DEC4 Podcast Companion: Elvis That's The Way It Is - Colonel Parker's List of Objections (Clip)
Featuring Gary Wells
In this latest clip from our podcast episodes on the 1970 MGM concert movie, Elvis That’s The Way It Is, featuring our leading contributor, Gary Wells, we learn that, having expressed an opinion that director Denis Sanders had done 'a tremendous job with great enthusiasm and dedication', Colonel Parker raised a number of objections to parts of the movie ahead of its release. He went over the heads of both Sanders and (uncredited) producer, Herbert F Solow, to deal directly with MGM corporate head, James T Aubrey, otherwise known as the ‘Smiling Cobra’.
We discuss Colonel Parker’s specific objections, and find out what changes he was able to bring to the final cut. We also look at the analysis by Elvis biographer, Peter Guralnick, in particular his suggestion that what Colonel Parker was really objecting to was the director’s ‘implicit contempt for his subject’.
Here is Guralnick’s take:
“…But the three-page memo that he fired off to Jim Aubrey on September 24 summed up in a nutshell what was wrong with the film. Somehow the excitement that everyone took away from a live performance was missing from the screen, and the Colonel zeroed in on the elements that he perceived to contribute to this misimpression: the anticlimax of a director’s ending tacked on to follow the climax of Elvis’ stage show; the frequent cut-ins on Elvis’ performance, “with great disadvantage to getting across seeing Elvis as he really is performing on stage”; the detracting references to the success of other big Vegas stars (“Every artist has a right to be big in his own way and there should be no comparison by voice or writing to help sell a picture. We must all stand on our own feet”); the put-downs of Elvis’ movies (“I believe… the slurs on Blue Hawaii and G.I. Blues should be completely removed, as these were two of the most successful films ever made by Elvis… and they do not deserve to be mentioned as just trash in such a way”); the overuse of interview footage with the fans (all interview footage, the Colonel advised, ought to be “thoroughly checked [so that] it doesn’t become monotonous and take away from the performance”); and the smarmy dismissal of Las Vegas itself for the kind of conspicuous consumption that could only alienate Elvis’ true fans (“There is no reason to show an abundance of steaks in a truck in this picture when perhaps in Dalton, Georgia, where the picture may be showing, a family saved up money to see the picture and relinquished their hamburger for that night so that they could see Elvis. It has no meaning to the value of the promotion of the picture and it is much better to keep the picture down to earth as much as possible”).
Most of all, without ever actually naming it, what he really seems to be objecting to is the director’s implicit contempt for his subject, but he concludes his letter to Aubrey on an exhortatory note nonetheless, declaring that “Mr. Denis Sanders did a tremendous job with great enthusiasm and dedication. We are endeavouring to help put it together on a professional commercial basis…”
(Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick. Little, Brown and Company, 1999. 2020 edition by Abacus)
One segment that never made it to the final edit was an interview with some members of the cast of Hair, who apparently offered their responses by means of a slightly weird session of improvised acting.
The complete podcast episodes, with some additional background, research notes and links, can be found at our website.
Next Time on Substack: Elvis That’s The Way It Is - MGM’s troubles - Behind the Camera - Elvis’ Unique Effect on Las Vegas according to International Hotel publicity director, Nick Naff
A Recommendation:
Gary has been back in Memphis this summer (2024), and has posted a great multimedia presentation on his website, including details of his latest visit to Graceland and other important cultural sites. Lots of fascinating insights, travel tips, images and video to enjoy. Link here.
In 2022, Gary recounted some earlier Memphis experiences in our podcast episode, From Memphis to Vegas: A Vintage Leisure Tour. In this sample short, Gary talks about Beale Street from a family perspective, and Lansky Brothers, ‘clothiers to the King’.
Special thanks to Gary Wells, to Gainesville, to Steve Collins, and to all our readers, viewers and listeners.
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