16 Of The Best Elvis Movies You Can Watch Right Now:
Elvis Presley was in 31 movies over the course of 13 years, from the Civil War Western Love Me Tender in 1956 to the social drama Change of Habit in 1969. In most of them, he played a cool young doctor who falls in love with a nun played by Mary Tyler Moore.
From the start, Hollywood was just as eager to use his charm and star power as Elvis Presley was to follow within the footsteps of Bing Crosby as well as Frank Sinatra, who had turned their pop stardom into successful film careers.
“It’s hard to sum up his career,” says Susan Doll, who wrote Elvis for Dummies as well as The Films of Elvis Presley. “Everyone thinks of the musical loves when you say “Elvis movie.” Elvis himself joked that they were “the Presley travelogs.”
Elvis is this image of a free spirit who works in a holiday spot and is never part of the boring, daily world. After that, he meets his co-star, the pretty lead. If she doesn’t want to be with him, he will chase her. If she does, he won’t chase her. But that’s what calms him down.”
But Elvis took his movie business very seriously in the movies he made before Blue Hawaii, which set the tone for the rest of his career. Doll said, “He learned not just his lines yet everyone else’s lines as well.” “Rich actors were in some of the movies, so he frequently asked them for help.”
Elvis:
These movies are for people who don’t believe Elvis ever had any musical ability; they show that he did, and it’s pretty amazing. A strange dance number with Elvis karate fighting to the tune of “It Hurts Me” and a parody of spy movies are also included.
It shows more about the artist and what he could do than any of the Elvis movies, which were great. Also, Elvis looks wonderful, probably better than he ever would again, and people who like his style may enjoy the movie just for that reason.
Wild In The Country:
It’s not your normal Elvis movie it only has three songs but the story was written by Clifford Odets, so it was probably the kind of status movie Presley hoped to make when he became an actor.
It was additionally his last try at a straight serious part after G.I. Blues, which did very well at the box office. In this case, Presley is not a wannabe singer. Instead, he is a difficult kid whose social worker encourages him to improve his writing skills.
It’s great seeing Millie Perkins and Tuesday Weld as two different people who want to be with each other. Doll said, “Wild in the Country as well as Flaming Star are great if you’re hoping to see Elvis try to blend in with his roles.”
The Trouble With Girls:
In his second-to-last movie role, Elvis seems more like a friendly host than the main draw. It’s a mix of a period drama, a variety show, as well as starting in the middle, a murder mystery.
In 1927, The King plays the smooth-talking boss of a traveling Chautauqua company who tries to stay classy during a memorable performance in a small Iowa town.
But it’s good for the story that he stays out of the way when director Peter Tewksbury gives screen time to the supporting cast, which includes Sheree North, Dabney Coleman, Marlyn Mason, Joyce Van Patten, Vincent Price, John Carradine, as well as Nicole Jaffee.
Elvis: That’s the Way It Is:
It seems like Elvis is living every song he sings upon stage such as it’s his last, even the older hits once he gets into them. To make sure this movie was done right, Presley hired a good director as well as a great director of photography.
The film shows why he had a sexual connection with his fans that has never been seen before in the history of show business.
G.I. Blues:
After serving in the military, Elvis’s first role as a star was alongside Juliet Prowse, a well-known star dancer and actor who helped Elvis look more grown up.
Presley was a soldier in Germany, and he bets his friends that he can meet Prowse’s nightclub dancer who is known for giving people the cold shoulder.
There are two great songs: “Big Boots” and the title song. His return to the big screen proved that he was a star. It was one of his top five box office hits.
Elvis On Tour:
Elvis: That’s the Way It Is, MGM’s first hit after the success of “The King’s Final Film,” “Elvis: That’s the Way It Is.” The follow-up from 1972 was praised by reviewers and loved by fans.
It follows Elvis upon a 15-city tour just 5 years before he died at age 42. It shows off his talent as he performs a wide range of songs, from honest versions to his own biggest hits.
One of the most famous directors of all time, Martin Scorsese, oversaw the montage for this movie about Elvis. It is also the only Elvis movie to ever win a major award, the Golden Globe for Best Documentary.
King Creole:
It’s probably one of Presley’s best movies. Michael Curtiz directed it with confidence, and the story is pretty good.
Danny Fisher, played by Elvis Presley, is a confused kid who has to live in a rough neighborhood because his family lost their other home when his father’s business went bankrupt.
Danny fails to graduate from high school and works a few dead-end jobs to make money. But Charlie Le Grand, the owner of a bar, hires him because he can sing well.
It was shot in beautiful noir black and white, and a few of the best songs in the movie are “King Creole,” “Trouble,” and “As Long As I Have You.”
Flaming Star:
This Western, directed by Don Siegel, did not do as well at the box office after G.I. Blues. In a straight dramatic part, Presley only sings two songs as Pacer, the son of a white rancher and a Native American.
Pacer desperately tries to ease racial tensions between the white homesteaders as well as the Kiowa group before deciding where his interests lie.
Variety said at the time that the movie had something for everyone: “Indians on the Warpath for the kids, Elvis Presley for the teens, as well as socio-psychological ramifications for adults who like a mild dose of sage in their sagebrushers.”
Kid Galahad:
If you can believe it, this movie is a copy of a Warner Bros. comedy from 1937 that starred Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, as well as Wayne Morris and was directed by Michael Curtiz.
In this new version, directed by Phil Karlson, Elvis plays the part that Morris originally played, which was a friendly ex-GI. He goes back to his hometown during the Catskills vacation area and impresses a former boxing manager by showing how good he is at knockouts as a natural boxer.
Young is constantly enjoying the scenery, but Elvis pulls through even the most unbelievable scenes where his character gets beat up but keeps going in the ring, as well as Charles Bronson is great as the tough-guy trainer who has seen it all and suffers a lot for his devotion to the young fighter.
Viva Las Vegas:
The romance between Ann Margret as well as the King is what makes “Viva Las Vegas” work, and that’s more than enough. Both of them were going through a lot off-screen as well, which might have helped the movie.
It’s great that Elvis as well as Ann Margret both look great and that they can trade lines so well. The movie also does a good job of being a journey, and both it as well as the title song are now forever linked to that dusty city.
Blue Hawaii:
There are two parts to Elvis Presley’s movie career: before Blue Hawaii and after Blue Hawaii. Elvis Presley’s boss, Colonel Parker, told him to give up any Oscar hopes and give his fans what they wanted, which was Elvis within a faraway place singing enough songs to fill a best-selling record. This was one of his biggest box office hits to date.
Love Me Tender:
Elvis’s first movie role is as a co-star, not the lead. It’s a shaky but interesting post-Civil War story regarding a Confederate soldier who gets false reports that his sweetheart is dead and comes home to find her married to his younger brother. Problems then arise.
While Vance Reno, played by Egan, acts honorably when he is sad, Elvis’s Clint Reno, played by Elvis, goes crazy with jealousy until he is killed to make the ending somewhat satisfactory.
The directors put a picture of Elvis singing the song’s title over the last scene at the graveyard to make Elvis’s many fans feel better. These fans, of course, helped make the movie a huge hit at the box office.
Jailhouse Rock:
Elvis is hot in this famous movie, and he does a great job to be Vince Everett, a young man who is arrested for killing and goes to jail. When he gets out, he becomes a rock star. Also, Judy Tyler is great.
Mickey Shaughnessy does a good job as Hunk Houghton, the envious ex-cellmate and business partner. Songs like “Jailhouse Rock,” “Young and Beautiful,” “One More Day,” “Don’t Leave Me Now,” and “I Want to Be Free” are on the great music.
Roustabout:
After getting fired from his most recent music job for karate-choking some college boys, Presley, a moody traveler, ends up working at a fair that is having trouble making ends meet. He does well opposite Barbara Stanwyck, but he was rudely awakened when he read an interview with producer Hal Wallace in a 1964 syndicated article.
Wallace basically said that big-budget movies like Roustabout were what made it possible for more important movies like the Oscar-nominated Becket, starring Richard Burton as well as Peter O’Toole.
“That was the breaking point” for Elvis, Doll spoke up. “He still hoped Wallace would book him in better movies.” He knew his place after that.
Loving You:
It was Elvis Presley’s second movie and the first one to be shot in beautiful Technicolor. Elvis plays a delivery boy named Deke Rivers. When a persistent press agent hears him singing, she gets him to join her ex-husband’s small moving musical group, which makes him a big star over time.
“Mean Woman Blues,” “Got a Lot O’ Livin’ To Do,” “Hot Dog,” and “Party” are some of the harder rock songs that work well on the music. This movie shows Elvis Presley’s rough and raw side.
Girl Happy:
In the funniest Presley travelogue, a Chicago mobster sends Elvis as well as his rock band to Fort Lauderdale over spring break to watch over his daughter who just wants to have fun. As “Big Frank,” Harold Stone, Joby Baker, Gary Crosby, as well as Jimmy Hawkins all do great work with their roles.
Elvis liked Fabares more than any other female figure. It was said that Fabares was happy, fun, and easy to work with, while Elvis had an affair alongside Ann-Margret upon Viva Las Vegas. There are also some good songs, like the ballad “Puppet on a String” and the dance craze “Do the Clam,” which was created by dancer David Winters.