King Creole (1958)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Excellent adaptation.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A high school failure and a desperate prostitute fall in love. Some story. Nothing contrived here. The movie includes an all-star cast that turn in powerful performances. Carolyn Jones's performance is outstanding, absolutely deserving of official recognition. Her performance dominates the movie. Walter Matthau is impressive as a racketeer and thug who will stop at nothing to get his way. Elvis Presley gives a strong performance as the young man who has to make difficult choices. He also sings several songs, all of which are excellent. In fact, the movie is worth watching for the musical soundtrack alone. But what makes this movie great is the story. It starts off slow but then the dramatic tension builds. The movie is surprisingly dramatic, engaging and entertaining. Filmed in black and white, that adds a film noir element to the movie which further intensifies the story.

Made early in his career when he was still bursting with promise and not strait-jacketed by an image this is the best film Elvis ever made and probably his best performance. Based on one of Harold Robbins few good novels the film gives him a real character to play and shows that had he been allowed he could have progressed to becoming a fine actor. I'm not trying to knock him, in most of his films he's an enjoyable presence but except for Wild in the Country and this none of them required much in the way of stretching his ability.While he is memorable in the lead there are several other factors that help make this such a strong picture. Chief among them is the presence of the master of any genre Curtiz in the director's chair lending his firm hand to keep the film focused and compelling. Something else that adds to this is the cast. Elvis usually was supported by one sometimes two strong veteran actors or actresses but here the film is loaded to the rafters with talent. Walter Matthau, Dean Jagger, Paul Stewart, Vic Morrow and Dolores Hart all contribute strongly to the texture of the film with best in show honors going to Carolyn Jones as a fragile, damaged woman with a good heart. It's a standard role but she makes something quite lovely out of it.

That Elvis Presley's film career gradually petered out after years of making trivial,hackneyed,fluffy and empty-headed movies is to be regretted,yet in several early films (JAILHOUSE ROCK,FLAMING STAR),he showed he could give a perfectly decent acting performance alongside good scripts,directors and actors.It is arguable that KING CREOLE was his best overall film,and perhaps his most effective big screen performance.Disillusioned youth Danny Fisher (Presley) lives in New Orleans' French Quarter with his recently widowed father (Dean Jagger) and sister (Jan Shepard).His pharmacist father is finding it tough to cope without his wife and cannot find regular work,while Danny flunks his college studies to work in a nightclub owned by sleazy crook Maxie Fields (Walter Matthau), and begins to take romantic interest in a boozy if pitiable tramp,Ronnie,used by Fields as a mistress (Carolyn Jones).He toys with joining a gang of hoodlums led by Shark (Vic Morrow),and attracts the attentions of a sweet-natured shopgirl,Nellie (Dolores Hart).With his talent for singing,Danny decides not to work in Fields' venues,but of his rival Charlie LeGrand instead,the King Creole,where he is a great success.Fields resents Danny's behaviour and is determined fair ways or foul to force Danny to work for him,but Danny will make his own decisions who he works and falls in love with.Elvis Presley had some good scripts offered in his earlier film career like the above fore-mentioned,and KING CREOLE was possibly the best of them.He not only had a good script and story but a top-class producer (Hal B.Wallis),legendary director (Michael Curtiz),fine actors (Matthau,Jones,Jagger,Morrow,Paul Stewart),accomplished cameraman (Russell Harlan),good production and musical numbers too.Presley is very good as the mean,moody but sympathetic youth veering from delinquency to hard work,recalling the ambiance of a younger Marlon Brando or James Dean.He is well supported by Ms Jones,making her somewhat trashy character into a three-dimensional,tragic near-heroine,Matthau as the crooked nightclub operator,Jagger as his vulnerable father,Morrow as a streetwise thug,and Hart,Shepard and Stewart doing efficiently in minor but interesting roles.Wallis and Curtiz of course worked together on one the all-time greats CASABLANCA (1942),and although KING CREOLE is nowhere in that class,a certain moody,smoky atmosphere like the Bogart/Bergman classic is successfully evoked by Harlan's shadowy,noir-like lighting and angles in scenes set in the French Quarter and clubs,and is immeasurably helped by some high quality songs such as the haunting opener 'Crawfish' (where Elvis sings in a duet),'Trouble','Dixieland Rock','Hard Headed Woman' and of course the peerless title track.Occasionally,there are one or two uncomfortable dramatic moments that Presley struggles with,and the film is somewhat overlong,but KING CREOLE is generally a fine crime drama with musical and noirish elements well handled by the master of versatility Curtiz.Pre-1961,The King made a number of fine films like this,but under the influence of Colonel Tom Parker,he was forced into garishly coloured and obviously contrived entertainments which utilised the same banal plots,dull and repetitive scripts,uninspiring actors and ageing or mediocre directors which caused Presley to call a halt on his film career by the end of the 60's.Had he managed to work with the kind of script,story and crew he collaborated with on KING CREOLE,who knows how better his tarnished reputation on movies would've been;as it is,we can be grateful that KING CREOLE shows us how good Elvis was with such top technical and artistic backing,and how better he may have become as a screen actor.

New Orleans singer Elvis Presley (as Danny Fisher) gets into a scuffle on his last day of high school, and is deemed unfit for graduation. Rather than try to pass the 12th grade for the third time, Mr. Presley decides to drop out. With his mother dead and father unemployed, Presley must concentrate on earning a buck. Presley gets involved with hoodlum Vic Morrow (as Shark), who is impressed with his dirty street-fighting skills. Next, Presley becomes the featured singer at his nightclub; but, gangster rival Walter Matthau (as Maxie Fields) wants him to sing at another joint. "King Creole", "Hard Headed Woman", and "Trouble" led RCA's single and EP albums to #1 million-selling status. "Crawfish" (sung with Kitty White) is another great track.Presley pursues two women: innocent "Five and Ten" cent store clerk Dolores Hart (as Nellie) and luscious Carolyn Jones (as Ronnie). A failed songstress serving as Mr. Matthau's moll, Ms. Jones later became "Morticia " on "The Addams Family". Harold Robbins' novel "A Stone for Danny Fisher" translates into high-strung melodramatics for the rock 'n' roll superstar; he is automatically ELVIS when he takes the stage, but otherwise contributes one of his best overall "acting" characterizations. An excellent director (Michael Curtiz), photographer (Russell Harlan), and supporting cast help. There were couple of attempts to build on Presley's worth as a dramatic actor, but the studios never really exceeded the effort you'll see here.****** King Creole (7/2/58) Michael Curtiz ~ Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, Walter Matthau, Vic Morrow