Elvis on the Big Screen

Between 1956 and 1969, Elvis Presley made 31 films. He also made 2 documentary feature films, ‘Elvis: That’s The Way It Is’ and ‘Elvis On Tour’.

He publicly expressed a personal goal of following in the footsteps of his film heroes, James Dean and Marlon Brando, to become a top dramatic actor. His manager Colonel Tom Parker's persistent lobbying of the Hollywood based talent agency, William Morris Agency, for an Elvis screen test, paid off on March 26, 1956, when the singer auditioned at Paramount for a supporting role in ‘The Rainmaker’. Although not chosen for the part, Elvis signed a contract with Paramount producer Hal Wallis on April 25 that year, that also allowed him to make films with other studios.

His film debut was in 1956 for 20^th Century Fox in ‘Love Me Tender’, with the commercial success of the soundtrack being a forerunner for the next three Elvis films, ‘Loving You’ (1957), ‘Jailhouse Rock’ (1957) and ‘King Creole’ (1958).

After leaving the army in 1960, Elvis returned to acting, with ‘G.I. Blues’ and a powerful western, ‘Flaming Star’, paving the way for his romantic musicals to establish a popularity and formula for the coming years.

Disregarding the army year of 1959, Elvis made an average of 2.5 pictures per year. During 1964 to 1969, Elvis made three movies a year.

Over time, Elvis became bitter that his hopes for dramatic roles were not coming to fruition, stating that ‘Clambake’ (1967) was his worst film. He complained about the deteriorating quality of the films and believed that his manager's objectives were more about money than his reputation as an actor.

He returned to live entertaining as soon as his studio contracts had expired. The two concert documentaries, ‘Elvis: That's the Way It Is’ in 1970 and ‘Elvis on Tour’ in 1972, were the final theatrical releases for Elvis.

What if Elvis had just made one picture per year? That would have reduced his total to just 13 films, instead of 31. In that scenario, most of his less significant films would never have been made and his reputation as a leading man might be greater today.