Elvis Presley # THE MOVIE King Creole # part 7 of 11

King Creole is an American motion picture directed by Michael Curtiz, released by Paramount Pictures on July 2, 1958. The film stars Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, and Walter Matthau. It is Presley's fourth movie (the third and last filmed in black & white), and adapted from the 1952 novel by Harold Robbins, A Stone for Danny Fisher.
Presley plays Danny Fisher, a young, tough musician making his way in New Orleans. Matthau plays Maxie Fields, a kingpin of organized crime in the city, with Jones as Ronnie, a call girl with limited prospects. With its aspects of film noir, its relatively realistic depiction of the mix of poverty and ambition, and in the unsentimental relationships between the three principal characters, King Creole fits in the mold of films from that era like The Big Knife and Sweet Smell of Success. Most critics cite this as Presley's best film, and best acting performance.
King Creole is the sixth album by Elvis Presley, issued on RCA Victor Records, LPM 1884, in September 1958, recorded in three days at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It contains songs written and recorded expressly for the film, and peaked at #2 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. It followed the film release by over ten weeks.
The bulk of the songs originated from the stable of writers contracted to Hill and Range, the publishing company jointly owned by Presley and Colonel Tom Parker: Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Claude Demetrius, Aaron Schroeder, Sid Tepper, and Roy C. Bennett. Conspicuous in their relatively limited contribution were Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who had come to an impasse with the Colonel during the making of the previous movie, Jailhouse Rock, in which they had practically dominated the musical proceedings. Furious over mere songwriters having such easy access to Presley without going through Parker's "proper channels," the Colonel closed off their avenue to his prize client, especially since the duo had also tried to influence Presley's film direction, pitching him an idea to do a gritty adaption of Nelson Algren's recent novel, A Walk on the Wild Side, with Elia Kazan directing, and Leiber & Stoller providing the music.[1] The Colonel put the kibosh on such notions, although echoes of the concept remained in the film, and the pair still managed to place three songs on the soundtrack, including the title track and "Trouble," arguably the film's best songs. Presley's performance of "Trouble" in the film alludes to Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley; he would return to the song for his tremendously successful television comeback special.
The songs "Hard Headed Woman" and "Don't Ask Me Why" appeared as two sides of a single on July 10, 1958, to coincide with the release of the film. "Hard Headed Woman," the A-side, and "Don't Ask Me Why" both made the pop singles chart, peaking at #1 and #25 respectively.
The album was reisued for compact disc in an expanded edition on April 15, 1997, and again in an audiophile version from Japan on August 25, 2005. For the both reissues, an additional seven tracks were added, including the song "Danny" taken from the same sessions, with six alternates, four previously unreleased.

TRACK LISTING:

1. 1/23/58 King Creole (Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller)
2. 1/16/58 As Long As I Have You (Fred Wise & Ben Weisman)
3. 1/15/58 Hard Headed Woman (Claude Demetrius)
4. 1/15/58 Trouble (Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller)
5. 1/16/58 Dixieland Rock (Claude Demetrius & Fred Wise)
6. 1/16/58 Don't Ask Me Why (Fred Wise & Ben Weisman)
7. 1/16/58 Lover Doll (Wayne Silver & Abner Silver)
8. 1/15/58 Crawfish (Fred Wise & Ben Weisman)
9. 1/23/58 Young Dreams (Aaron Schroeder & Martin Kalmanoff)
10. 1/23/58 Steadfast,Loyal True (Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller)
11. 1/15/58 New Orleans (Sid Tepper & Roy C.Bennett)

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• elvis
• presley
• king
• creole
• movie
• film
• 1958

[luky7s]

Elvis once quoted that all his dance movements were in his legs. You can see here he is having trouble co-ordinating his upper body movements. Maybe it's the heavy tempo of this music too he struggles with. It must have been real hard for him trying to act in the way he was told to in these movies, under pressure, and being so young. Great movie and acting though as usual.

[ScarletSinn]

God, Matthau is brilliant in this scene.

[Sarasdad91]

Elvis had one of his biggest hits in this movie and yet they didn't even show him singing it. Hard Headed Woman.

[hJiLyKrHmSaGpKs]

OMG ELVIS SANG MY NAME IN THIS SONG MY NAME IS HANNAH AND HE SAYS SO HELP ME HANNAH AHHH

ID HELP HIM IN A HREAT BEAT

[12Mrpenguin]

Whatever Elvis says is right is right

[bgbizkit]

Classic movies were always good especially if you want to escape from 3D movies.

[diodoro73]

wow Carolyn Jones!!!! I remember her playing "Morticia" in the Addams Family. Such a knockout! Those exotic eyes always get me.

[itarare]

Este ator ao lado de Elvis é Vic Morrow.Ele morreu em 81,quando um helicópetero,numa cena, caiu perto dele, e decepou sua cabeça..trágico.