Blue Hawaii

060386 / G / US / 1961 / Presley, Elvis / / drama/comedy/music
Blue Hawaii / Sininen Havaiji. © Hal B. Wallis; Joseph H. Hazen. A Paramount release. D: Norman Taurog. SC: Hal Kanter - based on the story by Alan Weiss. DP: Charles D. Lang. ST: Edith Head. Best songs include: ”Moonlight Swim”, ”Ku-u-i-po”, ”No More”, ”Can’t Help Falling In Love”. CAST: Elvis Presley (Chadwick Gates = Chad), Joan Blackman (Maile Duval), Angela Lansbury (Sarah Lee Gates = mother). 101’. Colour, scope. MPAA Seal 19966. Print with beautiful colour definition: SEA / Valio-Filmi. Viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Wednesday 4 March 1998. ** Elvis Presley movies became a subgenre of their own in the 1960s. This is a prototype for future Elvis films to come. Elvis is a Hawaiian pineapple millionaire’s son: a beach boy returning from the army and wanting to start on his own, first as a tourist guide, and rebelling against parents to marry his half-native sweetheart. Elvis’s voice is at its best, but most of the songs are unworthy.

Love Me Tender

046335 / 12 / US / 1956 / Presley, Elvis / / western
Love Me Tender / Rakasta minua hellästi. © 20th Century-Fox. P: David Weisbart. D: Robert D. Webb. DP: Leo Tover. Songs: ”Love Me Tender”, ”We’re Gonna Move”, ”Poor Boy”, ”Let Me” performed by Elvis Presley. CAST: Elvis Presley (Clinton Reno), Debra Paget (Cathy), Richard Egan (Vance Reno), Robert Middleton (Siringo), Mildred Dunnock (mother Reno), Neville Brand (Mike Gavin), James Drury (Ray Reno). 90’. B&w scope. MPAA 18251. Print: SEA / 20th Century Fox. Viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Wednesday 25 February 1998. ** The Civil War is over and the fate of money stolen from the Confederates causes tragedy among the Reno family. The acting in all main roles is wooden. Among the rewards: the epic CinemaScope photography of Leo Tover and the traditional ballad ”Laura Lee” transformed by Elvis into ”Love Me Tender”. It is also interesting that in his first film Elvis plays a farmer, a husband, and a tragic figure.

King Creole

Michael Curtiz directs Elvis Presley (Danny Fisher) and Dolores Hart (Nellie) in King Creole (US 1958). The best Elvis movie. Michael Curtiz was always inspired by a strong rebel performer. Elvis Presley was the last of them, following Lili Damita, Bette Davis, James Cagney, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield...

049763 / 16 / US / 1958 / Curtiz, Michael / / rock / crime

King Creole / King Creole / Kitara kainalossa / King Creole - kitara kainalossa. PC: © Hal B. Wallis and Joseph K. Gazzo. A Paramount Picture. P: Hal B. Wallis.

    D: Michael Curtiz. SC: Herbert Baker, Michael V. Gazzo - based on the novel A Stone For Danny Fisher by Harold Robbins. DP: Russell Harlan. 

    M: Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller. ”Lover Doll”, ”Trouble”,”Young Dreams”, ”Hard Headed Woman”, ”King Creole”, ”Don’t Ask Me Why”. 

    CAST: Elvis Presley (Danny Fisher), Carolyn Jones (Ronnie), Walter Matthau (Maxie Fields), Dolores Hart (Nellie), Paul Stewart (Charlie Le Grand), Vic Morrow (Shark), Dean Jagger (Mr. Fisher - the Father). 

    111 min /25 fps/ = 116 min /24 fps/. B&w VistaVision. A Finnish release by Barium Video in 1983, lent from Helsinki City Library. Finnish subtitles. Cropped to Academy. Poor definition, soundtrack slightly damaged. Viewed in Helsinki on VHS PAL on Thursday 25 December 1997.

**** Pop culture endures the video transfer much better than Fritz Lang. Whereas Scarlet Street is caricature, this is a comic strip, and a good one. Elvis Presley performs strongly in his one note characterization as the singer / delinquent. The dialogue is excellent, and the whole cast seems to relish this New Orleans crime melodrama. Astounding accomplishment from that old Hungarian.