Customer Reviews

Elvis Gift Set (Fun in Acapulco, GI Blues, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, King Creole, Blue Hawaii) [VHS]

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"King Creole" what more can be said that hasn't been said already. When this picture was first shown at the Vilma Theater on Belair Rd. in Baltimore City there wasn't an empty seat in the house(the line outside was almost as long as it was for "The Ten Commandments" that premired a short time after King Creole). To start off I'm not sure how many folks know it but this was Elvis's favorite movie that he made. "Crawfish,CCrrraaawwwfffiiissshhhh-gees I got'em",boy if that doesn't make you feel like you are right on the Gulf, sharing plates with Cajuns and of course Creoles! Everything about this movie is first class: the Stars-Presly, Jagger,Mathouw,Jones and of course Vic Marrow as always the perfect Punk.The music is about the best Elvis ever did. I have had the original LP for about 40 years now and still play it for my grandchildren. Dixieland Rock,Trouble, Crawfish, King Creole this is some really good stuff and the fact that this music is backed up by a live Brass Blues Band makes it somewhat "Outstanding" not to mention that the back up vocals are done by no other then Gordon Stoker and the Jordonaires as they are right on stage with the King himself. If you want to see some real Hollywood History with a top notch cast (keep in mind Dean Jagger did this movie a year before he stared in "White Christmas" with Bing,Danny,Rosemary and Vera Ellen)and a first class plot with some great action and the REAL feel of being down in New Orleans (even if your not a real Cajun like Jimmie C Newman)get yourself a copy of this great show!
"Enjoy"

"King Creole" from 1958,(the same year Elvis Presley was inducted into the U.S.Army),is a good drama with a few good musical numbers thrown in. Shot in glorious black&white and produced by Hal Wallis,who produced some of Mr. Presley's biggest hits("Loving You" from 1957,"Blue Hawaii" from 1961,"Girls!Girls! Girls!" from 1962) and directed by Michael Curtiz(the classic "Casablanca"),the story takes place in New Orleans and Elvis stars as Danny Fisher,a disillusioned high school drop out with designs on being a singer.Danny gets a job at the night club "King Creole". The picture features a fine supporting cast including the late,great Walter Matthau,very effective as a sleazy gangster,Carolyn Jones as the gangster's kept woman,Dean Jagger as Danny's father,Vic Morrow as a hoodlum and one of the gangster's henchman and Dolores Hart as Danny's girlfriend,(Ms. Hart after making several movies left acting and decided to become a nun in the mid '60's).Elvis's top ten hit single from this movie was "Hard Headed Woman".Also, "Trouble" was a well known number.Elvis Presley had said in interviews that of all the 30 odd pictures he had made Danny Fisher in "King Creole" was his personal favorite film role.And,Mr. Presley added that he hated most of the rest of the pictures he had made.

Even the stuffy New York Times praised Elvis Presley's performance in "King Creole," and why not? Everything clicks in this adaptation of Harold Robbins' novel, "A Stone for Danny Fisher." For once, Elvis has a good script, a terrific supporting cast, a first class director, and a role worthy of an actor which he shows himself to be while also singing an album's worth of outstanding songs. He's not the surly creep of "Jailhouse Rock," nor is he the bloated beach boy of most of his 60's movies. He's a good kid whose boredom with school and disappointment with his homelife leads him to explore life on the wrong side of the tracks where he encounters a switchblade flinging Vic Morrow, a sleazy Walter Matthau, and a beautiful but been around Carolyn Jones. Along the way, he also performs brilliant, knockout musical numbers like "New Orleans," "Trouble," "Dixieland Rock," and the amusing "Lover Doll" (no "Old MacDonald's Farm" in this movie). It all adds up to the King's best film, one of the few in which he wore his crown with honor.

To a lot of critics and non-fans of the Master of Song or King of Rock 'n' Roll, to give him his correct title, Elvis Presley was merely a wooden celluloid freak who just sang to children, animals, and everybody's Grandmother on a movie set. That might have been the case during the mid-'60's when Elvis didn't know how to perform on a movie set any other way than to follow the less than mediocre script which was getting more tedious and morose as the previous one. This trend was set by the formula that started with "G.I. Blues" and finally reaffirmed with the classic, "Blue Hawaii", from then on in with the exception of "Flaming Star", it was a pretty poor rag-bag bunch. However, "King Creole" was Elvis' jewel in the crown. The film is a testimony to a time when rebellion amongst teenage life was coming to the fore and the struggle for a young person's individuality in society was a constant threat to many parents of the 1950's genre. If Elvis was to be a big movie star this is the one that certainly went a step further than "Jailhouse Rock" to ascertain that position. Elvis' acting improved over the three film period of 1956-57, and in "King Creole" you can see the transition. He brings to the screen all the grittiness, excitement, tension that his character, Danny Fisher, is all about. This great quality DVD really pays justice to a classic piece of film making by Director Michael Curtiz and a great supporting cast that Elvis gained so much from performing with in this story. Another transition also happens in this DVD and that is one of the music. Apparently, Elvis never really liked Jazz music, but he certainly forgot all about that when he cut the soundtrack to this movie. I'm sure that Jazz music featured slightly higher on his list after he realised what he could do in the studio with this kind of music and blending it with his own rock rythmns and blues orientations. To me, this is one of the greatest films ever made, by one of the most underrated actors of our time. To the critics and non-fans alike: Watch it and Weep!

In King Creole,Elvis Presley proves himself a talented actor able to hold his own among the other very talented and more experienced co-stars in this excellent film.With Walter Matthau, Carolyn Jones,Dean Jagger, and Vic Morrow on board,Elvis was surrounded by high-caliber star power in his third motion picture.Add Michael Curtiz as director and the superb Lieber-Stoller soundtrack songs, and you have a winning formula. The picture delivers on all fronts.Elvis has a complex character to portray,and pulls it off with credibility and his unique charisma.This film is such a different species from his later films(mostly musical-comedies;some good,some not so good)that it begs the question,"why not more like this?".The songs could have been released as a stand-alone album even if there wasn't a movie associated with it.King Creole has Elvis in a serious dramatic role,AND singing his heart out, both with great success. Don't see it just because it's an "Elvis picture", see it because it's a really fine film.

"King Creole" was only one of a handful of movies that Elvis did that really showed his acting ability. A great supporting cast and songs that actually fit the scenes, showed that Elvis had what it took to be a great dramatic actor. This movie is a must see. You won't regret watching it!

King Creole was the first Elvis movie that I saw and I found out it was a good movie. Unlike many singers who try out their ability at acting, Elvis is actually a pretty good actor. Before watching King Creole, I never watched any of Elvis's movies because I thought that they would all be musicals and just be a bunch of people singing and acting crazy. But after watching King Creole I found out I was wrong. It was a good drama movie and now I understand why Elvis was in so many movies, not because he was a popular singer but he could also be a great actor. Walter Matthau and the rest of the supporting actors and actresses also did a good job.

It's about how Elvis became a singer at a local club and gaining fame for his ability while trying to stay away from a group of punks who threatened him if he didn't cooperate. It's an all around great movie and I recommend it to anyone. Now I'll probably give a lot more Elvis movies a chance after seeing King Creole.

Truly his greatest film I have seen thus far. Not only is one taken in by this movie, but it allows one to forget that it's filmed in black and white. The boy, Elvis, of course, is even more beautiful in KING CREOLE. Which leads me to believe he believed in his work for this picture. The soundtrack is admirable. He delivered it with such effervescence, such pride. One can't help but fall in love with him and this movie.
Too bad Elvis was so loyal to Col. Parker. He could have been the great dramatic actor he had always wanted to be. This film certainly promised it.

I am so in love with this movie! It has two of my favorite people in it, Elvis and Carolyn Jones. They do such a good job in this movie!! If i could give it a higher score i would. Everyone does such a great job. I would recomend it to everyone!

He said it himself. This was Elvis' favorite film he starred in. There were several, of course, and with much more acclaim and popularity, ie. "Viva Las Vegas". But Elvis was particularily proud of his work in this film. In my personal opinion, the Elvis film were no more than attempts to boost his rock star image. He was, much like singer-actors/actresses today, vainly aspiring for film fame as Madonna has done. It is best for some to remain singers and not try their hand at acting. Elvis was not a bad actor, but his films tend to be a variation of the same theme- he sings, he falls in love, he gets into trouble. It was the 50's and 60's after all- in which beach settings, rock'n'roll and camp was quite popular. Elvis was merely giving the audience of his time what they wanted.

In King Creole, Elvis plays a young graduate who works in a jazz club in the French Quarter of New Orleans. He has problems with his father, he is torn between the love of his high school sweetheart who is "the good girl" and his ganster friends' wife, the seductive "bad girl" played by Carolyn Jones. Carolyn Jones was a lesser known 50's and 60's actress, most famous for her portrayal of Morticia Addams in the comedy sitcom "The Addams Family" which ran from 1965 to 1965. But Carolyn Jones was a great actress, able to portray a mobster's wife, a troubled woman, a vixen, a beat nick, and many other personages. She was also in other tv shows, the cult classic "Batman" in which she played the villanious Marsha Queen of Diamonds and, in her older age in the Dynasty-style soap opera of 1982 "Dynasty".

Elvis and Carolyn Jones chemistry is what makes this film work. It is quite impressive in its treatment of supposed "real" problems, especially for a young man growign up in this time. Rock and roll and nostalgia abound in this must have classic for fans of Elvis and Carolyn Jones.