He returned to Vegas in the summer. This time, accompanied by the MGM film crew, who under the contract of April 7, 1970 was to make a documentary about the preparations for the summer season and finally the concerts themselves. For several weeks, the cameras accompanied the singer both during rehearsals with the band and backstage, just before entering the stage. ” It is first seen in a movie as it is ,” Erik Lorentzen noted in his book Elvis Files 1969 – 1970. ” He is presented as an artist and a phenomenon .”
The finished painting, “Elvis. That’s The Way It Is, directed by two-time Oscar winner Dennis Sanders, hit theaters on November 11, 1970 and immediately gained favorable reviews from film critics and fans alike. ” That’s The Way It Is” was a very different film from Elvis’ filmmaking in the 1960s , wrote Todd Slaughter of the British artist fan club who, like other European Presley fans, was only allowed to see the new MGM production in the spring of 1971. year. “ The way he looked, the way he sang, the way he moved – everything about him was different. He looked like he did when he did the ‘Comeback Special’ – king of cool ‘.
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It seems, however, that of all the delights above, the best review of Sanders’ painting was given by Elvis himself, stating that “That’s The Way It Is” was the best film he has ever starred!
The premiere of the film was accompanied by the release of a new album. The longplay of the same title was partially shot in Las Vegas during Elvis’ appearances at the International Hotel in August and in Nashville at Studio B.
For many observers of Presley’s work, the album “That’s The Way It Is”, released in November, was one more soundtrack in the singer’s artistic output to date. And even if you really consider it as such, the differences between the previous film proposals and the material recorded during the legendary June “Nashville marathon”, ie a five-day recording session during which Elvis recorded over thirty songs, were colossal!
This time, the songs, mostly ballads, have been carefully selected from dozens of demo albums and refined to the smallest detail. From the atmospheric “Twenty Days And Twenty Nights” through “How The Web Was Woven” and “Mary In The Morning” to the majestic “Bridge Over Troubled Water” LP.
” It’s a great album ,” raved industry magazine Billboard. ” Elvis has never sounded better .”
Less than two months after its release, the album reached the twenty-first place in the Hot 200 ranking of the above-mentioned weekly.
So the statistics for Presley’s new movie were wildly promising. Only on the day of its American premiere, “That’s The Way It Is” reached the high, twenty-second position in the Variety National Box Office Survey ranking, and sales of the accompanying soundtrack album exceeded half a million copies.
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In addition, as one reviewer stated, Presley’s latest film also served as an excellent promotion for his future Nevada appearances.
In light of the above facts, it is not surprising that just a few months later, Elvis’ manager began negotiating the terms of the next documentary with the management of MGM.
Article written and provided by Mariusz Ogieg?o of EP Land (Poland) http://www.elvispromisedland.pl/
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