald he screamed, “It’s come to this?”. He was eased when told that the song would not be released on the soundtrack album – It was. Like most of his films from the 1965-1967 period,...
Easy Come, Easy Go is a 1967 musical film starring Elvis Presley.
In Easy Come, Easy Go, his last film for Hal Wallis, Elvis Presley stars as Navy frogman Ted Jackson, who is about to be discharged from the service. On one of his last dives, Ted discovers a treasure chest on a sunken ship. Captain Jack, a local expert on nautical lore, is unable to tell Ted the exact treasure or cargo of the ship. But Captain Jack does reveal the name of the only descendant of the ship’s captain. Ted tracks down this descendant — a vivacious young woman named Jo Symington, played by Dodie...
Spinout is a 1966 musical film and comedy starring Elvis Presley as the lead singer of a band and part-time race car driver.
Elvis Presley stars as dashing Mike McCoy in Spinout. Mike fronts a popular singing group, and he is also the defending champion on the racing circuit.
Fast cars are not nearly as dangerous for Mike as beautiful women, all of whom want to race him down the aisle to marriage. Les, played by perky Deborah Walley, works as the drummer in Mike’s band, and she is extremely jealous of his attention toward other women. Also vying for Mike’s affection is...
Paradise, Hawaiian Style is a 1966 music comedy film starring Elvis Presley. It was the third and final motion picture that Presley filmed in Hawaii.
Rick Richards (Presley) returns to his home in Hawaii after being fired from his job as an airline pilot. He and his buddy Danny Kohana (James Shigeta) go into the helicopter charter business together. But Rick’s reckless flying and his careless negotiations with local women may cost Rick the business and Danny his home.
Disaster looms as Danny becomes overdue on a flight after Rick has been grounded by government officials. Rick must...
Frankie and Johnny is a 1966 musical starring Elvis Presley as a riverboat gambler. The role of “Frankie” was played by Donna Douglas, star of the hit television series, The Beverly Hillbillies. Elvis gambles with his luck as he goes for a lucky redhead, Nellie Bly, instead of his beautiful blonde, Frankie.
Johnny and girlfriend Frankie are singers on a Mississippi riverboat, which also has a casino. Johnny is a gambler who is down on his luck and in debt.
Johnny and his friend Cully, a musician and composer, visit a gypsy camp to get his fortune told. A lady reads tea leaves and...
Harum Scarum, released in Europe as Harem Holiday, is a 1965 musical film and comedy starring Elvis Presley. The film is regarded by many Elvis fans as one of his worst, despite being the only film he received a million dollar salary for appearing in. Some of the film was based on Rudolph Valentino’s The Sheik released in 1921.
Produced on a very low budget by Sam Katzman, Harum Scarum features Elvis Presley as matinee idol Johnny Tyronne. A takeoff on Elvis himself, Johnny is a famous movie and recording star who makes the women swoon and the men jealous. On a personal appearance tour...
Tickle Me is a 1965 western comedy-musical starring Elvis Presley. It is also the only Elvis film released by Allied Artists Pictures. It is said to have singlehandedly saved the Allied Artists studio from financial despair.
The film was first released onto the home video market in the VHS format in the early ’80s in a limited version from Allied Artists Home Video. It was issued again by CBS/Fox video in 1985, 1987 and 1992. Its final VHS issue was from Warner Home Video in 1997. In the summer of 2007, the film was released for the first time on DVD, in the wide-screen letterbox...
Girl Happy is a 1965 musical romantic comedy in the beach party film style, starring Elvis Presley.
Rusty Wells and his band are just about ready to leave Chicago for their annual spring break trip to Fort Lauderdale. That is, until Big Frank extends their stay at his club. Big Frank’s daughter decides to go to Lauderdale with her friends for spring break, so he gets Rusty and his band to look after her and to make sure she stays out of trouble. While he attempts that, Rusty has to contend with a good-time girl, Deena, who has no patience for guys who stand her up or keep her...
Roustabout (1964) is a Paramount Pictures musical feature film starring Elvis Presley as a singer who takes a job working with a struggling carnival. The film was produced by Hal Wallis and directed by John Rich from a screenplay by Anthony Lawrence and Allan Weiss. Roustabout was panned by Variety but was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award. The film’s spinoff album was one of Presley’s most successful.
Musician Charlie Rogers (Elvis Presley) is fired from a gig at a teahouse after brawling with a few rowdy college boys in the parking lot. After a night in jail,...
Viva Las Vegas (1964) is an American romantic musical motion picture co-starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret.
The movie is regarded by fans as one of Presley’s best and is noted for the on-screen chemistry between Presley and Ann-Margret, plus 10 musical numbers.
Lucky Jackson (Elvis Presley) goes to Las Vegas, Nevada to participate in the city’s first annual Grand Prix. However, his race car is in need of a new engine in order to compete. Jackson raises the money but mislays it when distracted by a local swimming instructor, Rusty Martin (Ann-Margret). Soon, Jackson’s...
Kissin’ Cousins is a 1964 musical film starring Elvis Presley in two roles, one as an American soldier, the other his lookalike hillbilly cousin.
Elvis’ fourteenth film was 1964’s Kissin’ Cousins. In this film Elvis played the dual role of look-alike cousins: Josh Morgan, a dark-haired air force officer, and Jodie Tatum, a blond mountain man. Elvis Presley plays a dual role in Kissin’ Cousins, an extremely low-budget musical comedy set in the hills of Tennessee but mostly shot on Hollywood sets. As Air Force officer Josh Morgan, a dark-haired Elvis plays a...
Fun in Acapulco is a 1963 American motion picture starring Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress.
While some exterior scenes were shot in Acapulco, Mexico, Elvis’s scenes were shot in Hollywood. He never went to Acapulco in his lifetime.
Mike works on a boat in Acapulco. When the bratty daughter of the boat owner gets him fired, Mike must find new work. A little boy named Raoul helps him get a job as a lifeguard and singer at a local hotel. Clashes abound when Mike runs into a rival lifeguard, who is the champion diver of Mexico. He is angry at Mike for taking some of his hours, and for...
It Happened at the World's Fair is a 1963 musical film starring Elvis Presley as a cropdusting pilot.
The motion picture was filmed in Seattle, Washington, site of the Century 21 Exposition, the 1962 World’s Fair. The governor of Washington at the time, Albert Rosellini, suggested the setting to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives.
The Seattle Center, including the Seattle Center Monorail and the Space Needle, serve as backdrops for several scenes in the film. Security officers pursue Presley and the girl through the fountains at what is now the Pacific Science Center. The truck drives...
Girls! Girls! Girls! is a 1962 musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley as a penniless fisherman who loves his life on the sea and dreams of owning his own boat.
The film was shot on location in Hawaii.
Elvis plays Ross Carpenter, a fishing guide/sailor who loves his life out on the sea. When he finds out his boss is retiring to Arizona, he has to find a way to buy the Westwind, a boat that he and his father built. He is also caught between two women: insensitive club singer Robin and sweet Laurel.
With the huge success of Blue Hawaii, producer Hal Wallis had decided to promote Elvis as an...
Kid Galahad is a 1962 musical film starring Elvis Presley as a boxer. The film was released by United Artists.
The movie was filmed on location in Idyllwild, California and is noted for having a strong supporting cast. Most critics rate it as one of Presley’s best performances.
The film is a remake of the 1937 original version starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart. UA had owned the original version at the time of the remake’s release.
Willy Grogan is a small-time boxing promoter, based in the Catskills resort region of New York. He has debts to pay and...
Follow That Dream is a 1962 musical film starring Elvis Presley. The movie was based on the novel Pioneer, Go Home! by Richard P. Powell. It was filmed in Levy County, Florida. Inglis, Florida and Yankeetown, Florida memorializes his stay in the form of their major highway, Follow That Dream Parkway.
A vagabond family composed of Pop Kwimper (Arthur O’Connell), his son Toby (Elvis Presley), and various “adopted” children, including sixteen-year-old Holly Jones (Anne Helm), is traveling in Florida when Pop drives onto an as-yet-unopened section of highway. When the car runs...
Blue Hawaii is a 1961 musical film set in the state of Hawaii and starring Elvis Presley.
Chadwick Gates (Presley) has just gotten out of the Army, and is happy to be back in Hawaii with his surfboard, his beach buddies, and his girlfriend. His mother wants him to go to work at the Great Southern Hawaiian Fruit Company, but Chad is reluctant. So Chad goes to work as a tour guide at his girlfriend’s agency.
Although it is mentioned in the film that Chad’s parents live in Kahala, one of the most expensive and exclusive areas of Honolulu as of 1961, the view from their lanai (porch...
Wild in the Country is a 1961 film drama starring Elvis Presley in which he portrays a troubled young man from a dysfunctional family who pursues a literary career.
The movie starts off with Glenn Tyler (Elvis Presley) getting into a fight with, and badly injuring, his drunken brother. A court releases him on probation into the care of his uncle in a small town, appointing Irene Sperry (Hope Lange) to give him psychological counselling. Marked as a trouble-maker, he is falsely suspected of various misdemeanors including an affair with Irene. Eventually shown to be innocent, he leaves to go to...
Flaming Star is a 1960 western film starring Elvis Presley, based on the book Flaming Lance (1958) by Clair Huffaker. A dramatic role, it is said that Elvis Presley gave one of his best acting performances as the mixed-blood “Pacer Burton.” The film’s working title was Black Star. Flaming Star was directed by Don Siegel.
Elvis Presley plays Pacer Burton, the son of a Kiowa mother and a Texas rancher father. Along with his half-brother, Clint, the four of them live a typical life on the Texas frontier. Life soon becomes anything but typical when a nearby tribe of Kiowa begin...
G.I. Blues is a 1960 Elvis Presley musical motion picture played as a romantic comedy. It was filmed while Presley was fulfilling his military service obligation with the United States Army in West Germany during the height of the Cold War. It was filmed at Paramount’s Hollywood studios and on location in Germany.
U.S. Army Specialist 5 (SP5) Tulsa McLean (Elvis Presley) is a tank crewman with a singing career. Serving with the 3rd Armored “Spearhead” Division in West Germany, McLean dreams of running his own nightclub when he leaves the army, but such dreams don’t...
King Creole is an American motion picture directed by Michael Curtiz, released by Paramount Pictures on July 2, 1958. The film stars Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, and Walter Matthau. It is Presley’s fourth movie (the third and last filmed in black & white), and adapted from the 1952 novel by Harold Robbins, A Stone for Danny Fisher.
Presley plays Danny Fisher, a young, tough musician making his way in New Orleans. Matthau plays Maxie Fields, a kingpin of organized crime in the city, with Jones as Ronnie, a call girl with limited prospects. With its aspects of film noir, its...
Jailhouse Rock is an American motion picture directed by Richard Trofee, released by MGM on October 30, 1957. The film stars Elvis Presley (his third ever film role), Judy Tyler, and Mickey Shaughnessy. Co-star Tyler was killed in an automobile accident a few weeks after the film was completed, and like Loving You before it, Presley was so upset that he refused to ever watch the completed film. In 2004, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Presley plays...
Loving You is an American motion picture directed by Hal Kanter, released by Paramount Pictures on July 9, 1957. The film stars Elvis Presley, Lizabeth Scott (in her final major film role) and Wendell Corey. It is Presley’s second movie, his first in Technicolor and the first with Elvis as the primary focus. The story mirrors that of his own rise to fame, and Presley’s mother and father appear as extras in the audience during the final song, “Got A Lot Of Livin’ To Do.” After his mother’s death, Presley refused to ever watch the film again.
In...
The New Gladiators
Elvis on Tour
Elvis: That’s the Way It Is
Change of Habit
The Trouble With Girls
Charro!
Elvis – The ‘68 Comeback Special
Live a Little, Love a Little
Speedway
Stay Away, Joe
Clambake
Double Trouble
Easy Come, Easy Go
Spinout
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
Frankie and Johnny
Harum Scarum
Tickle Me
Girl Happy
Roustabout
Viva Las Vegas
Kissin’ Cousins
Fun in Acapulco
It Happened at the World’s Fair
Girls! Girls! Girls!
Kid Galahad
Follow That Dream
Blue Hawaii
Wild in the Country
Flaming Star
G.I. Blues
King Creole
Jailhouse Rock
Loving You
