Jailhouse Rock (1957)

Too much of everything

Sorry, this movie sucks

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I have always been an Elvis fan. Of course, I've pretty much limited it to the music. It's a shame that his talents were wasted on such a pack of crummy films. Nevertheless, I did feel this one was OK. Let's face it, anyone who saw Elvis's first couple films wanted to see the singing and dancing. When I was "Love Me Tender," the girls in the audience screamed through the whole thing. Also, the songs were quite good, part of his vocal canon. Here the poor guy gets put in the slammer for manslaughter from an ill fated fist fight. In jail, he manages to hook up with a multitude of accomplished singers and dancers. The song "Jailhouse Rock" is a wonder and the choreography is marvelous. Once the young man gets out, he again falls on more hard times, but we know he will land on his feet. I wish they had found some solid scripts for him after this.

Considered by some to be his best movie vehicle, the Elvis Presley feature "Jailhouse Rock" does indeed provide its star with an agreeable showcase. The King stars as Vince Everett, a hot tempered young man who accidentally kills a guy in a bar fight, and does time for manslaughter. There he makes the acquaintance of cellmate "Hunk" Houghton (Mickey Shaughnessy), who teaches him how to strum a guitar and carry a tune. Vince finds that he quite enjoys performing, and upon his release from prison embarks upon a singing career. Among those helping him are the bright and efficient - and very pretty - Peggy Van Alden (Judy Tyler).The King is compulsively watchable. A great actor he may not have been, but he had a powerful charisma, and he gives his character appeal. He's also convincing when the surly Vince starts to take his friends and associates for granted, and become all about financial gains to be made. The story (screenplay credited to Guy Trosper, based on a story by Nedrick Young) gets pretty serious without getting bogged down in melodrama, and naturally it gives The King a couple of opportunities to belt out a number. "Treat Me Nice" and the groovy title tune (one of this viewers' favorites by Elvis) are definite highlights.The supporting cast is somewhat variable, but Shaughnessy is good, as is Vaughn Taylor as money man Mr. Shores and Dean Jones as radio D.J. Teddy Talbot. Tyler is endearing as Peggy, but sadly, she never even got to see the film released as she and her husband died in a car accident just weeks after filming wrapped.This viewer next plans on watching "Flaming Star", also said to be another of Elvis' best vehicles.Seven out of 10.

1957 Elvis is perhaps the best Elvis. It's twenty years away from the Fat Vegas years that ended with his tragic death, ten from his failed marriage to "Naked Gun" staple Priscilla, one after his film debut, "Love Me Tender". It shows an Elvis not yet let down by what life had to offer, an Elvis excited by his success and willing to smolder for the camera so long as it pleased his adoring fans. "Jailhouse Rock", his third film and his first for Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, is a black-and-white musical drama that hardly paints its lead star as a saint. The majority of Elvis' movies altered their then-controversial star into an ersatz Southern gentleman, a good guy so incapable of doing any wrong that all we could do is sit back, appreciate his presence, and savor his musical abilities. "Jailhouse Rock" all but shifts every preconceived notion regarding the star's cinematic persona — here, he is a rough-and-tumble punk with a mean streak and a short attention span when it comes to women. It's easier not to root for him here than it was in "Viva Las Vegas", and that's a problem when a film is so in love with its protagonist that every single character seems to wait on them hand and foot. Missing from "Jailhouse Rock" is the sense of fun his other films carried on their shoulders; his best, 1964's "Viva Las Vegas", was so irresistibly colorful and spry it was impossible not to want to take a vacation in Elvis' Vegas. And even his worst moments (most of his films were bad, so it's best not to talk about them), were frothy, delectable pieces of escapist fluff that turned our frown upside down as they sneakily took George Washingtons out of our wallets. Since "Jailhouse Rock" plays it straight, with its borderline soap operatic drama, we find ourselves less chirpy and more down in dumps, wondering how our beloved King of Rock 'N' Roll can really be a youth capable of manslaughter, how he can be capable of beating up every man who does him wrong, how he can ignore Judy Tyler as she gives him her love and a record deal. I would dramatically cry if I cared more; but a movie as clichéd and hard-bitten as this one doesn't allow such emotions to pour out.Elvis never had much talent as an actor, unlike Frank Sinatra, the previous generation's go- to musical sex fiend, so most of his projects centered on his strengths — and as an actor, those said strengths were limited. He only seemed to shine with a mic in hand or when an Ann-Margret wannabe fell into his arms without much hesitation. Since "Jailhouse Rock" was only his third movie, Elvis' inexperience in the film industry is more clear than it should be; he's so stiff in his non-musical scenes that one can only wish there was a way to give talented people more of a personality when it came to selling themselves on screen. But the musical sequences, as few and far between as they are, burn in the memory. We've all seen the number the film has become famous for, and, in the context of the movie, it harnesses nostalgic power unseen by his other films. I was entertained by "Jailhouse Rock", but, in the end, it pays more attention to its star than the audience interested in its star. It's too bad the star isn't much of an actor. Then we'd have something.

This corny, formulaic "rags-to-riches" tale (which takes place within the competitive world of rock'n'roll music) just barely managed to squeak by with a 5-star rating. Just 22 at the time, Elvis Presley plays first-class heel and ex-con, Vincent Everett, a guy with a mean mouth, a hair-trigger temper, and an upper lip that's forever curled up into a belligerent sneer.As Vincent steadily climbs his way up the ladder to fame and fortune, it seems that no matter how many times he actually manages to alienate those around him (or else decks them with a swift right-hook to the jaw), all is immediately forgiven once he begins to swivel those hips and sing one of his hit songs to everyone's hand-clapping delight.Filmed in b&w, Jailhouse Rock, from 1957, contains some really priceless dialog. Its highlights were Presley singing "Treat Me Nice", as well as the absurdly choreographed, homo-erotic, shimmy-shaking' title tune.