Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

ThiefHott Too much of everything

ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

moonspinner55 Threadbare plot pumped up with Elvis Presley and his rockabilly music, worth sitting through for that reason alone. Delivery boy in a small town is brought on-stage at a community rally to sing by an ambitious female press agent for a country-western band; he's an instant hit, so the gambit is repeated in town after town until the kid becomes a star. The screenplay from Herbert Baker and Hal Kanter, inspired by the magazine story "A Call From Mitch Miller"--as well as Elvis' penchant for shaking up live audiences--doesn't allow for characters; it's just a star-vehicle. Presley's Deke Rivers is haphazardly written: he's a rube, he's polite, he does what he's told, but then it's revealed he has a dark past (and a terrible temper, which flares up unexpectedly). The idea seems to have been to show all sides of Presley's personality (a live-wire on-stage, but modest and trusting in life--until he's pushed too far). Perhaps Deke's personality--a scrubbed-clean boy who doesn't understand the level of excitement in his own performances--but was based on Presley's image, but here it doesn't ring true, especially not with such unsure dialogue and acting. But then, this is nothing more than a fantasy for bobby soxers--a way to utilize Elvis, his moves and his music, that television at the time couldn't do. ** from ****

dbdumonteil This is among the handful of estimable movies Elvis made ("king creole" " flaming star" "love me tender" ....) The plot takes a little time to take off,but it does not really matter,for Presley's performances on stage are terrific,the songs uniformly exciting ("let's have a party" particularly brings the house down ).You had to be here,but if you were not,this is as close to Elvis the Pelvis you can get;and you will be convinced by Lennon's sentence (without Elvis,no Beatles) after watching it! The supporting cast ,Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey are veterans and their Relationship with Deke is more elaborate than usual;the scene in the cemetery -during which Deke reveals his secret- might be the best of all Presley's movies.It was the year before his own mom's death ,and he makes us feel ,particularly in the scene on the farm,how much he loves the family life ,a thing which would always elude him in real life .Had he be given decent material to work with,he could have been a really sensitive actor .A French singer,fan of EP,took the name of his character as a pseudo,with a slight modification:Dick Rivers.

gullwing592003 This is a semi-autobiographical & documentary like account of the early Elvis phenomenon & what all the excitement was about when Elvis exploded onto the scene in 1956. It's all here with the controversial hip shaking gyrations. This movie is a showcase of the early Elvis persona on stage rather than his acting. He's not given much to work with since he's essentially playing himself so he doesn't need to do much acting. Aside from the fight scene he mainly shines as a singing entertainer.Out of the 4 pre-army movies this is my least favorite because his acting is not very good & is overshadowed by the music & the other actors. Lizabeth Scott is the one that really carries the film, her character is very strong & commanding & the driving force that moves the story forward. It's not that Elvis can't act there's just no room to act when he's playing himself.Elvis's acting was much better in his first movie "Love Me Tender" because he was a supporting player to Richard Egan & Debra Paget & he was stepping into a role. Elvis really started to shine as an actor in his next movie "Jailhouse Rock" & of course "King Creole". This early on Elvis' acting career still looked promising.

John von K Yes it's a middle of the road "Let's love Elvis" homage, but with good good sprinkling of songs. Basically a sentimental semi biog. with a nice performance from Wendell Corey (The man with Steve McQueen's eyes) If your abiding image of Elvis is Overweight Jumpsuit don't miss the last five minutes, the young King's rendition of 'Lot of Livin' to do'with make you sweat-energy, youth and joy. It is one the sexiest two minutes of 1950's hollywood celluloid. WOW!