Construction worker Vince Everett (Elvis) gets into a fight at a bar after seeing a drunk bar patron abuse a woman, and Vince accidentally kills him which sends him to the state penitentiary for two years. As he’s serving time, Vince befriends his cellmate Hunk (Mickey Shaughnessy) who was once a great country singer that's now sadly washed-up. After watching Vince sing and fiddle around with his guitar, Hunk teaches Vince how to play the guitar properly, and encourages him to participate in a televised inmate show. Vince obviously becomes the hit of the show, and a jealous Hunk arranges that Vince doesn't get his piles of fan-mail, as he persuades Vince to sign a contract for them to be equal partners in showbiz once they both get out. Two years later, Vince gets released before Hunk does, but he is promised by Hunk a singing job at a nightclub owned by one of his friends. The owner however refuses to give Vince a job as a singer, but he luckily meets a woman named Peggy (Judy Tyler) who just so happens to be a music promoter that helps Vince out with his career. He eventually makes it to the top after so many failures of trying to get there, but he becomes a self-centered jerk who begins to turn against his friend and love interest for his selfish needs.
The story is as basic as a "rags to riches" tale can get, that offers little to no surprises or twists. There are obstacles that do feel challenging for Elvis' character, but you still know that everything's eventually going to turn out fine. Even when Vince loses his voice, as well acted as those scenes are where you feel bad for him and feel his pain, you still get the impression that he'll be back singing again in no time. And the sad part about the whole concept of Vince losing his voice is it isn't played out as a constant struggle during the third and final act, but more as a last minute obstacle to just give us a scene or two where we're supposed to pity him before we get to the last scene of the movie. But as predictable and generic as the story is, unlike how I found his previous film "Loving You" (that was also a "rags to riches" story) to be slow and boring at times, here I was thoroughly entertained and invested in it. It was interesting seeing Vince learning his musical talents as he serves time in jail and see him work his way to the top as the film goes on a good pace that feels rushed at times, but in the very least never feels slow.
Elvis himself, despite still being Elvis, unlike in the last two films where he plays the good hearted and sensitive pretty boy, here he plays the rebellious bad boy. And I have to admit that unlike the last two films where the character's personality pretty much resembles Elvis' where he only gets a few scenes of drama for him to actually act, here he's definitely acting all the way through the movie where its shocking to see this modest and endearing singer play a James Dean like rebel so naturally. I do think him turning into a blood thirsty cowboy seeking for revenge to kill his Brother in the climax of "Love Me Tender" is way more shocking than his performance here, but it's still impressive to see Elvis pull off the snarky and aggressive personality so flawless, where it doesn't seem like that Elvis is acting tough, despite that we will always see him as Elvis no matter what name, personality, or background they give to his character. And for the time that the film came out, since Elvis was considered to be a controversial performer among audiences, think about viewing this film at the time where he not only dances suggestively on-screen, but also constantly gets into fights, getting in bed with a girl (that was usually a big no at the time), being a jerk to others, and actually using profanity on one occasion. This was pretty shocking stuff for the time. However, as cool as it is to see Elvis slip into a role of a tough rebel so well, in terms of character while we can identify why he acts like a jerk, he's not really all that likable. All throughout the film, even before he lets his ego get to him, he's always seen as being rude, selfish, and violent. I mean I did feel like he did change in some ways by the film's end, and the reason for him to go into jail in the first place was for defending a helpless woman. But in all honesty, if Elvis wasn't playing him and that the character wasn't dancing or singing like Elvis would, he would just be a boring and unlikable cliched character. It's pretty much how I feel about the characters in "Grease". They're awful characters, but it’s the performances from the actors portraying them, and the songs they get to sing and dance to that makes us overlook how bad they are as characters. The same can be said about Elvis' character and performance in this movie.
The obvious main attraction to why people went to see this movie is to see Elvis sing and shake, and much like in his previous two movies, he does an outstanding job that reminds us why Elvis is such a talented artist. In his first two films, the first song he would sing on-screen would have a fast tempo, and rockin' beat, but in this film on the other hand, his first song is a slow love ballad called "Young Beautiful" that he sings three times in the film. And as much as I prefer to see Elvis play something as toe-tapping and catchy as songs like "We're Gonna Move" or "I've Got A Lot Of Livin' To Do" for his first musical number on-screen, him singing a love song is still a good change of pace that is as enchanting as hearing him sing "Love Me Tender". Elvis also gets another love to sing in the movie titled "Don't Leave Me Now" that he performs back to back in one scene, where he goes from singing the song just like how any other artist at the time would sing it, to then giving it his Elvis flair.
What helps make the songs that Elvis sings in the movie to be even more special is hiring two song writing legends like Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (who wrote plenty of late 50s and early 60s hits like "Kansas City", "Love Potion Number 9", "Stand By Me", "Yakety Yak", "Searchin'", "Loving You", the list goes on) to write four of the film's songs (including the song that the film's named after) within five hours. And what's even more interesting about the songs they write for the film is, none of them are slow moving love songs, they all fall under the classic rhythm and blues rockabilly category. The only song that they write that's slow in comparisons to the others is the song "I Want To Be Free" that Elvis sings in jail for the talent show, that's a beautiful and touching song with Elvis' vocals and the harmony provided by the band, but still has a good beat to prevent it from being another slow tune. However, I hate that the song is cut short just as you are starting to get chills from it, and sadly the studio version of the song sounds so upbeat that it loses a great piece of the emotion that made the song in the film so haunting. The second out of the four songs written by Leiber and Stroller is the song "Treat Me Nice" which is sadly my least favorite song in the movie. It's not because it isn't enjoyable because it is, especially when you have Elvis singing in a recording studio wearing a flashy outfit as he moves a bit. It's just that there's hardly anything about it that stands-out. It just sounds like any other song made from the 50s, except that Elvis is singing it. It's almost as if time was running out for Leiber and Stroller 5 hour song writing limit, and that they just decided to write this song as quickly as possible after spending most of their time writing three solid songs that have a style of their own, which is why it sounds so generic. The song "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" is my opinion the second best song in the movie. The setting of Elvis standing in front of a Hawaiian shirt wearing band, as he faces a pool full of bathing beauties and shakes it for them is fun and fitting for its party atmosphere. How Elvis' voice deepens for when he sings the lyrics "Baby I Don't Care" is mesmerizing to hear. And aside from the songs beat and tempo being as tuneful as the other songs written by Leiber and Stroller, it’s also cool to hear Elvis play the electric base for the song, especially when it’s the only song where ever he plays that particular instrument even though we never see him play it on-screen.
Obviously the best song and highlight of the movie is the "Jailhouse Rock" dance sequence that Vince performs on TV. Out of all the song and dance numbers that Elvis has ever performed on the big screen, this is hands down his all time best! The song itself is unbelievably catchy with its tongue and cheek lyrics and "Rock & Roll" rhythm and beat that are all brilliantly sung by Elvis that carries so much of the Elvis-ism all over the soundtrack that it can never ever topped, or duplicated as perfectly as the way Elvis sings it. The Blues Brothers came close, but they still couldn't out-do the heart, soul, and energy that Elvis puts into the song with his smooth and iconic vocals! The choreography for the number is very stunning for how fast and energetic it is, not to mention that Elvis himself helped choreograph this sequence. Right from the very start where the inmates are banging cups against the bars in great rhythm, and come dancing out of their cells you immediately get pulled-in by the fun and excitement from watching Elvis and inmates dance and sing together. The energy from Elvis and the prisoners dancing never comes to a halt until the sequence is completely over, every single moment you see them they’re always doing something, whether it’s watching Elvis shaking his hips, or seeing the inmates sliding around and playing with the cardboard cut-out props. And speaking of cheap props, the set-piece we see them dancing in does look like something that could probably be made for a High School stage, but the simplicity of it is part of what makes it so efficient. Mainly because the way Elvis and the dancers interact with the set as they treat it more like a playground than they do as an actual prison. The use of Black-&-White and cinematography also helps make the simplicity of it look cool and stylized, along with the costumes that Elvis and the inmates wear.
The scene that the film is famous for is so awesome, that it's sadly the only part of the movie that looks visually interesting. Sure the use of Black-&-White helps suit the film's mood and tone better than it would in color, and that some of the other scenes I've mentioned with Elvis singing looking neat. But they still look and feel like any other film you'd see from that era that doesn't offer anything that interesting or different when it comes to visuals. Plus the scenes of Elvis singing are usually him just standing in one spot shaking it as they’re either shot from a far away distance, or close to his face, where it eventually becomes tedious after awhile in terms of cinematography. With the cinematography for the "Jailhouse Rock" sequence on the other hand, the editing and camera work is always moving and showing something cool to look at, that never feels too fast or too slow. I'm not going to act like that the film's visuals outside of the scene are dull, because they aren't. It's actually quite enjoyable seeing how drenched in the 50s the film is with its use of glorious Black-&-White. I'm just saying that if you're expecting to find any other scenes or visuals in the movie that will wow you the same way as the scene that makes the film so iconic, you're not really going to get much of it.
The last thing for me talk about are the supporting characters, and if there's another thing that the film gets more right than what the other Elvis film's did, it has a cast of characters that I do find myself caring about. The only memorable supporting character that we ever got in any of Elvis' first two movies is Lizabeth Scott as the manager Glenda in "Loving You" since she loved to stir stuff up to make Elvis' character both famous and infamous. All the other characters we've seen in the other two movies are just forgettable for how generic they are. In this film, I found myself attached to them, as well as the ones who serve little purpose to the story, like the disc jockey played by Dean Jones, Jennifer Holden as the stuck-up Hollywood star that Vince is forced to date, and Vaughn Taylor as the attorney that Vince hires. The main reason why I find the characters to be better than majority of the ones we saw in last two films is because we're limited to two, and that they’re given enough time to develop a relationship and interact with each other where the chemistry feels as believable as the chemistry between Elvis and Lizabeth Scott, instead of it all feeling phoned in because that's what the script says. And the performances that each of the two actors gives is excellent. I admire how the late Judy Tyler (who tragically died in a car crash three days after filming was complete) pulls off her character's limitations towards Vince's behaviors and decisions where she comes across as a strong minded and independent woman who still carries a lot of charm rather than just being arm-candy for Elvis, which you don't see too often in film's made in the 50s. I love how Mickey Shaughnessy pulls off the wise guy personality of this has-been musician that's jealous of Vince, where I completely buy that he was once a great country star. And believe it or not, he actually gets to sing the first song in the movie called "One More Day" that's surprisingly good and adds to the believe-ability of the character's back-story for how well Shaughnessy sings it.
The film is nowhere near a cinematic masterpiece outside of the one scene that people constantly praise, for how standard the story and look of the film is, but I do think it’s in many ways better than the first two films that Elvis has starred in. The story is cliched, but it was still more entertaining and investing than the stories in Elvis’ previous films. Elvis’ character is unlikable, but it’s still cool to see Elvis pull-off the tough guy approach so well. The visuals aren’t anything special, but it does make for a good 50s time capsule for how much it’s consumed by the period. The two things in the film that I don’t at all find myself mixed about are the rockin' songs that Elvis sings, and the likable supporting characters played wonderfully by Tyler and Shaughnessy. If you’re expecting this film to amaze you as cinematic gold through its story, visuals, and characters, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re looking for an Elvis film where he doesn’t feel like he’s playing himself this time, that’s entertaining, has characters that aren’t boring, and features many scenes of Elvis performing in a film that brings plenty of that classic 50’s nostalgia, then this is the film for you!
RATING 4/5
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