Warner Bros. | 274 Mins. | 1957-72 | Unrated
Had he lived, Elvis Presley would have celebrated his 75th birthday on January 8th. Given his status as a cultural icon and top moneymaker, it should come as no surprise that many of his albums and films have been repackaged to mark the occasion. Not to be left out, Warner Bros. has recently released the Elvis Presley Blu-ray Collection consisting of 1957’s Jailhouse Rock, 1964’s Viva Las Vegas both previously released in high definition—and the classic 1972 concert film, Elvis On Tour which is making its Blu-ray debut. Warner has also released Elvis On Tour as a Blu-ray Book for those who want to purchase the film as a standalone.
Jailhouse Rock was Elvis’ third film and one of his most popular. In a fairly simple plot, Presley plays an ex-convict named Vince Everett with a talent for music (naturally!). After going to jail for a bar fight he didn’t start, Everett shares a cell with Hunk Houghton (Mickey Shaughnessy), and the two men form a bond. Houghton, a washed-up country singer, teaches Everett to play an old guitar and sing a few songs. After Vince proves to be a hit at the prison talent show, he decides to stay in the music business after his release. Though he has difficulty starting a career, Vince eventually hooks up with Peggy Van Alden (played by Judy Tyler, who would die in a horrible traffic accident shortly after completing this film), and together they set up a record company. Alas, success quickly goes to Vince’s head, and he plans to dump Peggy in favor of signing with a big name label for fast money. At about the same time, Hunk punches him out for reneging on a business deal between the two of them. When Vince’s vocal chords are damaged and he faces the prospect of not being able to sing, he learns the value of friendship and loyalty when Peggy and Hunk stand by him throughout his convalescence.
Whatever the storyline, Jailhouse Rock directed by Richard Thorpe (This Time for Keeps, Ivanhoe) with a screenplay by Guy Trosper (Birdman from Alcatraz) from a story by Nedrick Nedrick Young, was the perfect vehicle for Elvis; he could show off his boyish good looks and highlight his talents as a hip swivelin’ rock n’ roller. In the case of this film, with his voice restored, Vince storms back up the charts—but this time he’s the kind of guy any girl would be proud to have meet their father. While the highlights of any Presley movie are the musical numbers, Jailhouse Rock is particularly memorable. Who can forget the performance of the title song—a hip shaking, chair dancing number, complete with chorus boys dressed as convicts! While it’s a stretch to call Jailhouse Rock ‘great’ cinema, the film is a perfect balance of song and story from beginning to end; something Elvis would rarely see in his movie-making career.
Viva Las Vegas, one of Presley’s most popular films, has him paired with sex siren Ann-Margret. The biggest reason for Viva’s success is likely the undeniable chemistry between the two co-stars. In Ann-Margret, Presley had found someone who could match him in onscreen charisma. The story itself is typical fare: Presley plays Lucky Jackson, a race car driver in town for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. He needs to raise money for a new engine, but in the meantime Rusty Martin (Ann-Margret) catches his eye. But Lucky has a rival, Count Elmo Mancini (Cesare Danova), who wants to win the race and the girl. Director George Sidney (Annie Get Your Gun), a Hollywood veteran, keeps thing light here, understanding that his two star’s chemistry makes up for any of the scripts shortcomings. With no fewer than twelve songs on the soundtrack, Elvis is given lots of opportunities to shine—particularly memorable is the title song (written by Doc Pomus) and a spirited rendition a Ray Charles’ ”What I’d Say.” Add in a fairly strong supporting cast (including William Demarest, Nicky Blair, Jack Carter, and a quick appearance by Teri Garr) and you get a fairly enjoyable romp.
Elvis On Tour is the real gem here. The film documents the 15 city U.S. tour Elvis Presley mounted in the spring of 1972. It follows Elvis both on and off stage and occasionally checks in with various adoring fans and city officials who are thrilled to see him in their town. Elvis returned to the concert stage in the wake of his televised “comeback” special in 1968. His successful residency at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, where he performed a series of shows every February and August for five years, was represented in his first ever concert documentary, That’s the Way it Is in 1970. For those shows, Elvis assembled a band featuring guitarists James Burton and John Wilkinson, pianist Glenn D. Hardin, bassist Jerry Scheff, and drummer Ronnie Tutt. For background vocals, Elvis hired male gospel group “The Imperials” and female gospel group “The Sweet Inspirations”. These musicians and singers would provide the core of Elvis’ touring and recording band for the remainder of his career. All of them would join Elvis on what would become Elvis On Tour.
The concert footage shows a jump-suited, cape wearing, scarf sharing, rhinestone-studded Elvis showing some signs of physical and mental deterioration, perhaps a result of his grueling schedule and personal issues (he had separated from wife, Priscilla, less than two months prior to these shows). Despite some obvious decline, Elvis was still a commanding presence on stage. He had a talented band and stable of backup singers who were capable of following him if he suddenly took things in a different direction. More importantly, Presley’s world famous silky, if occasionally rough sounding baritone, remained in top form. When he commits himself to a song, such as on “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and the “American Trilogy”, the results are riveting. Both the concert and behind the scenes footage suggest that he was most comfortable singing straight gospel and gospel-inflected secular music at that point in his career. At times, he gets caught up in the glitziness of it all,, showing off his belt buckle and pandering to the ladies in the front rows, but that’s part of what made Elvis the consummate showman that he was.
Jailhouse Rock and Viva Las Vegas look exactly like they did on their standalone 2007 Blu-ray releases, which is to say: Fabulous. The contrast in Jailhouse‘s 1080p transfer is stunning, the color quality in Las Vegas is shiny and bright — there are a couple hiccups and evidences of the ravages of age to mention, but I honestly doubt the films could look much better. This is the case with Elvis on Tour, as well. Its you-are-there documentary feel doesn’t offer the movie as glorious a beauty as the 1080p transfers of the other picture here, but it manages to capture the movie’s visual style.
The lossless mixes here are all solid. The live-in-concert heft of Elvis on Tour really makes its DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound mix rumble with power, but even the simpler Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mixes afforded the two older films are clear and provide necessary heft. Dialogue sounds great, elements within each of the three mixes here are juggled wonderfully – these are great lossless presentations.
Jailhouse Rock and Viva Las Vegas come with English Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mixes, as well as English, French and Spanish mono tracks and all three films are enabled with English, English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Jailhouse Rock and Viva Las Vegas both come with audio commentaries by Elvis in Hollywood author Steve Pond, featurettes (The Scene That Stole Jailhouse Rock and Kingdom: Elvis in Vegas) and the films’ trailers. Elvis on Tour’s bonus slate is just a montage of Elvis’ career (supervised by Martin Scorsese).
