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Post by hi224 on Feb 26, 2020 22:24:18 GMT
I feel he had potential.
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Post by RiP, IMDb on Feb 26, 2020 23:18:33 GMT
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Post by mikef6 on Feb 27, 2020 5:42:38 GMT
If he tried, he could show potential. He is pretty good in Flaming Star and, I have been told, in Jailhouse Rock but it has been so long since I have seen the latter, that I don't remember a frame of it.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 27, 2020 6:12:53 GMT
He did well with what he was given. The only "serious films" he acted in were at the start of his acting career and he was just learning the craft and still seemed uncertain and uncomfortable. THEN Col Parker (hisss boo) only allowed him to make the musicals which for what they were are not bad as far as EP's acting goes Thin plots are not Elvis's fault !
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Post by cynthiagreen on Feb 27, 2020 11:20:23 GMT
Compared to some of his leading ladies he was Daniel Day-Lewis, but on an absolute level not really... not that it mattered much then or now.
His VIVA LAS VEGAS co-star below was atypical and became a very fine actress indeed.
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Post by teleadm on Feb 27, 2020 18:20:25 GMT
Wild in the Country 1961 was pretty good, including Elvis, and had a screenplay by William Inge.
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Post by cynthiagreen on Feb 27, 2020 19:07:42 GMT
Wild in the Country 1961 was pretty good, including Elvis, and had a screenplay by William Inge. It also had Tuesday Weld (pictured) - another atypically talented Elvis co-star - lower down in the star hierarchy than her CINCINATTI KID co-star Ann-Margret, in my previous post, but still a cult favourite for LORD LOVE A DUCK and PRETTY POISON and a bit later Oscar nommed for support in LOOKING FOR MR GOODBAR, and in a very well received turn as a very tough cookie in ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, yielding nothing to DeNiro or James Woods.. The ones she turned down were some of the biggest hits of the 60s (LOLITA, BONNIE AND CLYDE, TRUE GRIT, ROSEMARYS BABY, BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (the Dyan Cannon part) and CACTUS FLOWER (Goldie's part) - much bigger than any she actually made - anybody who can give a good performance in something like SEX KITTENS GO TO COLLEGE has to be a class act. If you are someone who doesn''t know her please check her out.
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spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Feb 27, 2020 20:35:32 GMT
Wild in the Country 1961 was pretty good, including Elvis, and had a screenplay by William Inge.
Hey, tele, this is my favorite of his performances. Phillip Dunne's direction was very good for the actors, and the story was probably something that Presley could identify with. He also had a very good chemistry with Hope Lange, I thought. Just one correction though: the screenplay was by another playwright, Clifford Odets, not my beloved Inge. And I hasten to add that it was adapted from a fantastic novel by J. R. Salamanca called "The Lost Country." Salamanca also wrote the novel, "Lilith," later made in the film starring Jean Seberg and Warren Beatty. If only they could have captured the genius of that novel on the big screen. . .
Anyway, I don't pretend this film is a masterpiece, but I think it had the most material for Presley to work with in a nuanced way, and I think it brought out the best in him.
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Post by TheOriginalPinky on Feb 27, 2020 21:50:20 GMT
He was adequate - no more; no less.
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Feb 27, 2020 22:43:56 GMT
Elvis mostly played some variation on Elvis, but no one could Elvis like Elvis.
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Post by Geddy on Feb 27, 2020 22:48:43 GMT
Hard to say as he wasnt given or turned down good material.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Feb 27, 2020 23:14:34 GMT
I just checked his filmography and was mildly shocked to discover he had a total of 31 acting credits to his name. I honestly thought it was far less than that.
I've only seen a couple of his film roles, and TBH, I thought he was quite good. He was, after all, "Elvis", and that in itself entailed a certain cocky confidence and self-assured coolness that only Elvis and a few other screen idols could pull off. IOW, he had a certain charisma that easily transferred to the screen roles he played. Maybe if I watched a lot more of his films I could judge more thoroughly, but for now, I'd give him a good grade.
In It Happened at the World's Fair (1963) he was very, very good IMHO, but then again I have a certain positive bias, just based on the film's setting.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 27, 2020 23:19:47 GMT
From his IMDb PageWas originally considered for the Kris Kristofferson role in A Star Is Born (1976), but Elvis turned it down because his manager, Tom Parker, refused him permission to act in a movie where he wouldn't have top billing.
Through the 1960s, Elvis settled in Hollywood, where he starred in the majority of his thirty-one movies, mainly musicals, acting alongside some of the most well known actors in Hollywood. Critics panned most of his films, but they did very well at the box office, earning upwards of $150 million total.
He was allegedly offered roles in The Rainmaker (1956), The Defiant Ones (1958), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), West Side Story (1961), Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), True Grit (1969), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), A Star Is Born (1976) and Grease (1978). Elia Kazan had expressed interest several times in casting Elvis in his films, Elvis' manager Tom Parker refused to allow it. His last fiction film, Change of Habit (1969), deals with several social issues; romance within the clergy, an autistic child, almost unheard of in 1969, rape, and mob violence. It has recently received critical acclaim. Barbra Streisand originally wanted Elvis to play the role of John Norman Howard in A Star Is Born (1976), but the studio couldn't meet Tom Parker's demands ($1 million plus equal billing with Streisand). Elvis dreamed of playing Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972), but when he asked to audition for the part he was turned down.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 27, 2020 23:35:57 GMT
From his IMDb PageElia Kazan had expressed interest several times in casting Elvis in his films, Elvis' manager Tom Parker refused to allow it.
Hey, bat, I really think this is an urban myth. Do you have any other sources you can recommend to substantiate it? I'd be very interested to know. Can't imagine any role for Presley in a Kazan film except East of Eden, and I'm sure that Kazan would not have considered him for that. But if you do have any further info, I'd be very curious to know. Thanks. (There's no mention of Presley in Kazan's 850 page memoir.)
Nope … just the IMDb page ! EDIT: see next note Sounded kinda mythical to me too but then they also thought about Olivier as the lead in The Godfather so anything is possible. eh ?
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 27, 2020 23:45:20 GMT
spiderwort just found this rather interesting write up : www.elvisinfonet.com/spotlight_best_movie_performances.htmlIncluding this quote: "Parker must bear the ultimate blame though for Elvis' artistic demise. He was offered many, many interesting roles and Parker turned them all down including L&S's "Walk on the Wild Side" proposal (Elia Kazan and Bud Schulberg and an L&S score oh my gosh), "Midnight Cowboy", "West Side Story" and "The Defiant Ones". "
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spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Feb 28, 2020 1:07:35 GMT
spiderwort just found this rather interesting write up : www.elvisinfonet.com/spotlight_best_movie_performances.htmlIncluding this : Parker must bear the ultimate blame though for Elvis' artistic demise. He was offered many, many interesting roles and Parker turned them all down including L&S's "Walk on the Wild Side" proposal (Elia Kazan and Bud Schulberg and an L&S score oh my gosh), "Midnight Cowboy", "West Side Story" and "The Defiant Ones".
Thanks, Bat. There's no question that Parker spoiled Presley's chances for a good film career. That's well known and unforgivable, but Presley acquiesced for whatever reason.
And sorry to show my ignorance, but I don't know what you mean by "L&S". I have no knowledge of a Kazan/Schulberg attempt to do an adaptation of Nelsen Algren's "Walk on the Wild Side" (nothing I'm aware of personally, and nothing in the half a dozen books I have about Kazan), although I confess it's an intriguing idea. Can you please clarify and give me dates? That would be great.
Btw, I remember a story that Mildred Dunnock told about Presley in his first film, Love Me Tender, in which everyone was a bit concerned about his ability to act. She said in the first scene they rehearsed he was holding a plate of food and when she snapped at him, as scripted, "Put that down!" he immediately dropped it on the floor (not scripted). She said she knew then that he was going to be fine, because he really listened. If he had ever been able to work with a great director in a great role, I think he could have become quite a skilled actor.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 28, 2020 1:23:33 GMT
I wondered about the "L&S" in that quote as well... It's a direct quote from that Elvis Link cited and hoped someone else could decipher its hidden meaning ! No can do. It's what I found when looking for Kazan/ Presley linkage. Checked for more info on WotWS Kazan/Schulberg ...nada.
As for Parker and Presley … also from IMDb so unauthenticated "Elvis did not like confrontation. He wanted to fire his manager, Tom Parker, many times. He would tell his friends "Tell Parker, he's fired." His friends would go tell him, then Parker would say "Tell Elvis to tell me personally". Elvis never did."
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Post by cynthiagreen on Feb 28, 2020 7:30:35 GMT
From his IMDb PageElvis dreamed of playing Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972), but when he asked to audition for the part he was turned down. Yes THE GODFATHER MUSICAL is one of those great "might have beens..." All together now (to the tune of AMERICA) "I like to be in the mafia, OK by me in the mafia..."
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Post by hi224 on Feb 28, 2020 7:35:07 GMT
From his IMDb PageElvis dreamed of playing Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972), but when he asked to audition for the part he was turned down. Yes THE GODFATHER MUSICAL is one of those great "might have beens..." All together now (to the tune of AMERICA) "I like to be in the mafia, OK by me in the mafia..." .... As a sidenote I read he wanted to also audition for Tom Hagen as well.
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Post by teleadm on Feb 28, 2020 17:15:29 GMT
spiderwortAbout Wild in The Country, offcourse it was Clifford Odets, it was just something I remembered wrong.
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