Love Me Tender (1956)

Sick Product of a Sick System

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely Fantastic

"Twentieth Century Fox was uncertain whether to feature Elvis in the film as a singer or as an actor. So they tried to have it both ways."This movie brings it's highs and lows. A trio of brothers fresh from a raid of a Union payroll find out that the war is over on their way to turn in the money to their General with the unit.Their commander Vance (Richard Egan) decides there is no Confederate Government to turn the cash in to. They split the dough and head home. The plot twists when the Union army decides to come after the former raiders, causing splits among the raiders and increasing the tension between the brothers. The movie is good, the acting is pretty good and the story moves along well. As far as Elvis goes, this movie proves he can act. Its a shame that we did't see him in later years in more conventional movies such as this one, its a pity Elvis never got that chance.Good movie! But then anything is good with Elvis in it!

As the US Civil War ends, three Confederate brothers and their gang rob a Union train. They split the money and return to Texas. Arriving home, they find little brother Elvis Presley (as Clinton "Clint" Reno) has grown up and married. Older brother Richard Egan (as Vance) is hit hard by the news, because pretty Debra Paget (as Cathy) was waiting to be his bride. As it turns out, the family was falsely informed of Mr. Egan's death. There are hurt feelings all around, occasionally tempered when Mr. Presley sings songs. While the three lovers work out their marriage problem, others are looking for the missing money...The first Presley film has the "rock 'n' roll" superstar taking over the screen. When he sings, the plot stops. In a couple of emotional scenes, he shows a little promise as a dramatic actor. Presley sings the multi-million selling classic "Love Me Tender" (which replaced "The Reno Brothers" as the film's title). Of the other soundtrack songs, "Poor Boy" led in airplay. The pleasant production receives a lift from Presley's participation, but his 1950s style appears anachronistic. Sad-eyed mother Mildred Dunnock (as Martha) does well, and Dick Sargent has a good bit announcing General Robert E. Lee's surrender. **** Love Me Tender (11/15/56) Robert D. Webb ~ Elvis Presley, Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Mildred Dunnock

Three brothers return to the South after the Civil War with a load of Yankee money that the winning side wants back; at the same time, one brother finds out his girl hasn't waited for him.Presley's first film isn't bad. The producers do a pretty good job of weaving Presley's stage act into the overall plot, no easy task given audience expectations. My only gripe here is the screeching girls, really out of place in a screenplay supposedly circa 1865. Presley, the actor, also does a decent job, first time out. Note how he really throws himself into the big emotional scene with Paget; he's clearly out to prove himself with the Hollywood crowd.What surprises me is how quickly the screenplay was revised, shot, and then released, over what I believe was a scant two-month period. Clearly the producers wanted to add Presley's skyrocketing allure to what was otherwise a routine horse opera. After all, they couldn't be sure how long his fame would last since R&R was only about a year old. As it turns out, they got a lot more for their programmer than they could have imagined.Anyway, as I recall from that time, there wasn't a dry feminine eye in the theatre at movie's end. So a lot of us boys went home and piled our pompadours a little higher. Ah, yes, those were the days. Thanks to a veteran cast, the horse opera itself is entertaining but nothing special.

I watched this movie because I was curious about Elvis in movies. I didn't expect much, but I was happily surprised. So, when I came to look for more information about it, I was even more surprised this movie has such a low rating here. The story is very good, controversial even in many ways. It has no boring moments, the drama is constant. The acting is good for the time. The music is also appropriate for the setting, both Elvis's songs and the score by Lionel Newman is also very effective and good for the time when it was done. This might be a problem for many, the time. Judging a movie like this by today's standards is doing it a great injustice. I've seen lots of old movies that don't hold the attention as much as this. Even the acting of Elvis, being this his first movie, and him being a singer not an actor, was quite convincing. I've see lots of actors not pull the jealous rage the way he does.