Love Me Tender [1956]

Amazon.co.uk Review

Elvis: Films That Rock contains three of the King's early screen efforts: Love Me Tender (1956), Flaming Star (1960) and Wild in the Country (1961). It's pointless to suggest that they aren't among Elvis's best movies (you'll have to look elsewhere for King Creole and Jailhouse Rock, which probably are), partly because any fan's going to want them all anyway, but also because all three are interesting in their different ways. Love Me Tender, made in black and white in 1956, was Presley's first stab at acting, and this story of a family split by the American Civil War--one brother goes off to fight, the other doesn't--sees him short on screentime and being upstaged by pretty much everyone else. That said, it was a reasonably brave move for Presley to begin his movie career by dealing with this kind of subject matter, however sentimentalised.

Four years later, Flaming Star took the steer by the horns with Presley portraying a young man of mixed parentage caught up in the ethnic conflict between Native Americans and the white race. Again, a brave choice of subject; this was a landmark movie insofar as it showed Presley certainly had enough acting ability to create a credible parallel career along the lines of, say, Sinatra. It wasn't to be, though, as even then his talents were being manipulated by others, which is why all his later movies--even the best ones--were little more than advertisements for his records. Wild in the Country, from the following year, saw Presley as a young tearaway who finds redemption in his talent for writing. It's pure melodrama, but the moralising is kept under control. This is a nice little collection, all in all, and an essential for any fan.

On the DVD: Elvis: Films That Rock presents the three pictures in positively radiant transfers, which are absolutely gunge-free and make the very best of the beautifully stylised lighting and cinematography of the period, while the classic Cinemascope presentations translate perfectly into widescreen. Special features include trailers for all three movies. --Roger Thomas

Customer Reviews:

Good collection - Elvis plays Cowboy...and wins!.......2004-02-05

Love Me Tender - a great film, Elvis is pretty raw, but so's the part he plays, so that's alright then...the ending is predictable, but the songs are great, especially the title song.

Wild In the Country - a touch of the "angry young man" - not a cowboy film, and probably the most formulaic of the three in the set, but still interesting. Elvis plays a young man who has a menial job and talent as a writer...you probably think you can guess the rest, but there are a few twists and turns which you might not expect in an EP movie.

Flaming Star - this is the best of the three IMHO - Elvis plays a half-native who runs into conflict with both his fathers race and his mothers race. Elvis is entirely believable in the role of a young man torn two ways. The title song, again, is excellent.

Customer Reviews:

Elvis's first ever motion picture. With big stars of the day.......2001-09-03

In this first Elvis movie, we see our hero as a young western farmer, too young to have joined his older brothers fighting in the American Civil War. He and his family believe the eldest brother, Vance, to have been killed a while ago, and Clint (Elvis) falls in love with Cathy, Vance's fiancee. They eventually marry, and then the fun starts, as all 3 older brothers suddenly return home from the now ended war. Vance of course still thinks that Cathy is waiting for him to return so they can marry. A fairly bland, yet pleasant story line, acted well by all involved, including young Elvis, who still has blonde hair at this stage of his career. The descision to add 3 further songs to the title theme is a bit of a mistake in my opinion, as these songs do not fit well into the storyline. But it's nice to see Elvis performing them I suppose. Trivia Fact: Elvis's mother, Gladys, was so upset by the original ending of the film (where Clint dies) that the studio called the actors back and made them shoot an extra scene. This had Elvis, superimposed over the graveyard scence, singing an extra verse of Love Me Tender. A good film, showing us that Elvis Presley was more than just a singer. Without a single acting lesson, he does an admirable job as Clint Reno. Well worth watching even if you aren't a diehard Elvis fan.

Love Me Tender Special Edition [1956] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

Love Me Tender Special Edition [1956] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Elvis Presley
Manufacturer: Fox Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6310003550
Release Date: 2006-02-28

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Love Me Tender [1956]
Starring: Elvis Presley , Richard Egan , Debra Paget , and Robert Middleton
Director: Robert D. Webb
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000MTF0CM
Release Date: 2007-04-23

Average customer rating:

Elvis's first ever motion picture. With big stars of the day

Love Me Tender [1956] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Richard Egan , Debra Paget , Elvis Presley , Robert Middleton , and William Campbell
Director: Robert D. Webb
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Musicals | Classics | Categories | DVD | Video

All Children's DVD | Children's DVD | Categories | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000068TQ6
Release Date: 2002-08-13

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Elvis's first ever motion picture. With big stars of the day.......2001-09-03

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