The
time was mid-summer, 1956. Elvis was literally hotter than a firecracker as his
name was on virtually every pair of lips ( for one reason or another ) across
the nation. His personal appearances were hysterical sellouts wherever he went
and one out of every nine records being sold was an Elvis record. The music
world, and the world in general, had never been shaken up so much before or
since Presleymania hit the scene.
By July of 1956, there weren't really very many avenues left for Elvis to conquer, with the exception of one…Hollywood. To date, Elvis has made 33 pictures; some of them excellent, and some not so excellent. But even in his pre-army days, Elvis definitely showed that he was a very capable actor, when given a decent part. In fact, in " King Creole ", Elvis' fourth movie, he received a great deal of acclaim from critics who had no reason to say that he did a good job…except that he DID do a very excellent job in the film.
March
26, 1956. Elvis performed two scenes of " The Rainmaker "
But
just how did Elvis get started in films. Even though he was going great guns in
the music industry, it certainly was not the " norm " of the day for
singers to automatically be offered starring roles in Hollywood; especially a
singer who was literally crucified by the established press of the day.
Elvis'
film career actually got started when film producer Hal Wallis caught Elvis'
first night club stand at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, the summer of 1956.
Although Elvis was received with mixed feelings by the tinsel city, Wallis saw
something in Elvis that he was certain would transcend to the silver screen. Hal
Wallis made his way backstage after the show and, without fanfare, held out the
promise of a screen test for Elvis. Now it should be realized that, even in his
childhood, Elvis was a big fan of the movies... so this was like a dream come
true for him. Skeptics in Hollywood laughed at the idea of the " hip-shaker
" in the movies, but Wallis saw an ability in Elvis that went far beyond
singing and playing the guitar.
For his screen test, Elvis read through a part in " The Rainmaker. " This was a truly excellent film that starred Burt Lancaster and was one of the biggest hits of the year. Elvis was so convincing in his test, that he was offered the part of Katharine Hepburn's younger brother, who was sort of only half-there in the brains department. For certain, it was a difficult part, but Elvis ran through the series of emotions the part called for as if he had been acting professionally for years. Since the part was one of a semi-idiot, Colonel Parker decided that Elvis should pass the role up. So the part went to Earl Holloman, a character actor who received a lot of credit for his part in " The Rainmaker. " It was decided that Elvis' screen debut would wait until Hal Wallis could have a screenplay, titled The Reno Brothers, written especially to introduce Elvis. The title of the film was, of course, later changed to "Love Me Tender. "
March
26, 1956. Elvis with veteran actor Frank Faylen (left)