SYNOPSICS
King Creole (1958) is a English movie. Michael Curtiz has directed this movie. Elvis Presley,Carolyn Jones,Walter Matthau,Dolores Hart are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1958. King Creole (1958) is considered one of the best Crime,Drama,Musical movie in India and around the world.
Having flunked graduation for a second time and needing cash to support his crabby (and thus unemployed) father, Danny Fisher takes a job as a singer in the King Creole nightclub - about the only joint around not run by smarmy crook Maxie Fields who wants him for his own place. He gets on pretty well with Fields' floozy though, and all this plus his involvement with Fields' hoods and with innocent five-and-dime store assistant Nellie means Danny finds his world closing in on him all ways round.
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King Creole (1958) Reviews
"Probably one of Presley's finest movies!"
Elvis Presley plays Danny Fisher, a misunderstood teenager who is forced to live in a neighbourhood frequented by hoodlums because his father's business went bankcrupt and lost their other house. Danny flunks out of high school and does several dead end jobs in order to make ends meet, but it is discovered that he has a talent for singing and he is hired by nightclub owner Charlie Le Grand. However, sadistic blackmailer and criminal Maxie Fields (Walter Matthau) also has corrupt designs on Danny's talent. Probably one of Presley's finest movies with a fairly strong storyline and assured direction by Michael (Casablanca) Curtiz. The acting is good from Presley in one of his better roles and Matthau scores as the ruthless gang boss. The film is shot in gorgeous noir black & white and the memorable tunes include "King Creole", "Trouble" and "As Long As I Have You".
Elvis in One of his Rare Good Films
An unusual Elvis Presley vehical which actually gives him the opportunity to act. Elvis was a talented actor who was put in crap for most of his career. The Hollywood system always put him in films where he sings without doing much else. Its only when he worked with talented directors such as Michael Curtiz and Don Siegal that his abilities as an actor were fully used. King Creole(1958) is such a film where he is given the chance to act and he passes with flying colors. King Creole(1958) and the western, Charro(1968) are my two favorite Elvis Presley films because of their dark tone and the excellent acting performances by Elvis. One of the better directed Elvis films by veteran filmmaker and Casablanca(1942) director, Michael Curtiz. One of the people who wrote the story was Michael V. Gazzo, who would later play an important role in The Godfather Part 2(1974). Walter Matthaw is terrific in one of his pre Odd Couple and comedic roles. A musical Noir done during the final year of the genre before becoming extinct.
a good Elvis movie
Elvis Presley can act! This is perhaps his best movie and certainly the one with the strongest plot. Based on the Harold Robbins novel A Stone for Danny Fisher', Elvis plays Danny with that teenage angst you'd associate more with James Dean or the young Marlon Brando. The music too is exceptional, with the sexy title track alongside of such gems as Steadfast, Loyal and True', Crawfish' (that unusual of things, a duet between Elvis and Kitty White), Hard Headed Woman', and Trouble'. The supporting cast is also eminently watchable Dean Jagger, Walter Matthau, Vic Morrow, Carolyn Jones and help to move the pace along. The look of the film in its non-musical moments is strictly noir, and the whole piece is slickly directed by Michael Curtiz. King Creole', and a handful of other Presley movies, hint at the movie career that he could have had without his manager Col. Parker's constant greed to display his peacock client in an ever-grating role of innocence to make money.
Elvis at his Best
I've heard it said that this was Elvis' favourite of his own films. And no wonder. It's about the only film he ever did that allowed him to be an actor. And let's remember, Elvis had no formal acting training, and sure, the film is, as usual, peppered with great Elvis numbers and no-one doubts his talent there. If only the Colonel had chosen to exploit the acting side a little more, perhaps we would have a lot more memorable stuff like this to remember than some of the later films, such as.....er.....er....well, there you go, I don't remember any. Perhaps Elvis would have been a lot more proud too. Anyway, alongside Elvis is a wonderful Carolyn "Morticia Adams" Jones and a fairly early Walter Matthau, showing us that he didn't just make us laugh in his movies, but he was able to impress us with dramatic roles also.
Never be the same again...
To a lot of critics and non-fans of the Master of Song or King of Rock 'n' Roll, to give him his correct title, Elvis Presley was merely a wooden celluloid freak who just sang to children, animals, and everybody's Grandmother on a movie set. That might have been the case during the mid-'60's when Elvis didn't know how to perform on a movie set any other way than to follow the less than mediocre script which was getting more tedious and morose as the previous one. This trend was set by the formula that started with "G.I. Blues" and finally reaffirmed with the classic, "Blue Hawaii", from then on in with the exception of "Flaming Star", it was a pretty poor rag-bag bunch. However, "King Creole" was Elvis' jewel in the crown. The film is a testimony to a time when rebellion amongst teenage life was coming to the fore and the struggle for a young person's individuality in society was a constant threat to many parents of the 1950's genre. If Elvis was to be a big movie star this is the one that certainly went a step further than "Jailhouse Rock" to ascertain that position. Elvis' acting improved over the three film period of 1956-57, and in "King Creole" you can see the transition. He brings to the screen all the grittiness, excitement, tension that his character, Danny Fisher, is all about. This great quality movie really pays justice to a classic piece of film making by Director Michael Curtiz and a great supporting cast that Elvis gained so much from performing with in this story. Another transition also happens in this movie and that is one of the music. Apparently, Elvis never really liked Jazz music, but he certainly forgot all about that when he cut the soundtrack to this movie. I'm sure that Jazz music featured slightly higher on his list after he realised what he could do in the studio with this kind of music and blending it with his own rock rythmns and blues orientations. To me, this is one of the greatest films ever made, by one of the most underrated actors of our time. To the critics and non-fans alike: Watch it and Weep!