Wild In The Country -
20th Century Fox 1961 |
By: For Elvis Fans Only
Source: EPE
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Wild In The Country |
On November 6, 1960, Elvis flew to
California to begin working on
pre-production for his seventh feature
film "Wild In The Country". The 20th
Century Fox film finished principal
photography in January 1961 and
premiered in Memphis on June 15, 1961.
Elvis did not attend the premiere.
The screenplay was written by
Clifford Odets, based on the novel 'The
Lost Country', by J. R. Salamanca. In
the book, Elvis' character Glenn was an
artist, and the character of Irene
Sperry was a teacher. In the film, Glenn
is a troubled youth and would-be writer
and Irene is court-appointed to give him
psychological counselling.
In "Wild In The Country" Elvis plays
the young rebel Glenn Tyler. After a
fight with his drunk brother, who is
badly injured, his father rejects him.
Glenn is put under care of his uncle by
a court. Because of a love-affair and
other circumstances he gets into trouble
in the little town again, until the
people find out he is innocent. Glenn
moves and goes to college elsewhere,
finally he achieves little success as a
writer.
After a scandal results from false
rumour of an affair between her and
Glenn, Irene Sperry, played by Hope
Lange, attempts suicide. In the original
ending she succeeds. Preview audiences
did not like this ending, so on Monday
February 6, 1961, Elvis was called back
to Hollywood to re-shoot the ending of
the movie with Irene surviving.
Originally, the dramatic movie was not
going to be a musical, but eventually
Elvis' character's singing was written
into the story. Elvis recorded six songs
for the movie, which included the title
song "Wild In The Country", "I Slipped,
I Stumbled, I Fell", "In My Way", "Husky
Dusky Day", "Lonely Man" and "Forget Me
Never". The last two were cut from the
movie.
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Hope Lange & Elvis Presley in
Wild In The Country |
Hope Lange played Elvis' court
appointed counsellor, Irene Sperry. Hope
Lange, born Nov. 23, 1933, was only 13
months older than Elvis in real life,
but was cast in this more mature role as
counsellor and mentor. Already a
twelve-year veteran of Broadway, Lange
made her movie debut in the film "Bus
Stop" with Marilyn Monroe and Don
Murray. (In 1956, Murray became Lange's
first husband.) She went on to star in
films such as "The Young Lions", "In
Love and War" and "Peyton Place", for
which she was nominated for both a
Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award.
She was nominated for an Emmy Award for
the TV production "That Certain Summer".
Lange won two Emmy Awards in 1969 and
1970 for her leading role in the TV
series "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir". Her most
recent role was in the 1998 production
"Before He Wakes".
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Tuesday Weld & Elvis Presley in
Wild In The Country |
Tuesday Weld played Elvis'
cousin Noreen. Born Susan Ker Weld, she
became a child model and the family
breadwinner shortly after her father's
death when she was three years old. Her
turmoil-filled youth was fuelled by her
on-screen persona as a teenage sex
kitten. She appeared in such films as
"Return To Peyton Place", "Bachelor
Flat", "I'll Take Sweden", and "Pretty
Poison". She starred as Thalia in the TV
series "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis".
Weld won a Golden Globe Award in 1960 as
"Most Promising Female Newcomer". She
was nominated for a second Golden Globe
for her performance in the 1972 film
"Play It As It Lays". She was nominated
for an Academy Award for her supporting
role in the 1977 film "Looking For Mr.
Goodbar". In the 1988 film "Heartbreak
Hotel" (set in 1972), Weld plays an
Elvis fan whose unhappy life prompts her
son to kidnap Elvis Presley and bring
him to her to cheer her up.
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Millie Perkins & Elvis Presley
in Wild In The Country |
Millie Perkins played
Elvis' girlfriend Betty Lee in "Wild In
The Country" Her other films include the
lead role in the 1959 film "The Diary of
Anne Frank" and the 1964 "Ensign
Pulver". She has performed in a number
of TV roles that include such series as
"Wagon Train", "Knots Landing", "Murder
She Wrote" (starring Angela Lansbury,
who played Elvis' character's mother in
"Blue Hawaii"), "Thirty
something", and
"Touched By An Angel". In an ironic
twist of fate, Perkins played the role
of Elvis' mother Gladys Presley in the
1990 television series "Elvis". One of
her more recent roles is a recurring
character on the Lifetime Television
series "Any Day Now". Reflecting upon
working with Elvis in "Wild in the
Country", Perkins said she thought Elvis
"was drifting" during the filming, that
he was always surrounded by his
entourage, that he was embarrassed by
the way the script would have him lead
into a song. She quoted him as saying
"God, this is so embarrassing. Nobody
would ever do this in real life. Why are
they making me do this?" She also said,
"He never used his star power - never.
Maybe he should have."
Rafer Johnson, who was the 1960 Olympic
decathlon champion, played Davis in
"Wild In The Country". He had a number
of roles in films and TV, including two
"Tarzan" films, "The Sins of Rachel
Cade", "Roots: The Next Generations",
"Mission Impossible", and "The Six
Million Dollar Man". He might be best
known for working with Roosevelt Grier
in 1968 to disarm Sirhan Sirhan, the
assassin who shot and killed Robert F.
Kennedy. Johnson was an Olympic torch
bearer in the 1984 and 1996 Olympics and
was inducted into the Sport in Society
Hall of Fame in 1999.
Exterior shots for
"Wild In The Country" were filmed in the
Napa Valley of California wine country.
It was during the filming of this movie
that Elvis' manager Colonel Tom Parker
first read a newspaper article on the
floundering attempts to raise funds to
build the USS Arizona Memorial in
Hawaii. Parker and Elvis both had a
great love for the islands and for
America as a whole. He and Elvis came up
with the idea of Elvis doing a benefit
concert there in March of 1961 - a
concert that raised over $62,000, the
single largest donation to the cause.
More importantly, it brought the kind of
public and press attention needed to
re-energize the project, which had long
been planned as a memorial to the lives
lost aboard the U.S.S. Arizona in the
attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7,
1941. Elvis performed the benefit
concert on March 25, 1961 while in
Hawaii for the production of his film
"Blue Hawaii". The memorial was
completed and opened to the public in
1962.
It was during the filming of "Wild in
the Country" that Elvis celebrated his
26th birthday on the set. The cast and
crew gave him a plaque which read "Happy
Birthday, King Karate." Elvis had come
back from his service in the US Army
with an intense interest in the martial
arts. He'd earned his first degree black
belt in July of 1960 and would go on to
receive two eighth degree black belts in
two different forms of martial arts.
John Ireland played Phil Macy. A
Canadian born swimming star, Ireland
often played heavies in the 132 movies
and 42 TV roles he had. He was nominated
for an Academy Award for his supporting
role in the 1949 "All The King's Men".
Gary Lockwood played Cliff Macy and in
1963 co-starred with Elvis again in
"It
Happened At The World's Fair".
Lockwood had roles in such films as
"Splendor In the Grass", "Stand Up And
Be Counted" and "2001: A Space Odyssey",
as well as numerous guest appearances on
TV series.
Jason Robards, Sr., Pat Buttram, William
Mims and Raymond Greenleaf - all well
known character actors - had parts in
"Wild In The Country". Robards (father
to famous actor Jason, Jr.) had parts in
189 movies and 9 TV series, "Wild In The
Country" was his last film.
While Buttram was well known for his
roles in westerns with Gene Autry and
his role as Mr. Haney in the TV series
"Green Acres", he was also a voice
artist in a number of Disney animated
movies such as "The Aristocrats", "Robin
Hood", "The Rescuers", "The Fox and The
Hound", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", and
"A Goofy Movie". In 1982, he founded the
Golden Boot Award to honour actors,
directors, stunt people and others in
the industry who had made significant
contributions to the Western film genre.
Proceeds from the annual event are
donated to the Motion Picture Health and
Welfare Fund. (Not to be confused with
the Golden Boot Awards given by RCA to
Elvis and their artists for hit country
songs.) Buttram also appeared in the
1964 Elvis film
"Roustabout".
Christina Crawford, adopted daughter of
Joan Crawford, had her film debut in
"Wild In The Country". She played Cliff
Macy's date Monica.
Red West, Elvis' high school friend and
member of his entourage, had his first
speaking part in "Wild In The Country"
as Hank Tyler. He would go on to become
a well-known character actor and stunt
man.
Rudd Weatherwax, dog trainer for films
such as "Lassie Come Home", "Hondo", and
"Old Yeller", owned Rosy the Irish
Setter, used as Hope Lange's character's
dog in "Wild In The Country". It was
Rosy's screen debut.
One of the girls Elvis was dating during
this production was a wardrobe girl,
Nancy Sharp. He had met her while
filming
"Flaming
Star".
The title song "Wild In The Country"
peaked on the US charts at #26, while it
reached #4 on the British charts. While
the American reviews were lukewarm,
David Cardwell of Britain's "New Musical
Express" wrote "'Wild in the Country' is
Elvis's best so far!...There is only one
way to describe Presley's performance -
superb!"
Producer Jerry Wald had enjoyed a
successful career that included
producing films such as "Mildred
Pierce", "Johnny Belinda", "Flamingo
Road", Peyton Place", "The Long Hot
Summer", and "Sons and Lovers". He
received several Academy Award
nominations over the years and received
the Academy's Irving G. Thalberg Award
in 1949 for "Johnny Belinda". Wald died
of a heart attack in 1962 at age 51.
"Wild in the Country" director Philip
Dunne was likely better known for his
screenplay writing. He received Academy
Award nominations for his writing in the
movies "How Green Way My Valley" and
"David and Bathsheba". He was nominated
for a Golden Globe Award for the
screenplay "The Agony and the Ecstasy".
"Wild in the Country" cinematographer
William C. Mellor won Academy Awards for
his work in "A Place In The Sun" (1952)
and again in 1960 for "The Diary of Anne
Frank" (1960). He was nominated for both
"Peyton Place" in 1960 and "The Greatest
Story Ever Told" in 1966. Mellor died of
a heart attack during the production of
the latter in 1963 at the age of 60.
Soundtrack
- Wild In The Country
- I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell
Recorded at
Radio Recorders Studios, 7000,
Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood.
November 1960.
Musicians:
Elvis Presley (vocals), Scotty Moore,
Tiny Timbrell (guitars), Myer Rubin
(bass), Bernie Mattinson (drums), Dudley
Brookes (piano), the Jordanaires
(vocals).
The song "Husky Dusky Day", sung in the
movie by Elvis and Hope Lange, was
unreleased for years and appeared on an
official record only in the 1990s.
The songs "Lonely man" and "Forget Me
Never" where recorded by Elvis for the
movie, but were not used.
Wild In The
Country - 20th Century Fox 1961
Producer
Jerry Wald
Directer Phillip Dunne
Screenplay Clifford Odets based
on a novel by J.R. Salamanca
Music by Kenyon Hopkins
Associate Producer Peter Nelson
Assistant Director Joseph El
Rickards
Hair styles Helen Turpin
Orchestration Edward B Powell
Color by Deluxe
Cast Overview
Elvis Presley .... Glenn Tyler, Hope
Lange .... Irene Sperry, Tuesday Weld
.... Noreen, Millie Perkins .... Betty
Lee Parsons, Rafer Johnson .... Davis,
John Ireland .... Phil Macy, Gary
Lockwood .... Cliff Macy, William Mims
.... Uncle Rolfe, Raymond Greenleaf....
Dr. Underwood, Christina Crawford....
Monica George, Robin Raymond ....
Flossie, Phil Macy's Secretary, Pat
Buttram .... Mr. Longstreet, Ruby
Goodwin .... Sarah, Irene's Maid, Alan
Napier .... Professor Joe B. Larson, Red
West .... Hank Tyler
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