Frankie And Johnny -
United Artists 1966
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By: For Elvis Fans Only
Source: EPE
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Frankie And Johnny |
Elvis' twentieth movie was "Frankie and
Johnny". Elvis reported for
pre-production on May 11, 1965 and he
was released on June 24, 1965. The film
premiered in Baton Rouge, Lousiana on
March 31, 1966. Co-stars Donna Douglas,
Sue Ane Langdon and Nancy Kovack
attended. It was the #48 movie for the
year of 1966, grossing over $2,000,000.
The single "Frankie and Johnny" peaked
at #25 in an 8-week run on the chart.
The soundtrack album spent 19 weeks on
the chart and peaked at #20.
"Frankie and Johnny" was a remake of a
1936 Republic Pictures film starring
Helen Morgan as St. Louis casino singer
Frankie and Chester Morris as Johnny the
gambler. The story of Frankie and Johnny
is a blend of fact and fiction. The
story goes that in 1899 in St. Louis,
Missouri a Frankie Baker shot her man Al
"Johnny" Britt when she found him in a
bar with another woman. Missouri artist
Thomas Hart Benton was commissioned in
1934 to paint a series of murals in the
state capitol and he chose to depict
what he called a "Social History of the
State of Missouri." One of the murals is
the barroom scene of Frankie shooting
Johnny. Elvis' movie, although an United
Artists film, was shot on the MGM lot
and for inspiration MGM had a
reproduction of the Missouri mural
displayed during filming.
Frankie and Johnny were perhaps the
inspiration for "He Done Me Wrong", a
1904 song written by Hughie Cannon and
sung by Mae West in her 1933 movie as
"She Done Him Wrong." It has been
recorded in various forms over the years
with the title "Frankie and Johnny" by
such artists as Gene Autry, Johnny Cash,
Brook Benton, and Sam Cooke. Elvis'
version was arranged by Alex Gottlieb,
Fred Karger and Ben Weisman for this
movie.
Elvis plays Johnny, a riverboat
entertainer that has a big gambling
problem. Donna Douglas is Johnny's girl,
Frankie. A fortune teller tells Johnny
how he can change his luck. Enter a new
lady luck played by Nancy Kovack and the
cat fight begins.
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Harry Morgan & Elvis Presley in
Frankie And Johnny. |
Johnny's sidekick Cully was played by
Harry Morgan, who has
had many roles in film and TV since
1942, including his recurring roles on
"December Bride, "Pete and Gladys,"
"Dragnet" and "Hec Ramsey." However, he
is best known for his portrayal of
Colonel Sherman T. Potter on the TV
series "M*A*S*H," for which he received
eight Emmy Award nominations, winning
one. He also received a nomination for
the series "December Bride."
Golden Globe Award winner
Sue
Ane Langdon played Mitzi. A
child actress, she was also a singer at
Radio City Music Hall in New York as
well as a Broadway performer before
becoming a TV and film actress. She also
had a role in the Elvis movie
"Roustabout."
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Donna Douglas & Elvis Presley in
Frankie And Johnny. |
Donna Douglas played
Frankie opposite Elvis's Johnny in the
movie. She was from Louisiana and did
grow up a critter lovin' tomboy much
like her character Elly May Clampett on
the long running TV series "The Beverly
Hillbillies." The 1957 "Miss New
Orleans" was known for personally
answering her fan mail. While shooting
this movie, she and Elvis discovered
they both shared a deep interest in
spiritual studies and they would read
and meditate together. Although her
singing in this film was dubbed by
vocalist Eileen Wilson, she has since
recorded gospel albums. She also has
authored Christian children's books.
A mixture of beauty and brains,
actress Nancy Kovack
played Nellie Bly. She
began college at the University of
Michigan at age 15 and was graduated by
19. She had won numerous beauty titles
by the age of 20 and began acting in New
York on various TV shows. She received
an Emmy Award nomination for an
appearance in 1969 on "Mannix." Today
she is the long-time wife of maestro
Zubin Mehta.
It isn't clear how the name Nellie
Bly got attached to this triangle of
lovers, but there was a real Nellie Bly
in history. This was the pen name of a
Pittsburgh woman journalist named
Elizabeth Jane Cochrane. In 1885 it was
considered improper for a women writer
to use her real name so Ms. Cochrane
took her pseudonym from a popular song
written by Stephen Foster. She was a
pioneer of investigative journalism
often going undercover to expose
poverty, crime, housing and labor
conditions of the day. An adventurer,
she set a much publicized record for
traveling around the world in 72 days, 6
hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds a la
Jules Verne's "Around the World In
Eighty Days."
Actress Audrey Christie played Peg. Her
long career included numerous TV roles
as well as roles in such films as
"Carousel," "Splendor In The Grass,"
"The Unsinkable Molly Brown," "Harlow"
and "Mame."
Frederick De Cordova was the director
for "Frankie and Johnny." The long-time
producer/director had many TV credits
including "The George Burns and Gracie
Allen Show," "December Bride," "Leave It
To Beaver," "My Three Sons", "Burke's
Law," "The Smothers Brothers Show" and
"Mr. Belvedere." He is best known for
"The Tonight Show Starring Johnny
Carson" for which he received four Emmy
Awards.
Anthony Eisley played Clint Braden. The
former stage actor had become a
household name in the very popular 1959
TV series "Hawaiian Eye."
Gravelly voiced Robert Strauss played
Blackie. Earlier, he played Sam, the
owner of the Pirate's Den in the Elvis
movie "Girls! Girls! Girls!" The son of
a theatrical costume designer, he worked
as a singing waiter before becoming a
successful actor on Broadway. He
portrayed "Animal" in the play "Stalag
17" and his reprisal of that role in the
movie version earned him a 1954 Academy
Award nomination.
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Harry Morgan & Elvis Presley in
Frankie And Johnny. |
Naomi Stevens was Princess Zolita the
gypsy fortune teller. Among her credits
are many roles on TV series including
"The Flying Nun," "The Doris Day Show,"
"The Streets of San Francisco," "The
Montefuscos" and "Vega$." She also
played Queen Liliuokalani in the movie
"The Hawaiians."
Stevens's fellow gypsy was played by
veteran actor Henry Corden, who has had
numerous TV and movie roles. However,
you might want to close your eyes and
listen to his voice and see if you
recognize it - he has been the voice of
Fred Flintstone for over thirty years
and has other animated characters.
Earl Barton was the choreographer for
"Frankie and Johnny" as he had been for
the Elvis movies "Roustabout" and "Harum
Scarum." Joining him were a number of
the Earl Barton dancers including Wilda
Taylor, who had played both Little Egypt
in "Roustabout" and Amethyst in "Harum
Scarum." Another of his dancers, Judith
Chapman, has since gone on to numerous
roles on TV that include recurring roles
on "Ryan's Hope," "General Hospital,"
"One Life To Live" and "Days of Our
Lives" among others.
Soundtrack
- Frankie And Johnny
(Gottlieb/Karger/Weisman)
- Come Along (Hess)
- Petunia, The Gardeners Daughter
(Tepper/Bennett)
- Chesay (Karger/Weisman/Wayne)
- What Every Woman Lives For
(Pomus/Shuman)
- Look Out, Broadway (Wise/Starr)
- Beginner�s Luck (Tepper/Bennett)
- Down By The Riverside / When The
Saints Go Marching In (Giant/Baum/Kaye)
- Shout It Out (Giant/Baum/Kaye)
- Hard Luck (Weisman/Wayne)
- Please Don�t Stop Loving Me (Joy
Byers)
- Everybody Come Aboard
Recorded at:
Radio
Recorders Studios, 7000, Santa Monica
Boulevard, Hollywood. May 1965.
Musicians:
Elvis Presley (vocals), Scotty Moore,
Tiny Timbrell, Charlie McCoy (guitars),
Bob Moore (bass), D.J. Fontana, Buddy
Harman (drums),George Worth (trumpet),
Richard Noel (trombone), Gus Bivona
(sax), John Johnson (tuba), the Mello
Men (vocals)
Extensive overdubbing with horns was
done on a number of these songs to give
them the Twenties feel.
Directed Frederick
De Cordova
Writing Credits Alex Gottlieb
Producer Edward Small
Story Nat Perrin
Associate Producer Alex Gottlieb
Music Fred Karger
Technicolor
Cast Overview
Elvis Presley .... Johnny, Donna Douglas
.... Frankie, Harry Morgan .... Cully,
Sue Ane Langdon .... Mitzi, Nancy Kovack
.... Nellie Bly, Audrey Christie ....
Peg, Robert Strauss .... Blackie,
Anthony Eisley .... Braden, Joyce
Jameson .... Abigail.
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