WILD IN THE COUNTRY
– Elvis Presley’s Last Dramatic Role –
(Part 10)
Wild In The Country
“I think everyone working on that movie thought, ‘Our movie is so much better than all the other Presley movies ,'” Millie Perkins said in an interview. “‘We’re so much better.’ Everyone was patting themselves on the back for being artists; they were going to do something with Presley that the others couldn’t or wouldn’t do. And, in my opinion, they completely failed .”
The world premiere of “Wild In The Country” took place at the Memphian Theater (now the Malco Theater) in Memphis shortly before the start of the summer vacation, on June 15, 1961 (Elvis did not attend the screening). A week later, on June 22, the film directed by Philip Dunne began showing simultaneously in all American cinemas. Paradoxically, however, despite the advertising campaign prepared by the 20th Century Fox promotion department, which consisted of placing extremely positive reviews in local newspapers (especially those operating in smaller towns) aimed at encouraging viewers to visit the cinema, Presley’s seventh film was met with a rather cool reception.
A significant number of national critics writing for popular and important magazines of the time unfortunately did not share the enthusiasm of their predecessors working for the film studio. Most of their criticisms concerned the confusing and unclear plot. Less often, Presley’s poor acting. Variety magazine in an article from June 6, 1961 even stated that “From a dramatic point of view, there is simply no substance, innovation or freshness in this shaky and artificial story about a persecuted country boy (played by Elvis Presley), who supposedly has talent and aspirations to become a great writer .”And added that “It is difficult to accept the main character as a ‘potential literary genius,’ and consequently, the charming and sophisticated Miss Lange in the role of a lonely, educated widow who has a surprisingly small number of admirers, but with a passion for saving young, lost boyish souls.” It’s only a credit to these two (Elvis and Hope Lange, author’s note) that they handle it all so well .”
The Montgomery Advertiser went even further in its considerations, recommending in its sarcastic commentary that “Wild In The Country” be immediately sent abroad. “All these films about sex and sadism are only giving us a bad name abroad ,” it wrote. “This film (“Wild In The Country,” author’s note) should change the image of our country enough to convince anti-American critics abroad that we are not really bad, but just stupid .”
Even Harrison’s Report, a New York trade magazine sent only to subscribers, called Clifford Odetts’s screenplay “unsophisticated but well-executed ” and the film itself “mediocre .”
The most devastating review, however, was that of Bosley Crowther of The New York Times, who thundered in his review of June 10, 1961: “Nonsense! This is all nonsense, and Mr. Presley, who seemed to have improved somewhat as an actor in his previous film, is now as immature as ever.”
He even sings a few times, and they are, to my ears at least, truly painful moments. He looks waxy and sloppy. Elvis has regressed. So has producer Jerry Wald, director Philip Dunne, and, unfortunately, Mr. Odets .”
Some of the cast of the new 20th Century Fox production blamed the director, Phillip Dunne, for such negative reviews. Ironically, the man in whom Elvis had placed his great hopes. “Elvis tried very hard to make this movie different from the ones he had done before ,” actress Millie Perkins said in a 1990 interview. “You could really see it. He kept asking questions. I just think it’s sad that the director didn’t have the skills to help him through it .”
In fact, Perkins claimed she felt that Dunne clearly favored Elvis. “I could see Elvis looking around the set and judging people quicker than anyone else ,” she said. “But after a while, you could tell he was disappointed with Phillip Dunne. But he was too polite and well-mannered to say anything .”
Timothy Knight, author of the book “Elvis Presley In The Movies”, also spoke in a very similar tone, saying that Dunne “was simply deaf to the charm and attractiveness of his star .”
Elvis’ efforts were fortunately noticed and appreciated by several popular and most influential titles in the sixties. The above-quoted Variety magazine noted, for example, that “the subdued Presley uses all his acting skills to the advantage of the film .” In turn, Charles Stinson of the Los Angeles Times, in his article of June 23, 1961, called “Wild In The Country” “a
quite acceptable melodrama ” and added that in addition to words of praise for Clifford Odets, “you also have to appreciate the young Mr. Presley, who with each film gets better and better as an actor .”
R.H. Gardner of the Baltimore Sun agreed, not only noting in his review that Elvis had “come of a long way from his whirling hips, slack jaw and fluttering knees ” but also adding, “There is no longer any doubt that his talent goes beyond the ability to sing rock ‘n’ roll. In fact, ‘Wild In The Country’ established him once and for all as a real, average Hollywood actor .”
However, TIME magazine published a surprising and extremely positive opinion in its review, writing that: “The paradox of this whole nonsense (referring to the film “Wild In The Country”, author’s note) is that Elvis is far too good for it. In fact, he is the best actor in the whole film… On screen, he shows great commitment and dramatic skills, holding back laughter when Hope Lange says to him (a boy who bought Cadillacs before he was twenty-one): ‘Don’t try to tell me you’re just a poor country boy’ “.
Presley’s seventh film hit European cinemas at the same time as the US. The grand European premiere took place at London’s Carlton Cinema on June 22, 1961 (and as you can read in some sources, including the booklet included in the 2020 FTD “Something For Everybody” box set, its date was pushed back by a week due to a delayed shipment from the US containing a copy of the film).
Interestingly, in some countries, “Wild In The Country” was immediately given the status of a film “for adults only” (other countries, however, introduced age restrictions and showed it only to viewers who were sixteen years old or older). Censors accused it of touching on too many sensitive and personal issues, such as isolation, divorce, sex and religion.
It is worth adding here that just because of references to the above topics, one of the conservative Irish censors ordered the removal of as many as sixteen different scenes from the film!
In Europe, the new, 114-minute production from 20th Century Fox was generally met with a much warmer reception from critics than across the pond. Although, as in the United States, there were also voices of disappointment and dissatisfaction.
One such negative review of Presley was given by Monthly Film Bulletin – a periodical of the British Film Institute published since 1934. In an article from August 1961, it was written as follows: “Considering the generally poor cinematography, acting and the soporific direction by Phillip Dunne, the only redeeming quality of this film is Hope Lange’s sensitive and intelligent (where possible) performance as a psychotherapist and literary agent. She is nothing short of a miracle. Presley, on the other hand, gives a modest, subordinate performance. He is even quite good in the hotel love scene, but one cannot help but feel that in every respect he was infinitely better before this film .”
David Cardwell, writing for the British New Musical Express, had a completely different opinion, announcing in his review enthusiastically that “‘Wild In The Country’ is Elvis’ best screen performance to date! ” He added: “There is only one way to describe his performance – simply magnificent! It is also his best film. From now on, in all my publications, Elvis Presley will be known as a singer and a film star .”
A similar opinion was also expressed by Eve Perrick, an extremely popular columnist for the British Daily Mail, who stated in her text that “Mr. Presley is becoming quite a credible actor .” In turn, in the review by Felix Barker from the Evening News one could read that “beneath the drooping eyelids and handsome but immobile mask, Mr. Presley displays a certain Brando-like ability (Marlon Brando, author’s note) “.
However, considering the great hopes placed in the new production by 20th Century Fox, both the unfavorable press reviews and the financial result had to be very disappointing for its creators (including Elvis). “Wild In The Country” brought in an income of two and a half million dollars, but for the first time in the history of Elvis’ cooperation with Hollywood, this amount turned out to be insufficient to cover the costs of the production itself, which in this case amounted to two million nine hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.
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