Paramount Summer Classic Film Series-Sunday Double Feature

 

Viva Las Vegas

Over the years, I have had to make a lot of choices as to how to spend my movie time. When I was a kid, if an Elvis movie was on tv on a Friday or Saturday, that is what I watched. I loved the King and was not very discriminatory about the quality of the films. I know I saw parts of this movie when I was younger, but I was not sure I'd seen the whole thing. In the more recent past, I missed a chance to see this on the big screen at the TCM Film Festival. Last Sunday helped me remove my doubts, I had seen the movie, and just forgotten parts of it. One of the Paramount Staff (Zack I believe) told the programmer, Steven Janise, that after watching all of the Elvis movies in a recent binge, that "Viva Las Vegas" was the best. I seem to remember thinking "Jailhouse Rock" was pretty good, but after our screening Sunday, I would not disagree with the "Viva Las Vegas" rating, it is terrific entertainment.

The story of course does not matter, this is not really a drama, and it barely counts as a romantic comedy. The value of the film is in the musical numbers and the pairing of Elvis with the great Ann-Margaret. The two of them have great on screen charisma, and even some romantic chemistry, but the dramatic elements are unimportant and the script does little to address that. There are at least ten musical sequences that are held together by the slim fabric of the story, and those are the things you come to a movie like this for.

The title song gets three showcases, the first is over the titles, with glimpses of Vegas in 1963 shown underneath the credits and making me nostalgic for some of the long gone venues of old Vegas. Elvis gets a showcase presentation of the song, which reportedly was done in a single take, the only time that happened in any of his films. "Viva Las Vegas" is also the exit tune, and it's a good thing the song and performance are so catchy, otherwise a third appearance would be tiresome instead of joyful. Ann-Margaret had some cool dance numbers to songs that were not so easily digested as pop tunes but worked well for the setting of Las Vegas life. Another swinging number by the King is a rendition of "What'd I Say", the Ray Charles number. Elvis does Ray proud with his version.

The only flaw in the entertainment value of the film, comes in the climactic Grad Prix race. Instead of focusing on the contest between Elvis' character "Lucky" and all the other drivers, the majority of the drama is in frequent crack ups of cars in the race. Several of those accidents looked life threatening, but they are only in the film to add a visual flare, there were no stakes. The one crash that should have killed the Count, Lucky's friendly rival, appears to have had no effect since the Count shows up at the end, uninjured and swinging along with everyone else at the celebration. It's all in fun but those crashes looked like anything but fun to me. Fortunately, the King and his Queen, sing and dance again, so all is forgiven.

A Hard Day's Night

The same year that Elvis was in Las Vegas, The Beatles were taking over the world with their own film. The story and plot are just as lazy as the first of our films. This is just a day in the life of the pop group as they get ready to perform on a major television program. "A Hard Day's Night" hold together a little more strongly as a film because it knows it is not taking itself seriously, and all four of the lads get to show their cheeky sense of humor. There is a mix of stage based performances with outlandishly staged musical interludes where the four Beatles are just goofing off for the camera.

Watching the films back to back like this, makes it easy to see how the popular culture was changing in the decade. Although "Viva Las Vegas" is in color with a hip setting, "A Hard Day's Night" black and white photography and mundane London locations, feel so much more innovative and creative. The humor of the film is sarcastic without being nasty, and the four leads all look like they are having some fun at their own expense. It just feels completely modern in contrast to the Elvis film.

Of course the biggest reason for the success of the film are the eleven or so songs from the Beatles, including the title song. The pop melodies of the era were very different than the styling of earlier rockers. It's not hard to think of each song as "three minutes of joy". The songs themselves will stand up without the visual scenes, and that is not the case with many of the tunes in the Elvis film. It would be easy to say that these sequences were precursors of the MTV style videos that would become the standard visual introduction for many artists in the following years.

The subplot about Paul's Grandfather gives the story a chance to get out of the rehearsal studio presentations of the musical sequences. When there is no music though, the scenes are still very amusing. The idea that Paul's grandfather would try to cash in on his grandson's fame is particularly funny. The whole movie is an entertaining high from start to finish. You don't need to smoke, swallow or inject anything to get the effect, you just have to watch and listen. 

Elvis

 

Based on the small sample of this household, this movie is going to be divisive. The number of musical biopics in recent years may be indicative of an aging audience as it seems time for us to look at the musical heroes of our youth. Queen and Elton John are prime examples, but The Beatles and Bruce Springsteen have also had films based on their music in the last few years. Aretha and N.W.A. also got the biopic treatment. Elvis is a different animal however, he has been gone for almost half a century, and his original fans are probably not around to make up an audience for this film. The reasons for making a film like this still exist however. Elvis is the pivotal figure in the creation of modern culture in the second half of the 20th Century and his influence still reaches us well into the 21st.  

Director Baz Luhrmann has a reputation as a film innovator. He has made six feature length films and all of them have some distinctive visual qualities and a heavy use of music. "Elvis" should be the ultimate film in his catalogue if musicals are what you are looking for. The question before us is simple, does the film live up to expectations? From my point of view the answer is mostly yes. I will have a few reservations that you will get later, but let's begin with the stuff that would justify some enthusiasm.

Elvis as a force of nature and cultural tipping point is where Luhrmann succeeds early on. Elvis did not appropriate black culture and music, he championed it. This film digs a little into those roots with a couple of effective scenes. The child version of Elvis is drawn to the gospel music of his black neighbors and that music remained with him the rest of his life. The spiritualism that possesses him is transformed into sensuality later on, in a way that Elvis himself did not at first understand. In a strong visual flashback and extended concert sequence, Luhrmann connects these two seemingly conflicting influences and shows how important they were to transforming music into a emotionally shared experience for audiences. In a longer scene, he rejects efforts to channel his singing into a safer cultural zone, and embraces his emotional roots, which happen to challenge not only a sense of sexual propriety but also racial suppression. He may have grown up in a socially segregated world, but his musical impulses ignore those divisions and his fans largely do as well. This film is not about racial justice but it is about someone who influenced attitudes about those sorts of things and he existed in that context. 

The seeming Svengali of the phenomena that was Elvis, is Colonel Tom Parker, a mysterious showman/charlatan who took over Presley's career and guided it to incredible heights, exploited it for fantastic sums of money, and abused it for his personal benefit. The movie is structured around a seeming end of life confessional/defense by Parker of his relationship with The King. I appreciated some of the details in the story around this, and the mythmaking is also enjoyable, but I have reservations about Tom Hanks performance. The accent and at times over the top sinister smiles, are a bit dubious. The one thing that is pretty clear from a story perspective is that the relationship was complicated by admiration and loathing on both sides of the equation. The most satisfying sequence for an Elvis fan is the backdrop on the 68 Comeback Special, which Elvis used to restart his relevance in the world, in direct conflict with the final sell out that Parker was trying to manufacture. The recreation of the special is one of the many spots where Luhrmann gets close to turning this into the musical it really should be. 

It is the musical/concert scenes where the director and his acting discovery Austin Butler, manage to get the electricity that Elvis could generate on screen. When Butler is performing on stage, he really does bring Elvis to life and the sequences are well shot. It would perhaps be more entertaining if more of the songs were complete rather than composites. The sad coda of "Unchained Melody" is a good example of how a more complete musical edit could make the moments more meaningful. Luhrmann however is a visualist who needs to take advantage of the technology and control that modern film making can allow. I did think that he was more subdued on this than I expected. 

The places where the film falls down a bit are the personal moments and plot threads that should be a little more front and center. Elvis's romance with Pricilla gets a little bit of time, but his marriage gets next to nothing. The presence of Lisa Marie is tertiary and exist only for a moment on screen. His well known generosity is never touched on. The Memphis Mafia is listed at one point, but their fealty to and love of Elvis does not come across or show the personalities of the guys. Also missing is Elvis's playful sense of humor. 

Overall the film was very entertaining from my point of view but my daughter found it lifeless and a big disappointment. We will be talking about this more on the podcast, so if you want, come by and listen to our differences of opinion there.