Elvis Blog Archives
February 2009

Entry #48: Posted February 5, 2009
Jailhouse Rock Chronicles: A Prison, a Cow Bell, and a Riot

Jailhouse Rock was Elvis Presley’s third film. It premiered in Memphis on October 17, 1957, and was released nationwide on November 8. Variety listed it at #14 on its list of “Top Grossers of 1957,” and in 2004 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." While rating behind King Creole in popularity with both critics and fans alike, Jailhouse Rock has proved to be Elvis’s most historically significant movie. Fifty years after its making, it remains a classic rock ’n’ roll film.

This week I’d like to share three anecdotes which appeared in the press within a week following the release of Jailhouse Rock back in November 1957. All three speak to the cultural impact of the film at the time.

“Prison Chief Grimaces; ‘Jailhouse Rock’ Link to Carolina Unfavorable”

That was the headline over an article in Variety on November 13, 1957, just five days after Jailhouse Rock’s national release. It seems that about three minutes after the film’s opening credits, an outside view of the prison in which Vince Everett (Elvis) was to serve his sentence for manslaughter, briefly flashed on the screen. A number of North Carolina residents who viewed the film recognized the facility as their state’s Central Prison, located outside Raleigh.

Speaking to reporters, North Carolina State Prisons Director W. F. Bailey expressed disappointment that his state’s penitentiary appeared as the “big house” in Presley’s movie. According to Bailey, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had not asked permission to use a shot of Central Prison in Jailhouse Rock. “I wouldn’t have allowed it if they’d contacted me,” the director said.

In the Variety article, Bailey made it clear that he was not so much concerned about the outside view of the prison as he was about the perception that the interior scenes of prison discipline involving Presley in the movie were representative of what actually occurred in Central Prison. In particular, he referred to the scene in which Presley’s character is tied up and flogged for his part in a prison riot. In the scene the callous film warden stands nearby and counts off the lashes.

“We sure don’t allow lashings here,” Bailey told reporters. “We absolutely do not. It’s contrary to all our policies and rules.”

According to Variety, no one in North Carolina seemed to know how a view of Central Prison got into Jailhouse Rock. One possibility is that stock footage may have been used from a previous film, possibly Carbine Williams.

“Bailey said he regretted the use of the state prison in the picture,” concluded the Variety article, “because fans who recognized it might think that North Carolina prisons were run like the Hollywood version.”

Comment: I’ve watched Jailhouse Rock at least 20 times over the years and never knew that momentary shot was of a prison in North Carolina. Never even thought about it. Who, besides a few people living on the outskirts of Raleigh, would ever have known if prison director Bailey hadn’t made a big deal about it? If he were concerned about Central Prison’s reputation, he should have hired Colonel Parker to head publicity for North Carolina’s “big house.” After all, the prevailing wisdom at the time was, “If Colonel Parker can make Elvis a success, he can put anything over on the public.”

Threw Cow Bell at Presley, Out on Bail

This headline over a very brief article, also in Variety’s November 13, 1957, issue, concerned a Texas man who found himself behind bars as a result of his behavior during a theater showing of Jailhouse Rock. The text of the article reads as follows.

“Metro’s ‘Jailhouse Rock’ rocked a young Baytown, Tex., man right into the local jail. His offense: Throwing a cow bell at Elvis Presley on [the] theatre screen. Into the jailhouse went Earl Shanks, a little less than 48 hours after the cow bell incident at the Bronson Theatre. He was sprung on $500 bond but faces malicious destruction of property rap.”

Comment: Who throws a cow bell at a theater screen? Wouldn’t a tomato have been a better choice? Or eggs? (Some college boys threw eggs at Elvis on stage in Philadelphia earlier that year.) Maybe that Shanks guy brought the bell with the intention of ringing it during Elvis’s musical numbers. Maybe his girl was getting so excited over Elvis that he decided to throw the bell instead of ringing it.

“Elvis Film Sparks ‘Riot’ of Juveniles’

Commotion on a much wider scale occurred at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, California, at a showing of Jailhouse Rock on November 13, 1957. The next day, the Oakland Tribune reported on the “riot.”

A packed house had just finished viewing the 6 p.m. showing of Elvis’s newest film when the action started. When the theater lights went up to allow the audience to leave, five boys reportedly “grabbed” several girls as they walked up the aisle. Other boys jumped to the girls’ defense, and fistfights broke out.

Eighteen Oakland police officers responded to a riot call at the Paramount and found about 1,000 youths milling around inside the theater. Fights were still breaking out, and one boy even took a swing at a special police officer. The theater was closed down for an hour while officers suppressed the disturbance. Five boys were initially arrested, but three were soon released. One 15-year-old was booked for disturbing the peace and resisting arrest. Another boy, age 16, was held for disturbing the peace. Estimated damage to the Paramount building was assessed at about $1,000.

According to the Oakland Tribune, “The showing of ‘Copper Sky,’ the theater’s second feature, was held up for an hour while the management refunded money to more than 500 youngsters who panicked when the scattered fights broke out.”

Comment: Did the disturbance in that Oakland theater really qualify as a riot? Let’s see—multiple fights, a thousand dollars in damage, some arrests. Let’s call it a mini-riot. The amazing thing is that in that one theater a handful of teenage punks were able to cause more of a ruckus than occurred at any of Elvis’s 28 live appearances during 1957. The reason there were no riots despite Elvis’s wild act on stage?—Colonel Parker. He made sure enough security was on hand to keep things from getting out of hand. It’s just one of the many things he did for which the Colonel never received the credit he deserved. — Alan Hanson

Entry #49: Posted February 12, 2009
Comparing Elvis on Stage in the 1950s and the 1970s

There are many Elvis fans around today who actually saw Elvis perform live on stage in both the 1950s and the 1970s. I know a few, but unfortunately, I’m not a member of that club. I saw Elvis perform twice in the seventies, first in Seattle in 1970 and then again in Spokane in 1976. But I was only eight years old when Elvis came to Spokane in 1957, and so he passed through without me even knowing he had been in town. However, while doing research for my book, Elvis ’57: The Final Fifties Tours, I became quite familiar with Elvis’s stage show that year. So this week I’m going to compare Elvis on stage in the fifties with Elvis on stage in the seventies.

Of course, a specific comparison of Elvis live in those two decades is impossible. On one hand, a live Presley performance in 1955 was quite different from one in 1957. Similarly, Elvis on stage in 1970 differed in many ways from Elvis on stage in 1976. (I can testify personally to that.) The best that we can do, then, is to pick one city and compare Elvis’s appearances there in the two decades. The city I’ve chosen is Portland, Oregon, since Elvis was at the height of his game when he played that town in 1957 and 1970.

Elvis’s appearance in Portland on Labor Day, September 2, 1957, was one of his final concerts of the decade. By then he was no longer the wild, raw performer he had been the previous couple of years. Instead, he had polished his act. He had become a master at manipulating a crowd’s emotions, and he was drawing the biggest crowds of his (or anybody else’s) career. With a string of hit records in his repertoire, he was truly at the top of his game.

Elvis next played Portland 13 years later, on November 11, 1970 (I saw him the next night in Seattle). Having polished his act during three Las Vegas engagements, Elvis had only recently gone back out on tour. Not counting Vegas, Portland was just the ninth city that he played in the new decade. Again, Elvis had a recent collection of hits on the playlist. His fans, starved by his long self-exile from the stage, came to see him by the thousands. Once more, he was at the top of his game.

So how did the two Portland shows, 13 years apart, compare? In some ways they were different, reflecting the great cultural and technological changes that had occurred between them. In other ways, though, they were the same, as if nothing had changed through the years.

Let’s start with the obvious changes. First, the venues. In 1957 Elvis performed outdoors on a portable stage sitting over second base in the city’s Multnomah Stadium. In 1970 he played indoors at Portland Memorial Coliseum. While both crowds numbered about 12,000, their makeups differed. At 21, Elvis played to a crowd dominated by screaming 14- and 15-year-old girls. Returning at age 34, Elvis faced a scattering of teenagers, but his fans had aged with him, and the Oregonian referred to the 1970 crowd as being mostly “mothers and matrons.”

Another obvious difference between the two concerts was the stage personnel. Only five singers (Elvis and the Jordanaires) and three musicians (Scotty, Bill, and D. J.) were on stage that night in 1957. At the Coliseum in 1970, Elvis was joined on stage by at least six musicians (TCB Band) and nine background singers (Sweet Inspirations, The Imperials, Kathy Westmoreland).

There was also a striking difference in Elvis’s stage deportment during the two Portland concerts. It was gyrations versus karate. In 1957 an Oregon Journal writer characterized Elvis’s stage act as a series of “bumps and grinds, wiggles and sinuous writhings.” According to the Oregonian, in 1970 Elvis still worked up a sweat, but “many of his movements [were] unnecessary; he [directed] the band with arm jerks; he [ran] around the stage like a long-haired Pagliacci eager to keep the stage crew happy.”

As for the songs Elvis performed, there were many differences, of course, but there were a few common numbers as well. Elvis’s 45-minute,15-song set for his Pacific Northwest tour in 1957 included “Heartbreak Hotel,” “I Got a Woman,” “Teddy Bear,” “Loving You,” “All Shook Up,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “I Was the One,” “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin,” “Love Me,” “Mean Woman Blues,” and the standard ’50s closer, “Hound Dog.”

Elvis’s hour-long, 14-song 1970 show in Portland included “Johnny B. Goode,” “That’s All Right,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “I Got a Woman,” “Love Me Tender,” “Sweet Caroline,” “Polk Salad Annie,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “How Great Thou Art,” “The Wonder of You,” “Suspicious Minds,” “Hound Dog,” and his standard ’70s closer, “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

From the 1970 concert, Oregonian writer John Wendeborn picked “How Great Thou Art” and “Johnny B. Goode” as the best numbers of the night. Elvis did the Chuck Berry song, Wendeborn said, “in the old Presley style. It was fast and it incorporated the fabulous backup quintet.”

Sound was by far the biggest difference in the two Portland concerts. In 1957 Elvis and his band were still operating with a weak amplifier and a couple of small box speakers set on the stage. Although it was the best sound system available at the time, it was woefully inadequate when playing to 12,000 people, especially in an open-air venue like Multnomah Stadium. Combine the weak sound system with the constant screaming of teenage girls, and most of the crowd could barely discern Elvis’s voice, if at all.

Of course, in the 13 years that intervened between Elvis’s two Portland appearances, concert sound system technology improved in leaps and bounds. The Oregonian’s review of Elvis’s 1970 show reflects that, observing that the singers “elevated the decibels” and the band “crescendoed out of sight.” In the fifties, Elvis occasionally joked that he didn’t mind the screaming at his shows because it covered up his mistakes. By 1970, though, the advanced equipment revealed all sound, both good and bad, coming from the stage. The Oregonian reported that Elvis “flubbed the words to ‘The Wonder of You’ and didn’t finish many of his songs.” (Of course, Elvis did finish all of his songs. The writer here was undoubtedly referring to the shortened versions of his fifties hits that Elvis incorporated into his seventies concerts.)

Despite all the differences between Elvis’s 1957 and 1970 concerts in Portland, there was one common thread. It was in the craziness committed by some of his female fans. In 1957 it was the girl who climbed the outside façade of the Multnomah Hotel in an effort to reach Elvis’s seventh floor room and the young wife who snuck out to see Elvis’s show against her husband’s wishes, only to be exposed by a photo of her at the concert in the next morning’s newspaper. In 1970 it was the group of college girls who had front row seats for Elvis’s show in the Coliseum. One ran up to the stage and grabbed Elvis’s bottle of mineral water. Each of the girls took a drink. “He had a cold, and each of us got a cold from that. We always said we got Elvis colds,” one later announced proudly. When it came to how fans reacted to Elvis, some things never changed. — Alan Hanson

Entry #50: Posted February 19, 2009
The Idealists versus The Realists: Who Are the Real Elvis Fans?

Early last month I received a shipment of Elvis magazines from the United Kingdom. As I’ve mentioned in this blog before, Elvis: The Man and His Music, edited by Trevor Cajiao, is my favorite Elvis magazine. EMM recently had a back issue sale, and I ordered a couple dozen issues from the early to mid-1990s. Of course, much of the information in those issues is dated now, but still they include articles, interviews, and reviews that make good reading for an Elvis fan like me.

In addition to EMM’s focus on the factual history of Elvis’s life and music, I also enjoy its candor and honesty. If a reviewer thinks a certain book about Elvis is worth buying, he says so; if he thinks it isn’t worth the cover price, he’ll say that too. Elvis, himself, gets fair and balanced treatment in the magazine. Of course, EMM’s contributors are self-styled hard-core Elvis fans, and so they give the man his due credit most of the time. Still, EMM is not afraid to call Elvis out over mistakes they think he made.

A good example is Ger Rijff’s article, “Vegas ’76 Revisited,” which appeared in EMM issue #18 in March 1993. Although the article was written 16 years ago, its content and the reaction of the magazine's readers to it is still relevant in Elvis fandom today. It reveals a continuing divide in the way Elvis fans view their favorite rock 'n' roller over 30 years after his death.

Ger Rijff is a well-known, long-time Dutch Elvis fan, who has written and published quality Elvis articles and books through the years. His devotion to Elvis was questioned, however, after his “Vegas ’76 Revisited” article appeared in EMM.

In the article Ger gave his observations about six Elvis shows that he saw at the Las Vegas Hilton in December 1976. He started out by blasting the Hilton showroom employees (“creeps” he called them) for seating the “real fans” in the back of the showroom, while giving the seats up front to the big-tippers. Ger blamed Elvis, in part, for allowing his fans to be treated so shabbily.

“ … we wondered why Elvis and his management let this happen … did Elvis and his management really care about us as much as we have been made to believe over the years? You tell me. They sure didn’t show any pity when, back in the Summer of 1975, over two hundred fans from the UK and Europe got stranded in Las Vegas and had to find out by themselves Elvis had left Vegas the night they’d arrived! I was one of them.”

Of the six shows Ger saw in December 1976, five were good ones. “He’s got incredible stage presence. Charisma beyond words,” Ger wrote. However, the bulk of his article concerned the sixth show, which he characterized as “downright WEIRD!”

It was Sunday night, December 5th. Elvis was late getting on stage; something about a sprained ankle, the crowd was told. Finally, Elvis entered stage left, limping and leaning on Charlie Hodge. “He looks bad,” Ger observed. “His face is pale and bloated.” After his first song, Elvis addressed the audience. “His voice is slurred and he’s not in control of his body movements,” Ger wrote. “I’m now convinced he’s drunk … His voice sounds weak. His eyes are glazed.” Watching Elvis’s antics on stage made Ger cringe. “Seeing my hero making such an ass of himself makes me wish I could crawl under a rock.” Well, Ger went on to give other depressing details about the show, but you already get the picture, I’m sure.

Of course, Ger Rijff’s article didn’t sit well with that group of Elvis fans who don’t like to hear their idol criticized, and a Mrs. P.A. Robinson spoke for them in a long letter printed in the next issue of EMM. Of Rijff, she wrote, “The article would appear to reflect the bitterness and contempt which he feels for Elvis both as a performer and for the manner in which he believes Elvis treated his fans.” The fault for the poor seating arrangements belonged to Elvis’s management, not Elvis, she pointed out. He never let her down or her fellow “loyal” Elvis fans. “You ask, Mr. Rijff, if Elvis ever really cared about his fans,” noted Mrs. Robinson, getting to the point. “I would ask you, are you or have you ever been a true Elvis fan?” She concluded with a note to EMM’s editor. “I would definitely not be purchasing further issues until the cessation of Mr. Rijff’s articles.”

In his printed response below Mrs. Robinson’s letter, editor Trevor Cajiao was obviously miffed. However, he did clearly state the philosophy of his magazine. “In these pages we do our best to put forward a balanced view of things—and there’s times when the truth often hurts. Not every Elvis concert was wonderful. Likewise, not all of his records or films were wonderful. If ‘Elvis could do no wrong’ is your view of things, then you’re reading the wrong magazine. If you still feel the same way I’d be more than happy to refund your subscription.”

Of course, the next issue of EMM saw a number of letters supporting Ger Rijff. Various EMM readers labeled Mrs. Robinson “foolish,” “idiotic,” “ignorant,” “uptight,” “stupid,” “head in the sand,” and “a bozo.” Several suggested Mrs. Robinson stop reading EMM and subscribe to a different magazine more suitable for her and other like-minded, “so-called” Elvis fans. In other words, these incensed EMM readers were just as arrogant and intolerant about Mrs. Robinson’s feelings toward Elvis as she was to theirs.

Before commenting on the skirmish just described, I need to admit that my philosophy as an Elvis fan agrees more closely with the EMM crowd than it does with Mrs. Robinson. I’m an Elvis fan, but I also see the man through the dispassionate eyes of a historian. His entire life, both professional and personal, both magnificent and sad, is a uniquely American story. No part of it can or should be ignored, as there are historical lessons to be learned from all of it. I also believe that Elvis, like everyone else, bears the responsibility for his actions, both good and bad, during his extraordinary life. It’s unfair to credit him for all the great things he did, while blaming Colonel Parker and others around him for the poor choices Elvis made.

Having said that, though, I understand those fans (probably the majority) who look at Elvis through rose-colored glasses. Elvis is an uplifting, shining light in their lives. They know about the bad movies, the drugs, and the strange behavior; they just would rather not dwell upon that when there are so many positive things about Elvis—his beautiful voice, his generosity, and the good concerts (surely the vast majority).

As for that quarrel in the pages of Elvis: The Man and His Music back in 1993, when I read it recently, I felt both sides could have been a bit more tolerant. I’ve had Elvis friends in both camps, and we’ve always been able to find common ground in the wide shadow cast by Elvis Presley’s legacy. Maybe I’m making too much of a spat in the pages of an Elvis fan magazine 16 years ago. I hope so. — Alan Hanson

Entry #51: Posted February 26, 2009
Welcome to the Academy Awards for Elvis Presley Movies

It’s Oscar month, and since the Academy Awards spurned Elvis Presley throughout his film career, I thought it appropriate that we Elvis fans hand out our own awards for the superior performances in Elvis’s 31 theatrical movies. I’ve come up with eight categories and selected the nominees based on what I believe a vote of Elvis movie fans would have chosen.

In an “Overview” I’ve tried to briefly list the strengths of each nominee. The “fan choice” is the nominee I believe to be the odds-on-favorite prior to voting. Finally, I list my personal choice in each category. The winners, however, will be determined by your votes. After you’ve read through the nominations, please take a few minutes to vote for your favorites. The winners in each category will be announced in this blog next week.

BEST MUSICAL SOUNDTRACK

Nominees:

• “Blue Hawaii” (“Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “Beach Boy Blues,” “Hawaiian Wedding Song,” etc.)
• “G.I. Blues” (“Wooden Heart,” “Shoppin’ Around,” “Tonight Is So Right for Love,” etc.)
• “Jailhouse Rock” (“Treat Me Nice,” “Baby, I Don’t Care,” “Young and Beautiful,” etc.)
• “King Creole” (“Dixieland Rock,” “As Long As I Have You,” “Hard Headed Woman,” etc.)
• “Viva Las Vegas” (“What’d I Say,” “C’mon Everybody,” “My Rival,” etc.)

Overview: The Hawaii movie has the most quality songs, but its tropical theme is narrow. “Vegas” has the advantage of Ann-Margret’s vocals supplementing Elvis’s work. “Jailhouse Rock” and “King Creole” spotlight Presley’s classic fifties style. “G.I. Blues” is the sentimental choice of those Elvis fans who desperately needed an Elvis fix after his two years away in the Army.

Fans’ pick: “Blue Hawaii”
Alan Hanson’s pick: “Blue Hawaii”

BEST SONG

Nominees:

• “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (from “Blue Hawaii”)
• “Jailhouse Rock” (from “Jailhouse Rock”)
• “Love Me Tender” (from “Love Me Tender”)
• “Mean Woman Blues” (from “Loving You”)
• “Return to Sender” (from “Girls! Girls! Girls!”)

Overview: Two earlier rockers, two ballads, and a pop rhythm tune—it comes down to personal taste. “Jailhouse Rock” and “Mean Woman Blues” are boosted by classic Presley renditions on film, while the two ballads are sentimental choices. “Return to Sender” was Elvis’s last hit movie single for a long time. It’s a tough call.

Fans’ pick: “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
Alan Hanson’s pick: “Return to Sender”

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

The Nominees

• Lola Albright (as Dolly Fletcher in “Kid Galahad”)
• Dolores Del Rio (as Neddy Burton in “Flaming Star”)
• Carolyn Jones (as Ronnie in “King Creole”)
• Angela Lansbury (as Sarah Lee Gates in “Blue Hawaii”)
• Judy Tyler (as Peggy Van Alden in “Jailhouse Rock”)

Overview: Tyler is the sentimental favorite, as her death made this her last role. Del Rio and Lansbury both played mothers of Elvis’s character—Del Rio in a dramatic role; Lansbury in a comedic one. Albright stood out in a top-flight cast in “Kid Galahad.” Jones got the best reviews. (“Carolyn Jones is a knockout as a fallen thrush … their aborted romance gives the pic its finest scenes.” — Billboard)

Fans pick: Carolyn Jones
Alan Hanson’s pick: Lola Albright

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

The Nominees

• Walter Matthau (as Maxie Fields in “King Creole”)
• Jack Mullaney (as Stanley Potter in “Tickle Me”)
• Arthur O’Connell (as Pop Kwimper in “Follow That Dream”)
• Harold J. Stone (as Big Frank in “Girl Happy”)
• Gig Young (as Willy Grogan in “Kid Galahad”)

Overview: All played quite different roles. Matthau a cruel gangster; Mullaney a bumbling sidekick; O’Connell a simple but responsible father; Stone a harsh but caring father; and Young an inept, small-time boxing promoter.

Fans pick: Walter Matthau
Alan Hanson’s pick: Arthur O’Connell

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

The Nominees

• Ann-Margret (as Rusty Martin in “Viva Las Vegas”)
• Michele Carey (as Bernice in “Live a Little, Love a Little”)
• Shelley Fabares (as Valerie in “Girl Happy”)
• Mary Tyler Moore (as Sister Michelle in “Change of Habit”)
• Joan O’Brien (as Diana Warren in “It Happened At the World’s Fair”)

Overview: “Girl Happy” was the best of Fabares’s three leading lady roles with Elvis. Ann-Margret came close to stealing the show from Elvis. Carey played an interesting enigma in “Live a Little.” O’Brien’s nurse made Elvis work to earn her affection. In “Change of Habit” Moore showed some of the flair that would make her seventies TV series so successful.

Fans pick: Ann-Margret
Alan Hanson’s pick: Ann-Margret

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

The Nominees

• Elvis Presley (as Vince Everett in “Jailhouse Rock”)
• Elvis Presley (as Danny Fisher in “King Creole”)
• Elvis Presley (as Toby Kwimper in “Follow That Dream”)
• Elvis Presley (as Walter Gulick in “Kid Galahad”)
• Elvis Presley (as Lonnie Beale in “Tickle Me”)

Overview: Presley’s a sure winner, but for which role? He was convincing as an angry young man turned singer in both “Jaillhouse Rock” and “King Creole.” Lonnie Beale was his only straight comedic role. In “Follow That Dream” he showed both his comedic and dramatic talent. As Walter Gulick, Elvis made believable the unbelievable—that anybody with Elvis Presley’s physique could actually be a boxer.

Fans pick: Elvis Presley in “King Creole”
Alan Hanson’s pick: Elvis Presley in “Follow That Dream”

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

The Nominees

• “Change of Habit” (Elvis Presley, Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara McNair, Ruth McDevitt)
• “Jailhouse Rock” (Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Vaughn Taylor)
• “Kid Galahad” (Elvis Presley, Gig Young, Charles Bronson, Lola Albright)
• “King Creole” (Elvis Presley, Walter Matthau, Carolyn Jones, Dean Jagger)
• “Love Me Tender” (Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Elvis Presley, Mildred Dunnock)

Overview: As nuns, the three lead actresses in “Change of Habit” effectively developed separate characters, while Elvis played it cool in his final dramatic role. Playing off Elvis’s angry young man in “Jailhouse Rock,” Shaughnessy as the cellmate, Tyler as the girlfriend/partner, and Taylor as the cold lawyer added their talents to this classic film. In “Galahad” Elvis held his own with polished pros Gig Young and Charles Bronson. Albright and numerous character actors added to the film’s charm. In what critics call his best role, Elvis was surrounded by a cast of talented pros in Matthau, Jones, and Jagger in “King Creole.” Others, including Jan Shepard, Vic Morrow, and Paul Stewart, were part of the strong cast. “Love Me Tender” was Elvis’s only movie in which he did not play the leading man. That went to Richard Egan, who, along with Paget, Dunnock, and a host of character actors, carried a movie that Elvis admitted would have been just as good without him.

Fans pick: “King Creole”
Alan Hanson’s pick: “Kid Galahad”

BEST PICTURE

The Nominees

• “Blue Hawaii” (Paramount, 1961)
• “Jailhouse Rock” (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1957)
• “Follow That Dream” (United Artists, 1962)
• “Kid Galahad” (United Artists, 1962)
• “King Creole” (Paramount, 1958)
• “Viva Las Vegas” (Metro-Godwyn-Mayer, 1964)

Overview: Fifty years after it was made, “Jailhouse Rock” is recognized as Presley’s classic rock 'n' roll film. Elvis’s acting talent was first recognized in “King Creole,” the darkest and most serious of all his films. “Blue Hawaii” was Elvis’s greatest success at the box office. Both comedic and dramatic scenes make “Follow That Dream” memorable. In “Kid Galahad” Presley shared the screen with a host of talented and professional actors.

Fans pick: “King Creole”
Alan Hanson’s pick: “Follow That Dream”

Cast your votes by clicking on the “Comment on this blog” link below. (You don’t have to vote in all categories.) Please restrict your votes to the nominees. No write-ins. If you think a different song/actor/film/etc. should have been nominated, please give details following your votes. Award winners in all categories will be announced in this blog on Thursday, March 5. — Alan Hanson

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