Love Me Tender (1956)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Robert D. Webb

Writers:

Maurice Geraghty (story)
Robert Buckner (writer)

Release Date:

15 November 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Romance | Western

Tagline:

HEAR ELVIS SING . . . "Love Me Tender" "We're Gonna Move" "Poor Boy" "Let Me"

Plot:

Elvis plays Clint Reno, one of the Reno brothers who stayed home while he brother went to fight in the Civil War for the Confederate army...

Plot Keywords:

Brother | Robbery | Civil War | Brother Brother Relationship | Presumed Dead

Cast

Richard Egan	...	Vance Reno
Debra Paget	...	Cathy Reno
Elvis Presley	...	Clint Reno
Robert Middleton	...	Mr. Siringo
William Campbell	...	Brett Reno
Neville Brand	...	Mike Gavin
Mildred Dunnock	...	Martha Reno
Bruce Bennett	...	Maj. Kincaid
James Drury	...	Ray Reno
Russ Conway	...	Ed Galt
Ken Clark	...	Mr. Kelso
Barry Coe	...	Mr. Davis
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dorothy Hack

Also Known As:

The Reno Brothers (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (magnetic prints) | Mono (optical prints)

Certification:

Australia:PG | New Zealand:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | West Germany:12 (nf)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Ranch, Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In its opening weekend film it shot to #2 in Variety's list. Only James Dean's film Giant (1956) had more viewers.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A Confederate soldier zips up the pants that were taken off Northern soldiers, before zippers were invented.

Quotes:

Vance Reno: Listen, Brett, we didn't steal this money. We took it in battle, fair and square. It's what they call "spoils of war", like capturing a horse or anything else. We didn't know the war was over, and neither did the Federals. So it's still prize money.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Experience Preferred... But Not Essential (1982)

Soundtrack:

WE'RE GONNA MOVE

Not just another Elvis movie

This was a critically acclaimed introductory role for Elvis. This was not one of the more cheesy moneymakers that Col. Tom Parker stuck him with for the remainder of his career (Girl Happy or Blue Hawaii for instance).

Elvis showed great depth as an actor in his role as Clint Reno and also showed the potential to broaden his career from the premier musical superstar of our time into one of the crossover megastars that we see commonly today.

His music is an integral part of the movie but it isn't put on display the way his future movies do. When you watch this film, try to remember he hadn't done any of those 90-minute rock-n-roll videos with the likes of Ann-Margaret and Nancy Sinatra.

LOVE ME TENDER is worth viewing if the viewer is willing to set aside their preconceived expectations of "just another Elvis movie."