“You can call it exploitation or just getting paid for something special while it’s still hot. I prefer to call it an assassination attempt with Elvis Presley as the victim and 20th Century Fox as the defendant, ” Margaret Hinxman wrote in her review of Elvis’s theatrical debut, “Can Presley survive in this film?“
On November 15, 1956, the film “Love Me Tender“, lasting exactly eighty-nine minutes, finally hit the screens of American cinemas. The ceremonial premiere was organized in New York, at the local Paramount Theater.
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However, it is worth noting at the outset that the location of the first show was not immediately obvious and for some time even remained the subject of fierce discussions between the label’s authorities and Elvis. The latter believed almost to the very end that the first film with his participation would debut on the big screen in Memphis – at the Low State Theater. ” I’m working on getting it to premiere here on Thanksgiving ,” he assured his fans in an interview in late October. During the aforementioned conversation, the singer also confided to the host that he would like to invite Kim Novak, an American actress, whose popularity was brought by performances in such productions as “Piknik” (awarded with two Oscars) and “Golden Hands“.
On this point, however, Fox management remained adamant and did not accede to Presley’s requests.
Preparations for the premiere started at the end of October. And with unprecedented momentum!
The inhabitants of New York were the first to realize its scale, when on Sunday, October 28, the most popular street in the city – Times Square – was almost completely paralyzed for several hours by a crowd of several thousand Elvis fans who came to the unveiling of the singer’s impressive cardboard figure.
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A forty-meter-tall likeness of Presley (a photo from the film “Love Me Tender” was used for promotion) was mounted above the main entrance to the cinema.
Below it, traditional information about the film and the date of the upcoming premiere are placed. And here as a curiosity, it is worth mentioning that in the archival photos from that day, it is clearly visible that Presley’s name was placed in the foreground – just below the title of the film, despite the fact that Elvis only played a supporting role in it.
The names of the other actors, already in the correct order, did not appear on the board until two and a half weeks later, on November 15. At the time, a notice on the Paramount Theater’s distinctive awning read: ” Richard Egan, Debra Paget and Elvis Presley in ‘Love Me Tender’ “
The crowd of fans gathered on both sides of the famous street had to be guarded by over thirty policemen on that day. Young people, especially teenage girls, at the sight of their idol (or rather his photos) reacted almost exactly as during his live concerts. As soon as a white curtain with a giant black question mark fell down, revealing Elvis’ face, loud sighs, screams and dozens of banners with the singer’s name went up in the street.
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Some of these banners were hand-made – mainly by representatives of the artist’s local fan clubs. The rest, however, were delivered to the site by Colonel Parker and his men, who also provided the fans with many other promotional gadgets, including posters, blouse pins, cotillions, hats and even skirts. All these products had one thing in common – Elvis‘ name or his picture placed in the most visible place.
Elvis, although he was in New York that day, did not appear in Times Square. A few streets away, on Broadway, he was preparing for his next appearance on the Ed Sullivan show.
The show was filmed at the Maxine Elliot Theater located at 109 West 39th Street . And there, after the ceremony of unveiling the cardboard figure, a large part of the fans moved.
Appearing in front of the cameras, Elvis performed “Love Me Tender” again. This time, however, the song was announced by the host himself, Ed Sullivan, who returned to his show after a car accident in August. “ Now Elvis will sing the title song for you from his new 20th Century Fox movie , ” the host tried to explain as he made his way through the thunder of applause and hysterical screams coming from the hall. “And later tonight, I’d like you to meet Robert Webb, who directed this film. Now let’s go back to the song that comes from the movie ‘Love Me Tender’, about the return of three brothers from service in the Confederate army. He (here Sullivan pointed to Elvis standing next to him, author’s note) is the younger brother who stayed at home and sings this song for his mother and young wife. This is ‘Love Me Tender‘ .
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At the end of his performance (just after the three-minute long version of “Hound Dog“), and saying goodbye to the audience, Presley returned for a moment to the topic of his first film. ” I’d like to tell you that our new movie will probably come out on Thanksgiving, and that we’ll be seeing Mr. Sullivan again in January ,” he said.
Information provided by EP Promised Land (Poland), Marius Ogieglo
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