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Elvis: That's the way it is - special edition
Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities
Movie propaganda
"Before Elvis, there was nothing." - John Lennon
Elvis: That's the way it is - special edition documents Presley at his peak during the celebrity-attended August 1970 Las Vegas concert series and reveals a seldom seen personal side of the king of rock and roll. Rare, behind-the-scenes footage shows Elvis interacting with the TCB band, his back-up singers (The Sweet Inspirations and The Imperials) as well as his off-stage antics, such as ripping his pants, falling off a chair and joking around with the Memphis Mafia. This concert film is comprised of 40% new material, includes 10 never-before-seen musical numbers highlighted by a spur of the moment yodel and nine songs from his concert performances. Among them is a version of Love me tender, during which he walks through the audience - something he did only during this concert series.
The recent discovery of 15,000 metres of original film negative shot by six cameramen who were granted unlimited access during the span of rehearsals and performances, as well as 12 original 16-track audio recordings, provided the opportunity to restructure the film. Elvis: That's the way it is - special edition, represents the first time a film has been completely re-edited from start to finish using only original elements. This special edition will also be presented with a new Dolby Digital 5.1 stereo soundtrack.
Persons of interest
- Elvis Presley .... Himself
- James Burton .... Himself
- Richard Davis .... Himself
- Joe Esposito .... Himself
- Joe Guercio .... Himself
- Glen D Hardin .... Himself
- Charlie Hodge .... Himself
- Felton Jarvis .... Himself
- Millie Kirkham .... Herself
- Jerry Scheff .... Himself
- Myrna Smith .... Herself
- Ronnie Tutt .... Himself
- Del "Sonny" West .... Himself
- Red West .... Himself
- John Wilkinson .... Himself
- Denis Sanders .... Director
Cinematic intelligence sources
- Awards and film festivals:
- Elvis Biography and Filmography
- Studios and distributors:
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
The King.
Elvis is more than I remember. To me Elvis is the toyboy in the black stovepipes and the fat old fart in the white jump-suit. Elvis: That's the way it is - special edition reveals the in-between stage: a tall, toned, tanned, lean, mean loving machine. Elvis is actually sexy! That's one mean set of hips...
The funniest part of this documentary is watching the difference between the white backup singers and the black backup singers. The white backup singers look like they've got microphone stands shoved up their bums. The black backup singers are black. They are hot. They are sexy. They have rhythm. They have soul.
Elvis hovers somewhere between the two groups. At this stage in his life he's still got the sounds and the moves. He belts out notes he could only reach before the fall from Gracelands. (Geddit? The fall from Gracelands! Geddit?)
The structure of the film is modern but you can still see naïvety in the camera positions, the composition and the technical quality. Not that this is a bad thing, it's just that you aren't going to see MTV, so you'd better get used to it.
I am not known for any ardent admiration for Elvis, even though the latter did manage to get through much of life also with only one name. Elvis: That's the way it is - special edition managed to show me that there is more to Elvis than white jump-suits and rhinestones. Mind you, you'd better be prepared for both if you go and see this film!
Media intelligence (DVD)
- Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Picture: Widescreen 2.35:1
- Special features:
- Documentary: Patch it up: The reconstruction of "Elvis: That's the way it is"
Security censorship classification
G
Surveillance time
92 minutes (1:32 hours)
Not for public release in Australia before date
DVD retail: 15 August 2001
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Biography
Elvis Aaron Presley was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on 8 January 1935. His twin brother Jessie Garon was stillborn. Elvis and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was 13-years-old. Elvis graduated from Humes High School in 1953. Following graduation, he found work driving a truck for the Crown Electric Company for $1.25 an hour and started evening classes with the aim to become an electrical repairman. Elvis' career path, however, was changed after a visit to the recording studios of Sun Records where he paid four dollars to cut a two-track disc containing covers of The Ink Spots' ballads My happiness and That's when your heartaches begin. Ostensibly made for a birthday present for his doting mother, a copy of the record found its way into the hands of Sun Records president Sam Phillips - Elvis' singing career began when he signed up with Sun Records in 1954.Elvis laid down his first two-track recording for Sun - Memphis area stores sold 6000 copies in one week. A star had been born. Under the management of Dutch illegal immigrant Andreas van Kuijk, who called himself "Colonel" Thomas A Parker and was to have a long and arguably detrimental relationship with his protégé, the young Memphis sensation toured across the south as The Hillbilly Cat and produced four more records. In 1955, Parker orchestrated for his promising young client a $35,000 recording contract with RCA Victor, which set about making regional sensation Elvis Presley a star at the national level. Elvis' musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all night gospel sings he attended and the black Rhythm and Blues he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager.
A string of television appearances culminated in a performance of Heartbreak hotel on The Milton Berle show, which ignited a nationwide Elvis craze - by 1956 he was an international sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture. He did much to establish early rock and roll music, bringing black blues singing into the white mainstream. Teenagers became hysterical over his sexual gesturing and in particular his Elvis The Pelvis gyrations (TV cameras were not permitted to film below his waist).
In 1956 alone, he had five number one hits that spent a combined 36 weeks at the top of the chart. His energetic singing combined with his brazenly rebellious gyrating, sold millions of records; his massive success helped establish rock and roll as a wildly lucrative musical genre and paved the way for an entire generation of music artists.
In 1957, at the height of his new-found success, he was recruited to the USA Army serving as a jeep and truck driver in the 3rd Armoured Division serving in Germany. While overseas, he met and briefly wooed (with the permission of her father) 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, who would later become his wife. Shortly after his return to the USA in 1960, Elvis immersed himself almost entirely in making movies and cutting soundtrack albums. In 1967 Elvis married Priscilla, and following the birth of their daughter Lisa Marie, the next year he returned to touring with Elvis: That's the way it is being shot in 1969.
Following the breakdown of his marriage in 1973 Elvis began to seclude himself for long periods of time at his home, Gracelands, the expansive Memphis estate he had originally commissioned to be built for his mother. He lived by night as he had a paranoid yet probably justified fear of being mobbed during daylight, and his heavy drug use left him in a narcotic haze much of the time. His increasing weight and use of stimulants and depressants took their toll.
On 16 August 1977, at 2:30 pm Elvis Presley was discovered unconscious at his home - he was pronounced dead an hour later at the Baptist Memorial Hospital, Memphis.
Elvis starred in 33 films. He made history with his television appearances and specials and he knew great acclaim through his many often record-breaking live concert performances on tour. Globally he has sold over one billion records - this figure is greater than any other artist. His sales have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards for 131 different albums and singles - again far more than any other artist. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the Grammy lifetime achievement award, which he received at the age of 36.
Elvis is beyond legend, beyond icon - a force in popular culture spanning two centuries and beyond.
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Filmography
- Elvis on tour - 1972
- Elvis that's the way it is - 1970
- Change of habit - 1969
- The trouble with girls - 1969
- Charro! - 1969
- Live a little, love a little - 1968
- Speedway - 1968
- Stay away, Joe - 1968
- Clambake - 1967
- Easy come, easy go - 1967
- Double trouble - 1967
- Spin-and-out - 1966
- Paradise, Hawaiian style - 1966
- Frankie and Johnny - 1966
- Harum scarum - 1965
- Tickle me - 1965
- Girl happy - 1965
- Roustabout - 1964
- Viva Las Vegas - 1964
- Kissin' cousins - 1964
- Fun in Acapulco - 1963
- It happened at the World's Fair - 1963
- Girls! Girls! Girls - 1962
- Kid Galahad - 1962
- Follow that dream - 1962
- Blue Hawaii - 1961
- Wild in the country - 1961
- Flaming star - 1960
- GI blues - 1960
- King Creole - 1958
- Jailhouse rock - 1957
- Loving you - 1957
- Love me tender - 1956
