Jailhouse Rock (1957)

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers:

Nedrick Young (story)
Guy Trosper (writer)

Release Date:

8 November 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

MGM Presents ELVIS PRESLEY at his greatest

Plot:

After serving time for manslaughter, young Vince Everett becomes a teenage rock star.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Manslaughter | Jail | Country Singer | Fame

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

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

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | New Zealand:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G (alternate rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-16 | Norway:12 (video rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Avon Productions (II)

Trivia:

Elvis's band in the film is his real-life band including Scottie Moore on electric guitar and Bill Black on stand-up bass. Both have been with Elvis since his beginnings in Memphis at Sun Records. In the recording studio scenes, the piano player is Mike Stoller of the Lieber and Stoller songwriting team who wrote many of the major hit rock songs of the 50's.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In several of the songs Elvis sings, his lips don't quite match the words in places. This is probably because he is lip-syncing to a a recording he made earlier.

Quotes:

Peggy Van Alden: How dare you think such cheap tactics would work with me!
Vince Everett: That ain't tactics, honey. It's just the beast in me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Tribute to Leiber and Stoller (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

I Want To Be Free

"Dancing To The Jail House Rock"

For his third feature film Colonel Tom Parker over to MGM where they assigned a couple of very experienced hands behind the camera, producer Pandro S. Berman who among other folks he produced for was Fred Astaire and director Richard Thorpe. He was one of MGM's busiest craftsmen, who directed just about every MGM star during that studio's golden years. As he always did, Colonel Parker made sure that his star got the best possible support and he didn't fail him in Jailhouse Rock.

In Jailhouse Rock, Elvis plays a rather surly, ill tempered youth whose quick with his fists. A brawl in a bar and Elvis kills a guy with his fists. Granted the deceased was a lout, still the state does frown on that and Elvis got a term for manslaughter. While there, he shares a cell with old time country singer Mickey Shaughnessy.

Mickey helps Elvis survive prison and discovers he's got a voice. When he's released before Shaughnessy, Elvis goes out in search of a career and determined to let nothing stand in his way. He discovers the music business is a cutthroat one and he responds in kind. He gets his success, but it costs him the love and respect of all around him, including young record promoter Judy Tyler who develops a thing for the king.

Elvis has some good songs to sing with the title song being the biggest hit from this film. Jailhouse Rock is given a good MGM style production, worthy of anything you might have seen MGM give one of Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly's musicals. And the record of course is still selling good.

Mickey Shaughnessy appeared in a lot of good films in the Fifties, but usually playing cheerful oafs. This was one of the few times he had a serious part and he carries it off well.

I was disappointed that Judy Tyler did not get to display her musical talents. Elvis's is not the only tragic story from the cast of Jailhouse Rock. Young Judy Tyler with a brilliant career in front of her was killed shortly after completing this film with her husband in an automobile accident. I remember it well because she had been Princess SummerFallWinterSpring on the Howdy Doody Show a few years earlier. After leaving that she got good notices on Broadway in one of Rodgers&Hammerstein's lesser shows, Pipe Dream.

My guess is that Colonel Tom did not want anyone sharing musical time with Elvis so early in his career. Otherwise she might have gotten a number on her own and a duet with the king. Her musical talent would have been preserved in a hit film, but who could have known? Elvis would have to wait until Viva Las Vegas and Ann-Margret before he got a leading lady who could sing and dance to match him.

The plot of the film is similar to The Carpetbaggers so if you've seen that you know how this one comes out. Elvis does a fine acting job and singing, well he is the king.