Sold Out Shows On Super 8

Sold Out! The Ultimate 8 mm Collection Vol.10 features fan footage from 1976–1977.

The tenth volume in the Sold Out! The Ultimate 8 mm Collection series, featuring 8 mm footage filmed by fans who attended some of his concerts in 1976 and 1977, confirms Elvis deteriorating condition during the last face of his career. But it also shows that Elvis, in periods, could get back in shape, and move around the stage like his old self, delivering solid performances.  

His first tour in 1976 is represented by fan-shot footage from Johnson City, March 17 and Charlotte three days later. I especially enjoyed the evening performance in Charlotte, featuring footage in good quality. Granted, Elvis looks a bit heavy in his bicentennial suit, but he sings well and seems to be having a good time. 

Maybe he put in a little extra effort due to the fact that he had a new pianist (Shane Keister) and drummer (Larry Londin) with him. Larry Londin can be seen behind his drums, belting away with a smile on his face, clearly enjoying himself. "Good job, man," Elvis tells him after his drum solo during the introductions. And at the end of "Polk Salad Annie," Larry Londin really lets loose on the drums while Elvis throws the mike and does some karate moves. Really cool.

It is also enjoyable to watch Elvis interact with a couple of kids that are lifted up on stage, especially a boy dressed in a home made jumpsuit. "Can he do imitations? Can he sing 'Hound Dog' honey?" Elvis asks the boys mother, then launches himself into the song, urging the boy to sing along, the boy looking up at him, then looking down again, shaking his head at his mother. He was probably shy or scared stiff. But he must have gained courage, as he is back on stage a while later, receiving a scarf and a kiss from Elvis. 

Each volume in the series includes two DVD discs.

Three months later, Elvis takes the stage in Charleston (July 24), and one week after that, New Haven is on the tour schedule (July 30). Not only does the footage reveal that Elvis has gained more weight, he also moves slower and with less energy. And he sounds tired, exhausted and out of breath, especially on the New Haven concert. 

Still, there is no mistaking the excitement flooding through the arena as Elvis enters the stage, with all those flash bulbs going off and a lot of people in the audience screaming at the top of their lungs. And there are some enjoyable moments, like when Elvis hands soprano singer Kathy Westmoreland a scarf at the end of "The Hawaiian Wedding Song." But as a whole, this is one of the weakest concerts with Elvis that I know of. 

On October 22, Elvis was captured on super 8 film while performing in Champaign, and the transformation is almost unbelievable. Positive things had obviously started to happen, as he is much leaner and radiates more energy. Also, he moves around a lot more, right from the start during "See See Rider," and his singing reveals a more powerful voice. A great example of this is "You Gave Me A Mountain," a song that is so much stronger than the version from New Haven three months before. 

Another great moment is seeing him throw his guitar to Charlie Hodge after the ending of the "I Got A Woman"/"Amen" routine. The footage from Champaign actually reminded me of how Elvis moved and looked during his Pittsburgh concert on New Years Eve two months later. And it certainly helps that he is wearing a new jumpsuit as well, the Inca Gold Leaf suit. 

Therefore, it is a bit sad to watch the footage from Tempe (March 23, 1977) and Norman, filmed two days later, revealing that things have gone to worse again. The volume ends on a more positive note, with Elvis' Chicago performance on May 2, 1977, an above average show that year with Elvis in a good mood and voice. 

Content and running time of the tenth volume.

Releases such as the Sold Out! The Ultimate 8 mm Collection series don't change history. But they do paint a more varied picture of what it was like seeing Elvis on stage during the 1970's, and the tenth volume is no exception. Like I wrote at the beginning of this post, 1976 and 1977 was a downhill slide for Elvis, but watching the super 8 footage it is evident that for short periods of time, he got his act together, looking and performing better.

Let Us Pray – That’s The Way It Never Was

The close up with the guitar (middle shot) is in fact taken from the "Rubberneckin'" scene earlier in the movie. The clothes and the guitar itself gives it away.

I thought I had it all figured out. This was going to be a great post. However, it didn’t turn out that way at all, despite some hard work behind the keyboard. Here is what happened.

It all began while watching a video clip on YouTube of Elvis singing “Let Us Pray” in Father Gibbons’ Church at the end of the movie Change Of Habit. Suddenly it hit me that there was something wrong with the close-ups that showed Elvis’ hand strumming his guitar. The clothes and the guitar itself were not the same as in the other shots. In fact, they were taken from the beginning of the film where Elvis is belting out “Rubberneckin’” in Dr. John Carpenter’s apartment above the clinic.

Now, why had I not noticed this before? I did a quick google search, typing, “elvis let us pray scene movie blooper” but found nothing. Was I really the first one to have spotted this? I googled a bit more, changing the words some, but the result was the same. Not a thing.

I then looked up the editor on Wikipedia. Douglas Stewart (March 29, 1919-March 3, 1995) was an American film and television editor who won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for the film The Right Stuff (1983) along with four co-editors. Could such a professional really have cheated while editing the ending of Change Of Habit, using close-ups from another scene? Or had he somehow mixed up the footage, not realizing his mistake?

Whatever the reason, I got the idea to write a blog post about how those close-ups ended up in the final scene, using a bit of fiction. To get some inspiration, I read a couple of passages in Jerry Schilling’s book Me and a Guy Named Elvis that dealt with him becoming a film editor during the late 60’ and early 70’s. 

I was then ready to start typing something like this:

Douglas Stewart’s editing room in the basement of one of the post-production buildings at Universal Pictures was full of various reels of dialogue, songs and sound effects. As an assistant editor, it was my job to allow Douglas Stewart to work uninterrupted and I took great pride in maintaining order and structure in the editing room.

My plan was to have the assistant editor make a blunder, handing over close-up footage from the “Rubberneckin’” scene to Douglas Stewart who was busy editing the final of the movie, neither of them noticing the mix up. The assistant editor would spot the mistake when Change Of Habit was about to hit the cinemas, but by then it would be too late. Or something like that.

As I attended the premiere on November 10 I felt a sense of pride, having played a minor part in the editing of the movie. But that feeling was replaced by a chill running down my spine as I realized that the close-ups of Elvis guitar didn’t match the rest of the footage in the "Let Us Pray" movie final. What had happened?

Getting comfortable in front of my laptop I decided to watch the clip on YouTube once more before starting to hammer away at the keyboard. As I watched the scene unfold it was painfully clear that Douglas Stewart wasn’t to blame. Neither was my fictional assistant editor. In fact, no one was, as the clip was clearly re-edited and remixed long after the actual movie was finished in 1969. 

No doubt the footage from "Rubberneckin'" had been used intentionally to create this version (which was released on a bootleg DVD called Born To Rock 3, something I would have known had I bothered to read the text under the video clip).  

Why hadn't I spotted this before? I found another clip, this time of  the real ending, and sure enough, the close-ups with the guitar were nowhere in sight. And of course the whole scene was edited completely different. I felt like a fool.

I'll Remember You

40 years ago today, Elvis was in Los Angeles, quietly celebrating his birthday prior to flying to Honolulu the next day. With the support of Sonny West he had lost about 20 pounds on a stringent diet in preparation for his upcoming Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite TV special on January 14, 1973.

Elvis arrived in Honolulu looking great and eager to go. This is how Sonny West remembers it in his book Elvis: Still Taking Care Of Business (2007):

When we landed at the airport, so many leis were placed around Elvis’ neck that you could hardly see his face. We went by helicopter to the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel, where hundreds of fans welcomed Elvis. It was a thrill just to be part of it. He loved it, of course, but he was also a little tense. He would be performing live before an estimated billion and a half people around the world, and he wanted everything just right.

40 years later, I will celebrate the 78th anniversary of the birth of Elvis Presley by watching this historic event on DVD. 

Happy birthday, Elvis! 

To My Surprise! (Reprise)

On August 22 last year I wrote a post called “To My Surprise!” after having returned from a one week holiday in a Danish cottage where I had no access to the Internet. The post dealt with me finding out that Ernst Jorgensen had announced the upcoming FTD release 48 Hours To Memphis while I was away. Featuring a professional recording of Elvis' concert in Richmond on March 18, 1974, this was big news indeed.

My buddy Troy Y. who runs The Mystery Train Blog must have remembered that post. Because today, aboard a ferry from Denmark to Sweden after another vacation in Denmark without the Internet, an e-mail was waiting for me as I checked my inbox on my smartphone. Titled “Doesn't the biggest Elvis news always break while you are away?” it went like this:

First, the fantastic live recording of "I Forgot To Remember To Forget" surfaces, and now PRINCE FROM ANOTHER PLANET 2 CD/1 DVD set is announced covering MSG!

Thomas, if you keep going away, all us Elvis fans are gonna go broke! ;)

Reading this, I immediately visited my favorite Elvis sites to learn more (a good thing the ferry had WI-FI aboard). My wife, sitting beside me with our 21 months old daughter in her lap, ready to give her some food, sighed as I became absorbed with the big Elvis news that had broken during our stay in Denmark.

As I quickly found out, Troy Y. himself had actually written a great piece about the out-of-the-blue clip on Youtube of Elvis singing “I Forgot To Remember To Forget” live on the Louisiana Hayride radio show in 1955. He actually sent me a link to the clip on the very day I went off to Denmark, so unfortunately I just missed it. How typical, as it is now removed from YouTube.

But, as Troy points out in an update, this may in fact be a really good sign, as Ernst Jorgensen is “now in contact with the owner.” Hopefully, it will see an official release soon (it's not part of the new FTD box set A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete 1953-55 Recordings, as Ernst himself didn't know about its existence either. “Wow it's unbelievably beautiful. I'm still trying to recover from the shock,” was his reaction).

As if this piece of news wasn't enough, I also learned that it was announced yesterday that Sony Music will release Prince From Another Planet, a Madison Square Garden 40th Anniversary Set on September 28. The set will include a 40 minute DVD with never-before-seen footage of Elvis' performance at The Garden' in June 1972 along with two remastered CDs of the June 10 afternoon and evening shows.

My eyes glued to the screen of my smartphone, I remembered the posts about lost footage from The Garden that I wrote in 2009 and 2010, wondering about the content of the DVD. I was then brought back to reality by my wife, asking me to remove some food from her clothes courtesy of our daughter.

“Seems like the biggest Elvis news always break while I'm away,” I told her with a silly grin on my face, grabbing a paper napkin and halfheartedly starting to wipe away spilled yoghurt from her trousers. Once again, Elvis was foremost on my mind. 

Elvis '56 – 25 Years Later

The whole family coming down with the flu hasn't left much time for Elvis. I have, however, managed to spend an hour alone on the couch, recuperating with my DVD copy of Elvis '56.

As it was ages since I watched this documentary TV special (it originally aired in 1987), I didn't quite know what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised by how well it had withstood the ravages of time. By mixing still shots (many of them by Alfred Wertheimer) with filmed footage it effectively tells the story of Elvis' breakthrough year, 1956.

I especially liked the way the documentary early on switches from a clip of Perry Como singing his recent hit “Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)” on NBC to one of Elvis ripping into “Baby Let's Play House” over at CBS. This kind of editing successfully manages to put the point across that Elvis had “nothing in common with the white bread tunes from the Hit Parade of 1956.”

Some of the vintage clips I remembered, like the one in color from Elvis on stage during his SUN days. Really incredible stuff! There are also some great footage of Elvis in Las Vegas, both while performing and visiting Liberace's show, as well as film of him on stage in his gold lame suit.

But in the end it's the TV appearances that make Elvis '56 so exciting. After all, this is what it looked like when Elvis entered the living rooms of millions of Americans, many of whom didn't know what to make of him at first.

Watching Elvis sing his raw and bluesy version of “Hound Dog” on The Milton Berle Show is maybe the most telling example, as this performance caused an outraged reaction in newspapers across the country. What an humiliating experience it must have been to sing the same song dressed in a tuxedo to a real dog on The Steve Allen Show about a month later.

Thankfully, this was to become the only glimpse of the “new Elvis.” A few days later, Elvis made an outdoor concert appearance in Memphis at which he announced, “You know, those people in New York are not gonna change me none. I'm gonna show you what the real Elvis is like tonight.”

Even though it's 25 years since its original release, Elvis '56 still feels surprisingly fresh. In my opinion it manages to tell the story of the 21 year old singer's rise to national and international stardom in a credible way. And to think that it all happened during just one year!

A final note: in the book Elvis: His Life From A to Z there's the following passage about Elvis '56: “Particularly interesting were the recording-session tapes of “Hound Dog” and “Don't Be Cruel.” If my ears don't betray me it sounds like authors Fred L. Worth and Steve D. Tamerius were fooled by directors Alan and Susan Raymond using studio banter from a completely different session, one done many years later for the movie G.I. Blues.

Blue Hawaii On New Year's Eve

I celebrated New Year's Eve peacefully with my family, including my five year old niece. As she arrived, she told me she would like to watch an Elvis movie, and of course, I was happy to oblige. Paradise, Hawaiian Style being her firm favorite, we this time went for Blue Hawaii, me telling her that "Elvis plays an ukulele, just like the one you received for Christmas."

I was a little nervous she would find Blue Hawaii to be a bit boring and too serious (she didn't like Fun In Acapulco) but I didn't need to have worried. She enjoyed it from the start, pointing out that Elvis seemed to be a Casanova in this movie as well, first kissing a air hostess and then his girlfriend (Joan Blackman) waiting at the airport.

One scene she loved was when Elvis sang "No More" with some Hawaiian friends on the beach, another the one at the luau, where Elvis belted out a couple of numbers, such as "Ito Eats" and "Slicin' Sand." She also had a big laugh when Joan Blackman turned Elvis surfboard around so he fell into the water. Finally, I could tell she was impressed with the marriage ceremony at the end of the film and the clothes Elvis wore while singing "Hawaiian Wedding Song."

As we sat there and watched Blue Hawaii, I found myself enjoying it as well. The scenery was beautiful, the soundtrack very good and many of the co stars entertaining as well. Howard McNear, who played the boss of the tour company, was particularly funny, constantly forgetting that Elvis worked for him. And last, but not the least, Elvis seemed to be enjoying himself, looking relaxed and comfortable on screen.

So maybe my niece and I will catch another Elvis movie next New Year's Eve around. It sure makes me happy that she likes Elvis. At one time during the movie I had to go prepare some food, and she came rushing after me. "Can we continue to watch the movie and don't wait for you," she asked pleadingly. From a five year old, that's high praise for Elvis indeed.

Related posts:
Queenie Wahine's Papaya (Spetember 30, 2011)
Blue Hawaii - My Holiday Soundtrack (August 20, 2011)

Queenie Wahine's Papaya

The movie Paradise, Hawaiian Style generally ranks as one of Elvis' worst. But to my five year old niece, it makes for an exciting adventure.

A couple of weeks ago her father borrowed my DVD copies of Paradise, Hawaiian Style and Fun In Acapulco. She's heard me talk a lot about Elvis, of course, and I thought she might enjoy them as they feature child actresses (Donna Butterworth and Larry Domasin).

Fun In Acapulco didn't go down that well – I think she thought it a bit boring and too serious – but Paradise Hawaiian Style she loves.

Having already seen it about five times, she invited me to watch the movie earlier this evening, her father serving us popcorn and peanut butter and banana sandwiches. It was a joy to see her jump up and down in the sofa, telling me in an excited voice what was about to happen, then running to her room to change into a skirt so she could dance just like they did at the Polynesian Welcoming Festival.

She loved the scene where Elvis and Donna Butterworth sang "Quennie Wahine's Papaya" and hummed along with the music. She then went on to explain to me that Elvis had a lot of female acquantances, one at every hotel.

During the helicopter scene where Elvis sings "A Dog's Life" she told me very seriously how sorry she felt for the dogs, and when Elvis found his partner with a broken leg beside his crashed helicopter she had to look away as it was "a bit scary to watch." But the rest of the movie was smooth sailling, and I noticed she thought it pretty cool that Elvis and the dancers actually froze during "Stop Where You Are."

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening for me as well. I enjoyed Paradise, Hawaiian Style in a way I've never done before, thanks to my niece.

Charro! It Just Wasn't Different Enough

Earlier this week I sat down to watch Elvis' 29th film Charro! The reason for this was an article in the latest issue of the Elvis The Man And His Music magazine, titled "Charro! What Went Wrong?"

According to the writer, Gerry McLafferty, this dramatic western didn't work due to the following reasons:

• The actors Elvis was working with were much better in, for example, Flaming Star.
• Charro! suffered badly from sloppy editing and continuity goofs.
• The final script was a very uneven, disjointed piece, full of patchy dialogue.
• The original script had considerably more violence and nudity that was toned down.

As the end-credits rolled I had to agree. When it came to acting, Solomon Sturges, for example, who played the younger brother of Elvis' antagonist Vince Hackett, gave an exaggerated performance, to say the least.

As for goofs, in one scene I watched a disarmed Elvis riding his horse without his shotgun behind the saddle, in the next the shotgun was there. And during the final shoot-out the canon was falling from the wagon to the ground upside down, then in the next scene it was rolling downhill the correct way up.

And yes, the violence was minimal and the scene having Ina Balin emerge from a bath (filmed from behind) was missing.  Another reflection I made, that Gerry McLafferty didn't mention, was that the film could have used a couple of more extras. When Elvis entered the town of Rio Seco on horseback, it seemed almost empty. Surely more than some ten or twenty people must have lived there.

That said, I have to agree with McLafferty's opinion that Elvis' best moment in the film is the scene following the branding of his neck. He did convey "horrific pain and anguish" and the branding itself was violently realistic. And the music score, composed by Hugo Montenegro, was used effectively throughout the film.

Also, Elvis really looked the part of a tough gunfighter. It was indeed "A Different Kind of Role, A Different Kind of Man," as the promotion of Charro! read. But like Gerry McLafferty points out in his excellent article, "it just wasn't different enough."

It finally happened - Elvis On Tour on DVD

Great news from Elvis Presley Enterprises! On elvis.com the following news item was posted today:

"This fall, Elvis On Tour is coming to DVD and dazzling Blu-ray high definition - for the first time ever. Featuring electric performances from Elvis' 1972 tour, this Golden Globe winning documentary captures the raw energy and excitement of Elvis' best live performances. In celebration of Elvis' 75 birthday year, a 17-film Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD box set is also planned, which will include Elvis On Tour, Viva Las Vegas, Jailhouse Rock and more. Be on the lookout for more details soon!"

Undoubtedly one of the most awaited Elvis releases, Elvis On Tour on DVD is finally becoming a reality. Not only can my faithful VHS copy look forward to a retirement that has been long overdue, but I will at last complete my collection of Elvis' movies on DVD.

The big question is how the movie will presented. No doubt with improved picture and sound, but what about extra footage? I for one would love to see a Special Edition, but my guess is it will be the original version. Still, best Elvis news I've heard in a long time!

Revisiting past glories

It's not everyday I catch an Elvis movie from the mid 60's. But yesterday I was in the mood, and slotted my copy of Roustabout into the DVD player. Turned out it was a good choice.

The movie cast Elvis as a moody and arrogant leather-clad biker and singer (what else!) who reluctantly accepts an offer to work at a carnival. Elvis role figure Charlie spends a lot of his time on screen in conflict with both the carnival boss (played by Barbara Stanwyck) and the foreman, who hates Charlie's guts because he takes an interest in his daughter Cathy.

When things get too complicated Elvis joins another, bigger carnival as an entertainer. But all ends well as he returns, telling Cathy that he loves her and at the same time promising to help save the carnival that is now at the brink of bankruptcy.

Except maybe for the ending, I think Roustabout is a pretty good movie, certainly the last one showing him in a serious role before the established formula and stagnation took completely over. Elvis does a good job, and at times I'm reminded of his pre-army days and the anger he displayed in films such as King Creole.

Unfortunately, some of the songs and the scenes they are sung in, tend to lessen the dramatic feel of the movie considerably. One such example is Elvis singing "Wheels On My Heels" while driving his bike after being bailed out of jail. It completely ruins the atmosphere.

The use of an indoor studio for scenes that are supposed to be outdoor are annoying, too. Especially since a lot of exterior shots are used as well. How did director John Rich reason, I wonder, when he first let Elvis walk among some real tents outdoor, and in the next scene had him walking past the same tents, but indoor?

That said, I enjoyed watching Roustabout, and although it's certainly not anywhere near King Creole, it was refreshing seeing Elvis revisiting past glories on the white screen.

The Karate King

One of my favorite parts in the movie This Is Elvis is the one having Elvis practicing karate to the sound of "Kung Fu Fighting." That's why I was looking forward to the release of Elvis Presley Gladiators, a DVD that brings together footage from Elvis' never completed martial arts New Gladiators film project.

"Never before seen raw footage of Elvis' passion for karate!" it says on the cover, and raw footage is what you get. There are no titles, the film starts with Red West putting his fist in Elvis' throat and Elvis then pushing Red West and fellow "gladiator" Al Hokum backwards.

Elvis himself is not at his best, he's somewhat overweight and sweating a lot more than all the other "gladiators." But seing his happy face in scenes such as the one mentioned above, there is no mistaking his passion for karate and his enthusiasm for the project.

The footage that follows isn't just about Elvis showing his moves. We also get to see other karate experts demonstrating different techniques, such as Dave Hebler (also one of Elvis' bodyguards), Bill Wallace and Khan Rhee. Often Elvis is talking in the background, like "There's a good move, right there." Unfortunately the sound isn't very good.

That doesn't matter much, though. Neither does the raw footage deal. This is in part thanks to Wayne Carman, another martial arts expert that trained Red West and was present when the film was shot. With insightsful comments he explains what's going on and and at the same time also share some of his memories. It's almost like he is sitting beside you, and it lends an intimate feel to the whole experience.

But of course it's the scenes with Elvis that are the most interesting. I especially enjoyed the one where he shows how to do when a guy (Red West) pulls a gun at you at ten feets away - he slowly gets on his knees and starts praying. Smiling, he exclaims, "The old master says, no way to stop bullet!" Elvis famous sense of humour at work!

I also loved the footage of Elvis arriving at the Tennessee Karate Institute, where most of the scenes were shot, on September 16, 1974. I noticed Elvis wearing his white boots in the training hall, and luckily for me Wayne Carman brought the subject up: "A lot of people say, why was Elvis wearing his boots in there? Because he was Elvis!"

If you want to understand more of Elvis passion for karate, Elvis Presley Gladiators is for you. Included on the DVD is also the footage without narration, "It Hurts Me" karate footage from the 1968 TV Special, an interview with Wayne Carmen (audio only) and a photo gallery. There's also six postcards of Elvis in his karate suit inside the DVD box, together with a pretty informative booklet. The only thing missing is Elvis own T.C.B. karate patch.

I guess one can argue that the footage could have been edited differently, maybe even in a way to resemble Elvis original intentions with his karate legacy project. I'm just happy it was released at all, adding another piece to the puzzle that makes up Elvis Presley.

Elvis On Tour - Special Edition

Yesterday I spent a rainy morning on the coach watching my faithful VHS copy of Elvis On Tour. And, not very surprisingly, I started thinking about what a special edition would look like, if it was ever to materialise.

According to Stein Erik Skar's book The Concert Years about 50 hours were filmed from Elvis' concerts, the record studio and from the activity surrounding the concerts. Given the wealth of material filmmakers Pierre Adidge/Robert Abel had to work with, I think they did a good job editing the film.

That said, a special edition could, of course, be even better. The question is how to go about it. One approach could be a complete re-edit, to make it into a That's The Way It Is-movie, that is, let it start with the mock session/rehearsals recordings and then continue with the live performances. But maybe that's a questionable solution, as it would certainly go against the original intentions of the producers.

Another, and maybe more acceptable way to do it, would be to keep the original plot, but add new material and in some cases also delete some things. One example of the latter that immediately comes to mind is the scene where a very old guy wearing a hat, in a weak voice tells us which doors Elvis is going to pass through on his way to somewhere. Boring stuff.

More exciting is the prospect of adding rolls of films. The fantastic version of "Always On My Mind" from the mock session is a given. Also, I would like to see some more material from the rehearsal recordings, such as "Burning Love." In the original movie only the religious material from that day is used, to illustrate Elvis love for gospel music.

And of course, the addition of more live performances, is what really would make a special edition special. Immediately missing songs such as "How Great Thou Art," "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Release Me" and the incredible version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight" from Elvis: The Lost Performances comes to mind. And complete versions of "Suspicious Minds" and "Until It's Time For You To Go."

One thing I haven't made up my mind about is whether to keep the scenes from the 50's, including Elvis' performances on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. What do you think?

PS: While I wrote this I listened to Live In Texas 1972, the final CD on the Close Up box set released in 2003. It features the next to last concert Elvis did during his April 1972 tour, in San Antonio. What hit me was that none of the older songs done in that breatless speed ("All Shook Up" and "Teddy Bear"/"Don't Be Cruel"among them) were included in Elvis On Tour. A wise choice.

"Together they burn up the screen"

Because of a cold I called in sick today, and spent the entire day at home. In the afternoon I was really bored, so I decided to catch an Elvis movie. I picked up my copy of Viva Las Vegas from the shelf, inserted the disc in the DVD-player and threw myself on the couch.

Viva Las Vegas is a fun movie to watch, if for no other reason because of the obvious chemistry between Elvis and Ann-Margret. "Together they burn up the screen," the trailer proclaims, and that's no exaggeration! A couple of good songs, among them the title track, "C'mon Everybody" and the humorous duet "The Lady Loves Me" also plays a part, of course.


Another song I've always enjoyed is the tender ballad "Today, Tomorrow And Forever." But not until today have I realised that Elvis is singing only slightly more than one minute of the song in the movie, and that made me come up with a theory.

Maybe the reason the song is so short is that the whole scene was filmed as a duet, but then edited down, when for some reason it was decided not to let Ann-Margret sing in it. Could it have been the work of the good old Colonel, perhaps? Maybe I'm completely off the mark, what do you think?

I also have to mention a blooper I noticed. When Lucky and Rusty are flying a chopper over the Hoover Dam Elvis wears a basketball cap and headphones one moment, and neither cap nor headphones the next. It kind of reminded me of the beginning in Clambake where Elvis drives his sports car, and wears sunglasses when the camera is far away but no glasses in the close ups.

Finally, did you know there's a connection between the Grand Prix race in Viva Las Vegas and the podracing sequence in Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace? Be sure to check out Tyggrius' Elvis-Viva Las Star Wars-post over at The Film Frontier blog.

The trailer outtakes

I almost forgot that I promised a couple of days ago to write about where else I'd seen footage from Jailhouse Rock not included in the film. Today I remembered, so this evening I studied the movie trailer, because that's where it is.

After viewing the two and a half minutes of it a couple of times I can safely say there are three scenes that not made it to the final cut. These are:

1. A prison guard punching Elvis when there's trouble in the cantina. I bet the actor, who's face is clearly seen, was kind of disappointed when he watched the movie and wasn't in it. I sure would be!

2. Elvis trashing his guitar after singing "Young and Beautiful" to a not too enthusiastic audience at the La Florita club. In the movie Elvis takes a swing at the table in front of the guy who laughs like a horse, in the trailer he hits the seat behind him.

3. Elvis being untied after the whipping. You can see him clenching his fists and then going after the warden.

So there you have it, some more alternate footage from one of Elvis best films. You can watch the trailer here and see for yourself. And while you're at it, maybe you can help me out and take a look at some of the other 31 trailers and tell me if they also include alternate or unused scenes.

Lost in the vault - movie outtakes

Sometimes, when I sit down to drink my coffee at the kitchen table, I like to leaf through old Elvis magazines. The other day I did just that, and stumbled across an interesting article in Elvis Monthly from September 1994.

Under the heading "Lost in the vault" a certain Ernst Mikael Jorgensen writes about the possibility of movie outtakes. For example, he believes that 20th Century Fox has the original ending of Love Me Tender and also "Summer Kisses Winter Tears" from Flaming Star.

Also, he questions the official explanation from Paramount that they have no film outtakes and no tapes because they returned everything to Hal Wallis’s production company. How then, wonders Jorgensen, could Paramount deliver "Plantation Rock" and "Danny" to Joan Deary? (According to Jorgensen these recordings sound like they have been lifted from magnetic film reel.)

The most interesting part, however, concerns MGM/Turner, and the research Ernst Jorgensen did while working on the documentary Elvis In Hollywood. At first he was told by the Turner people that they had no film outtakes, either.

But studying borrowed computer print-outs from Turners vault, the one in the saltmine in Kansas, he came to the conclusion that there did exist outtakes from Jailhouse Rock in the vault. Turner checked the reels in question and, sure enough, the footage featured outtakes from the movie.

Jorgensen then writes that there were more outtakes than the ones that went into Elvis In Hollywood, and asks himself the obvious question - what do they have on all the other movies? The question is as valid today, 14 years since the article was published.

Of course, after reading it, I just had to watch Elvis In Hollywood and realised there were a lot more outtakes from Jailhouse Rock in it then I remembered. I counted to at least seven of them, such as the first take of the famous title song dance sequence, Elvis getting a haircut ("a fresh fish special") and a scene from the fight in the prison. There's also footage of Elvis being whipped (for a split second you see a stand-in for Elvis).

And then it hit me where I had seen even more footage from Jailhouse Rock that didn't make it to the final version of the film. But that will have to wait until my next posting.

This is Elvis - now and then

When I saw This Is Elvis at the movies in 1981 I thought it was great. I even remember they were playing Elvis songs through the speakers in the cinema as we waited for the lights to dim and the film to begin.

Yesterday evening I sat down to watch This Is Elvis again, this time on DVD. I still thought it enjoyable, although knowing a lot more about Elvis nowadays, I also spotted a lot of faults.

The beginning is one of the highlights in the movie, with the camera following Elvis (played by impersonator Johnny Harra) inside Graceland and then up the stairs. In other words, you have a peek at how Graceland looked when Elvis lived there.

In fact, I don't know of any other footage that shows the second floor of Graceland, and if only for that reason the movie is worth owning. In the expanded video version you also get to see Elvis bedroom and a glimpse of the bathroom.

Another favorite part in the movie is the Elvis On Tour montage where the song "Promised Land" is used to great effect. I also like the scenes where Elvis is practicing karate to the sound of "Kung Fu Fighting."

Then of course, there are the downsides. The worst by far is "Elvis" (Ral Donner) narrating the story of his life throughout the film: With a line like "If only I could see what was happening to me...then I might have done something about it," the movie reach rock bottom.

Other annoying stuff are bad cuts in the songs to shorten their playing time, and the horrible way the ending of "Cant Help Falling In Love" is spliced with "Suspicious Minds." Another not to bright idea is to use footage from That's The Way It Is and pretending it's from 1968.

I also have to mentions some terrible acting when it comes to a couple of interviews that clearly are staged for the movie. There's also quite a few bloopers, one example is when "Elvis" tells us he and Scotty and Bill tried to cut a record for six months at Sun, about 50 songs, before they got it right.

Still, the inclusion of plenty of interviews, newsreel footage and home movies (the directors seem to have had access to tons of material) makes This Is Elvis interesting to watch, 27 years after its release.

If you laugh at the mistakes there's still a lot to enjoy and also to be fascinated about. For example seeing Joe Esposito playing the role of himself and relive the day Elvis died. That must have been a strange experience for him.

More footage from the fair

Seems Albert Fisher wasn't the only one shooting behind-the-scenes footage when Elvis was in Seattle for location filming at the World's Fair. In the movie This Is Elvis there's about 45 seconds of Elvis at the Fair filmed in black-and-white.

In this footage you can see Elvis traveling in some kind of electrical tram signing an autograph (I think Albert Fisher is right there beside him!) and then walking around with all the Memphis Mafia guys in tow. There's also Elvis together with the little girl who played Sue Lin.

My guess is this was shot by a local TV channel, as there is also a couple of seconds of Elvis presenting a ham to the governor of Washington. The media would love that!

By the way, when this sequence is shown in This Is Elvis you can hear "Elvis" telling the audience that "The Colonel gave me an award for all my challenging roles, a ham." Obviously, that was not the case, as it was Elvis handing away the ham and Parker just looking on in the background.

Then, on YouTube, I stumbled upon some more interesting footage having to do with It Happened At The World's Fair. This was taken after Elvis was fitted for his wardrobe for the movie, and shows him signing a new four picture MGM deal.

Why this was filmed I have no idea (the video is from Joe Tunzis' DVD Hot Shots And Cool Clips Volume 3). But if you want to know what director Norman Taurog looked like, just click here.

Take me to the fair

In the latest issue of the magazine from The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain there's an interesting article called The "fair" side of Elvis. It's written by Albert Fisher, who in 1962 had the chance to hang out with Elvis during the filming of It Happened At The World's Fair.

Albert Fisher, who was 21 at the time, held a position as head of Television and Motion Pictures for the World's Fair in Seattle. It was his job to talk film and TV producers into bringing their productions to the Fair, and then assist them while they were there.

In the article, Fisher remembers his first meeting with Elvis: "I was impressed. I was a nobody and Elvis stood up to great me. Colonel Parker didn't budge...nor did he even hint at extending his hand."

After a couple of days Albert Fisher became comfortable being around Elvis and got his permission to bring along an 8mm movie camera and shoot home movies during the making of the picture. This rare footage was released by Fisher himself on DVD in 2005. Here's a sample:



When Elvis was to resume the movie in Hollywood he asked Albert Fisher to be Technical Advisor on the film. Apparently, this was light and pleasant duty. Fisher writes that he would walk onto the set, take a look around and say: "Yep. This looks like the World's Fair." He would then hang out on the set or go sightseeing.

In 1963, when the film premiered, Albert Fisher got his friends together and went to the first showing of the film to see his name among the screen credits. But as the credits began to roll he was heartbroken. Because guess who was credited as Technical Advisor? Yeah, of course, a certain Colonel Tom Parker.

Still, Albert Fisher, now a well respected TV producer himself, treasures his time with Elvis: "I hold on to my memories of my brief time being able to pal around with one of the greatest entertainment legends in history...Elvis Presley."

The Rise of Elvis Presley

When it comes to releases from the Memphis Recording Service, I seem to be buying them backwards. After getting Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley and then My Baby Left Me I was so impressed I went for The Rise of Elvis Presley - Volume II 1955. After receiving it yesterday I can only say it's another winner.

This set includes a book, a DVD with audio and the first known footage of Elvis, and a vinyl repress of the original "Mystery Train" Sun single. In other words, a lot of goodies for an Elvis fan.

I think the thing that impresses me the most is the book. With over 350 pages and a good balance between photos, text and documents it gives you a whole new understanding of Elvis and his career in 1955.

The photos show Elvis on and off stage, with fans and musicians, and what I really enjoy - the way he dresses. Man, he really had his own style with those shirts and jackets! And one period he even had a perm (and so did Bill Black, judging by some photos).

But most of all, the book tells the story of how hard Elvis worked that year. His touring schedule was "hectic...and contradicts the notion that stardom came easily to Elvis," like it says in the introduction. Including his performances on the Louisiana Hayride, according to the list in the back of the book, he made over 300 shows!

Speaking of the Lousiana Hayride, I have to mention Joyce Railback's diary. In it she kept track of all the songs Elvis sang on the Hayride when she listened to the radio, and excerpts from it are found throughout the book.

When it comes to the DVD, it is a little awkward that you have to play it on a DVD, but it's great listening to the "Fool, Fool, Fool" and "Shake, Rattle And Roll" acetates in much improved sound quality. Also, the few seconds of film showing Elvis at the Jimmy Rodgers Memorial Celebration, ads another piece to the Elvis puzzle.

Finally, the "Mystery Train" single, processed and pressed from the Sun master "mother stamper" makes for a bumpy ride with a lot of background noise. Nevertheless, it's a nice inclusion.

If I haven't convinced you to buy The Rise of Elvis Presley - Volume II 1955 already, then maybe this review can help you change your mind. As for me, I'm gonna order its companion, The Beginning of Elvis Presley - Volume 1 1953-1954, today!

Happy New Year, everybody!

What could be a more suitable way to spend New Year's Day than to listen to Elvis Pittsburgh concert from the 31th of December, 1976? At least that's what I did on the train back home after celebrating New Year's Eve with friends and family.

It really is a great show, and Elvis gives one of his best performances in a long time. The explanation for this, according to most authorities on Elvis, is the presence of his new girl friend Ginger Alden.

Whatever the reason, the 16 409 people in the audience must have had their best New Year's Eve ever. Listening to the audience recording from that night it's apparent that Elvis is in high spirits, singing songs such as "Reconsider Baby", "Unchained Melody" and "Rags To Riches."

If you want to see how much Elvis is enjoying himself, you can do that too, over 30 years later. Fortunately, some of the best super 8 mm concert footage available on DVD is from this show. Here's an example:



Finally, let me borrow Elvis own words from that legendary concert in Pittsburgh: I would like to wish you a very happy and prosperous new year!