Elvis Cinema and Popular Culture

by Douglas Brode

Overview

Though Elvis Presley's music is widely credited as starting a sea change in American popular culture, his films are often dismissed as superficial. Beyond the formulaic plotlines and the increasingly weaker songs, however, the films are rich with resonance to the changing times in which they were produced (roughly 1955-1970). They were also a means by which Elvis communicated deeply felt autobiographical material to his fan base, although in the guise of lighthearted escapist fare.

This work takes a new stand, maintaining that Elvis's 31 Hollywood features and two documentaries reveal a profound statement from the star and auteur. Analyzing each film in detail and exploring the body of work as a whole, Brode reveals the Elvis persona as a contemporary Candide, attempting to navigate an ever changing social and political landscape.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786425266
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	06/13/2006
Pages:	319
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.64(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Douglas Brode, novelist, screenwriter, playwright, film historian, and multi-award-winning working-journalist, teaches courses on various popular culture subjects at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, Department of Radio, TV and Film, at Syracuse University. The author of more than thirty-five books on the visual and performing arts, he regularly appears on national radio and TV shows as a special guest.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction: All Singing! All Dancing! All Elvis!      1
1. Elvis Died for Your Sins     
Love Me Tender (1956)     
2. Alive and Well in TV Land     
Loving You (1957)     
3. Of Music and Money     
Jailhouse Rock (1957)     
4. Fathers and Sons     
King Creole (1958)     
5. You Can’t Go Home Again     
G.I. Blues (1960)     
Blue Hawaii (1961)     
6. Mired in the ’50s     
Flaming Star (1960)     
Wild in the Country (1961)     
7. Poor White Trash     
Follow That Dream (1962)     
Kissin’ Cousins (1964)     
8. The Sexual Revolution     
Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)     
Fun in Acapulco (1963)     
9. Up the Establishment!     
Kid Galahad (1962)     
Roustabout (1964)     
10. From Marginalization to Mainstream     
It Happened at the World’s Fair (1963)     
Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966)     
11. A Mid–’60s Masterpiece     
Viva Las Vegas (1964)     
12. Out of It     
Girl Happy (1965)     
Tickle Me (1965)     
13. Everything New Is Old Again     
Harum Scarum (1965)     
Frankie and Johnny (1966)     
14. Hot Wheels and Wild Women     
Spinout (1966)     
Speedway (1968)     
15. The Summer of Love     
Easy Come, Easy Go (1967)     
Double Trouble (1967)     
16. The Cowboy Way     
Stay Away, Joe (1968)     
Charro! (1969)     
17. The Last Temptation(s) of Elvis     
Clambake (1967)     
Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)     
18. Pilgrim’s Progress     
The Trouble with Girls (1969)     
Change of Habit (1969)     
19. Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used to Be     
Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (1970)     
Elvis on Tour (1972)     

Conclusion: “50 Million Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong!”     
Notes     
Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

Elvis fans will welcome Brode’s study, which makes the case for more significance in the Presley musicals than most critics have yet seen. You’ll never watch Love Me Tender or Spinout the same way again (and again!).”—Linda Ray Pratt, author, Elvis, or the Ironies of a Southern Identity.

From the Publisher

Elvis fans will welcome Brode's study, which makes the case for more significance in the Presley musicals than most critics have yet seen. You'll never watch Love Me Tender or Spinout the same way again (and again!).

author, Elvis, or the Ironies of a Southern Identity - Linda Ray Pratt