Jailhouse Rock - MGM 1957 |
By: For Elvis Fans Only
Source: EPE
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Jailhouse Rock |
Elvis'
third movie was the 1957 MGM film
"Jailhouse Rock". The story was written
by Nedrick Young, who won numerous
awards, including an Academy Award for
"The Defiant Ones". He was also
nominated for an Academy Award for his
writing of "Inherit The Wind." Mr. Young
had a number of small acting parts in
films over the years, including an
unaccredited role as a prison guard in
"The Defiant Ones".
This was Elvis' first film for MGM.
After starting work on the soundtrack on
April 30, he reported to the lot on May
6, 1957 for costume fittings, makeup
tests and dance rehearsals. He was
assigned to Clark Gable's former
dressing room.
Vince Everett (Elvis Presley) was sent
to prison after being convicted of
Manslaughter. When his cell-mate Hank
Houghton (Mickey Shaughnessy), a country
& western singer, recognizes Vince's
singing-talent they make a contract to
perform together and to share the
profit. Once out of jail, Vince tries
unsuccessfully to get a job as singer
however only after he has help from
Peggy van Alden (Judy Tyler) does he
achieve success and they start a
record-company together. Vince seems
only to be interested in fame and
fortune until a confrontation with Hank,
who doesn't accept his behaviour. During
the fight Vince's throat gets injured,
which puts his career in danger. After
recovering everyone rallys round to
see Vince get his voice back and realise
the error of his ways. The films
highlights are the 'Jailhouse Rock'
sequence and The 'Don't Leave me' Now
recording studio sequence where Vince
finds his style.
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Jailhouse Rock |
Jailhouse Rock" was produced by Pandro
S. Berman, who came from a movie
industry family. He started out as a
script clerk and worked his way up to
assistant to David O. Selznick of RKO.
It is Mr. Berman who is credited with
bringing together Ginger Rogers and Fred
Astaire and making a star of Katherine
Hepburn. His films include "The
Hunchback of Notre Dame", "National
Velvet", the original "Father of the
Bride", "Sweet Bird of Youth" and
"Blackboard Jungle". He was nominated
three times for an Academy Award and
received the Academy's Irving G.
Thalburg Award in 1977.
The director of "Jailhouse Rock" was
Richard Thorpe, who began his career in
Vaudeville and then acted in a few
movies in the early 1920's. He tried his
hand at screen writing, sometimes using
the pen name Frank L. Inghram. By 1923,
he began directing. Over the course of
his career, he directly nearly 200
films, including "Ivanhoe" and "The
Prisoner of Zenda". He teamed up with
Elvis a second time by directing 1963's
"Fun In Acapulco". He retired in 1967.
Art direction was provided by award
winners Randall Duell and William
Horning.
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Jailhouse Rock |
Studying inter-office memos within the
MGM company, we find that Elvis'
character name was in question, going
from Vince Matthews to suggestions such
as Vince Delwyn, Vince Jackwood, Vince
Ledway, Vince Edwards and Vince Edmunds
before Vince Everett was finally settled
upon. Also, the character Hunk Houston
became Hunk Houghton.
It seems that proper names, company
names, city names and phone numbers used
in a script are subject to approval by
the legal department, which watches for
conflicts with actual places and people.
Soda bottles were to be generic rather
than a popular brand name. Stock footage
of a prison in Raleigh, North Carolina
used previously in the film "Carbine
Williams" was approved for use in
"Jailhouse Rock"; however, the director
did not wish to use a name for the
prison. So it was decided that Vince's
fan mail must not be filmed in a way
that an address would show.
On Monday, May 6, 1957, Elvis met with
Alex Romero, the choreographer for his
third film "Jailhouse Rock". The
principal photography for the movie
began the following week on May 13th.
with the famous "Jailhouse Rock"
production number.
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Judy Tyler & Elvis Presley |
It
often has been reported incorrectly that
Elvis was the choreographer for the big
"Jailhouse Rock" production number in
this film. Alex Romero was the
choreographer for the film, but Elvis's
own natural moves were Romero's
inspiration. Mr. Romero had designed the
production number for the song
"Jailhouse Rock" . Then, when Elvis
tried the Fred Astaire type of steps
that has been planned, they found that
it wasn't going to work. So, Mr. Romero
asked Elvis to perform several songs as
if he were on stage. After watching
Elvis perform "Hound Dog", "Don't Be
Cruel" and "All Shook Up", Mr. Romero
announced "I got it. See you later,
Elvis," and then explained that he was
going home to work out a routine using
Elvis's natural movements. The next day,
they worked their way through to create
the now-classic "Jailhouse Rock"
production number, one of pop/rock
music's greatest and most iconic moments
on film, a performance considered by
many to be ahead of its time and the
father of modern-day music videos. Mr.
Romero also worked with Elvis as
choreographer for the 1967 movie
"Clambake".
With all the dance movements fresh in
his head, Elvis was excited to do the
production number, but an unusual mishap
caused a delay. While sliding down the
pole in the scene, Elvis lost the cap
off of a tooth. It was discovered that
he had aspirated the cap and that it had
lodged in his lung. It was successfully
removed by a surgeon, who parted his
famous vocal cords and retrieved the
errant dental appliance. Although Elvis'
voice was hoarse for a few days, to the
relief of everyone there was no
permanent vocal damage and he was
released from the hospital on the 16th.
(This also happened to be the day his
family moved into their new home,
Graceland,
in Memphis.) Ironically, Vice Everett,
Elvis' character in the film, had an
injury to his vocal cords and had
friends and associates holding their
breath to see if there would be lasting
damage to his singing voice.
While
Mr. Romero and Elvis were rehearsing,
Elvis' friend, actor Nick Adams,
introduced him to fellow actor and
dancer Russ Tamblyn. Russ Tamblyn grew
up in the movies and his credits include
such films as "Seven Brides For Seven
Brothers" and "West Side Story". Today,
he is also known as father to the
actress Amber Tamblyn, star of the
current hit TV series "Joan of Arcadia".
While visiting at the Tamblyn beach
house that weekend before filming began,
Elvis and Russ practiced dance movements
and ways for Elvis to improve his
performance.
Elvis' leading lady in the movie was a
young actress named Judy Tyler. Her
father was a big band trumpeter and her
mother had been a Ziegfeld Follies
dancer. Judy Tyler had studied acting
and dance. She had danced with the
chorus line of the famous Copacabana
Club and had played the role of Princess
Summerfall Winterspring on the popular
children's television program, "The
Howdy Doody Show". She was a newlywed at
the time she began work on "Jailhouse
Rock" with Elvis in May of 1957. Sadly,
on July 3rd, soon after finishing the
film, she and her husband were killed in
an automobile accident during a
cross-country trip. Elvis was badly
shaken by the news.
Mickey Shaughnessy played Hunk Houghton,
Vince's cell mate. His career included
the films "North To Alaska", "Pocketful
of Miracles" and "How The West Was Won".
He received a Golden Laurel Award
nomination in 1958 for the film "Don't
Go Near The Water". He also had guest
roles on a number of TV shows in the
50's and 60's.
Vaughn Taylor played Mr. Shores and was
the film's narrator. He had a very long
career in TV playing roles in nearly two
hundred shows and receiving Emmy
nominations for Best Actor in 1952 and
1953. His film credits include "Cat On a
Hot Tin Roof", "Psycho", "The
Carpetbaggers", "The Unsinkable Molly
Brown", "In Cold Blood" and "The Gumball
Rally".
Dean Jones played disc jockey Teddy
Talbot. Mr. Jones had been a blues
singer. Later, he became best known for
his leading roles in Disney movies of
the 60's and 70's, among them: "That
Darn Cat", "The Love Bug", "$1,000,000
Duck" and "The Shaggy D.A." He received
a 1972 Golden Globe nomination for
"$1,000,000 Duck". A recent credit is
playing Scrooge in the 2001 TV movie
"Scrooge and Marley". His autobiography
"Under Running Laughter" was published
in 1982.
Anne Neyland played Vince's date Laury
Jackson. Elvis dated her in real life
while the film was in production. Her
credits include the films "Hidden Fear"
and the original version of "Ocean's
Eleven".
Jennifer Holden played the starlet
Sherry Wilson. After only three films
Ms. Holden gave up acting.
During filming, actor Robert Mitchum
visited Elvis and indicated he wanted
Elvis to play his son in his forthcoming
film "Thunder Road". Elvis did not end
up doing the film.
During production of "Jailhouse Rock"
Elvis received a wallaby as a gift from
fans. Unable to keep the pet, he sent it
home to Memphis as a donation to the
local zoo.
Trivia: Early in the
film, Vince Everett is sent to prison
for manslaughter. The number on his
prison uniform is 6239. After prison,
when Vince becomes a star and does the
"Jailhouse Rock" production number for a
TV show, the number on his prison
costume is 6240. Another bit of trivia -
the studio commissary added to their
menu some of Elvis's favourite foods,
which included crisp bacon and mashed
potatoes with brown gravy.
While filming there was a small fire in
Jennifer Holden's dressing room. Elvis,
ever the hero, carried the actress out
to safety.
Elvis finished his duties with
"Jailhouse Rock" and returned to
Memphis, boarding a train on June 25,
1957. Impatient and excited to get
there, he left the train in Lafayette,
Louisiana and rented a car to drive the
rest of the way. He spent his first
night in his new home, Graceland, on
June 26, 1957.
The film's premiere was attended by Anne
Neyland on October 17, 1957 in Memphis.
It was released nationwide on November
8th.
The critics were unkind to Elvis' role
of a man who frequented bars and had
killed a man. The film reached #3 for
the week in Variety and #14 for the
year. It was re-released on March 9,
1960 in honour of Elvis' return from
service in the U.S. Army. In 1969
"Variety" reported that in the U.S. and
Canada the film had earned over $4
million or the equivalent of the movie
"The Wizard of Oz".
Today, "Jailhouse Rock" is widely
regarded as a classic of the rock opera
genre, and the "Jailhouse Rock"
production number is considered the
"father" of modern-day music videos.
Soundrack
- Jailhouse Rock
- Treat Me Nice
- I Want To Be Free
- Don't Leave Me Now
- Young And Beautiful
- Baby I Don't Care
Recorded at Radio Recrders Studios, 7000
Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood. May
1957.
Musicians: Elvis Presley (vocals &
guitar), Scotty Moore, "Tiny" Timbrell
(guitars), Bill Black (bass), D.J.
Fontana (drums), Dudley Brookes, Mike
Stoller (piano), the Jordinaires
(vocals).
Jailhouse Rock - MGM 1957
Directed: Richard
Thorpe
Writing Credits: Ned Young
Producer: Pandro S Berman
Screenplay: Guy Trosper
An Avon production
Cast Overview
Elvis Presley .... Vince Everett, Judy
Tyler .... Peggy Van Alden, Mickey
Shaughnessy .... Hunk Houghton, Vaughn
Taylor .... Mr. Shores, narrator,
Jennifer Holden .... Sherry Wilson, Dean
Jones .... Teddy Talbot, Anne Neyland
.... Laury Jackson.
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