LOVE ME TENDER: ELVIS DEBUTS ON THE BIG SCREEN
Despite having already signed an agreement with Paramount Pictures producer Hal B. Wallis, on August 1, 1956, Elvis began filming (it would finish at the beginning of October) of his first film, “Love Me Tender“, for Twentieth Century. Fox, with whom he had also recently signed a film contract and who quickly organized everything to be the first to be able to present an Elvis Presley film and thus take advantage of the fame that the Tupelo artist already enjoyed at that time. This film will be the only one in which Elvis does not receive the main credit.
The film is originally titled “The Reno Brothers“, and was produced by David Weisbert who had produced Rebel with Cause with James Dean, but is retitled before its release to capitalize on the success of the song/single (which would become a new number 1 for Elvis) and advertise the soundtrack.
The film had actress Debra Paget as co-star, with whom he had already co-starred in the NBC studio for the Milton Berle television show. The exteriors of this film would be filmed in the San Fernando Valley, near Los Angeles. As an anecdote, the original sequence did not contain the image of Elvis singing Love Me Tender, once performed at a funeral. In order to soften the “death” of Elvis, it was introduced later. Elvis would also perform a recording session for the soundtrack of the film, for which he would not have his usual musicians, being replaced by studio musicians. . The soundtrack would be published jointly with the film.
THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, ELVIS’S TRIUMPH ON THE SMALL SCREEN
Returning to the musical aspect, on September 9, Elvis makes the first of his three appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show“, the most important TV program of the time. Ed Sullivan, who had sworn that his show would never feature Elvis Presley, finally had to hire him. His presence on these shows draws the highest ratings of any television variety show to date, receiving 80% of the national audience. For the first performance, actor Charles Laughton plays host in place of Sullivan, who is recovering from a car accident.
Information provided by Club Elvis Spain http://www.clubelvis.org
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