Elvis Presley, the King Of Rock N Roll, maybe not the
inventor of it like Chuck Berry but defiantly is the king of it. He's not
just King Of Rock N Roll, he also rocks at singing Gospel and country as well.
Elvis is indeed one of the best artists of all time because of his singing, charm,
movement and style and to honor the King, I'll be doing a review on a film, TV
Performance or documentary on him on the day he was born and on the day he
died. Let's start with the performance that made his mark on his career and pop
culture and that's his performance on...
THE MILTON BERLE SHOW 1956
The Milton Berle Show was hosted by comedy legend Milton Berle and was a really successful show for the time but what it's best known for is when Elvis took the stage. I haven't seen or found the whole episode but I will review and talk about the clips I found from the episode.
The program (I believe) opens with screaming girls for Elvis
return on the show (I'll review his other appearance on the show some other
time) and can't wait to get an autograph from Elvis. Milton calms the girls down and tells them
that he knows Elvis personally. However, Elvis enters the stage and Milton doesn't even
recognize him and treats him like he's one of the fans. After when he realizes he’s
Elvis he has him sing for the girls but not after the girls rip off his clothes
mistaking Milton
for Elvis. Elvis then sings "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" to
the screaming girls and afterwards Milton presents him an award. This is a very
rare scene from the episode and has not been seen for years. The comedy from Milton
Berle is really funny and together with Elvis you can almost swear that they
can make a great comedic team. Elvis does a phenomenal job at singing while
charming the girls and Milton briefly sings along with him as well.
Elvis does his famous hit cover "Hound Dog" and
his performance of this song is off the charts. He puts his guitar aside, sings
with his rockin voice; he moves his hips like crazy and this performance is the
reason why a lot of people love Elvis. Just when you think the song's over, he
plays it slowly and slowly moves hips in a very suggestive way to the screaming
girls. This performance was so suggestive that young girls went nuts while the
older audience looked at him in disgust and the reviews from critics (At the
time) weren't too pleasing either.
After the performance, a very happy Milton Berle shakes his hand, imitates Elvis for a minute, and introduces him to an over excited Debra Paget which makes Milton a bit jealous. The two will both be together in Elvis's first movie "Love Me Tender" which came out the same year as this performance. Once again Milton Berle gives a funny performance; Debra Paget gives an unexpected break down; and Elvis looks a bit nervous to meet her.
This may not be Elvis's first performance on TV nor his first on "The Milton Berle Show" but it set the mark for him. The humor from Milton Berle is great but Elvis steals the show and episode with his singing and movement. It's not only one of Elvis' best or highlighted performance but it's also one of the most controversial performances that ever hit the TV screens (For the time). This is one performance from the King that will never ever be forgotten!
RATING 5/5
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