Elvis is in the Building! The Luez Theater Building that Is.
7/16/22 UPDATE: Due to the overwhelming attendance of the shows, the Luez Theater has added a 2 p.m. showing for Sunday, July 17.
Elvis is in the building! The Luez Theater building that is. Elvis, starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks, will be showing in Bolivar on Friday, July 15, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, July 16, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Before you head out to see the film, take a minute to look back at the real Elvis Presley films that made waves long before Austin Butler was alive to bat his beautiful long eyelashes.
In truth, Presley had a pretty pitiful film career. Though many of the films were box-office successes, they were critical bombs more often than not. Presley himself rarely got positive reviews for his performances. And some of the movies have even gotten worse with age, with cultural appropriation and misogyny abounding, which makes the films all the more difficult to rank.
Stacker looked at IMDb data on all of Presley’s feature films and ranked them by user rating, with ties broken by votes. His two live music documentaries were not included. All of the films fall below a seven out of 10 IMDb user rating, and more than half fall below a six. Those are dismal numbers. Only four movies in his filmography have over 5,000 votes, which is a substantially low count for IMDb, where top movies have over one million votes and even underseen indies and lesser-known historic films crack five digits with ease. None of Presley’s movies get above 10,000 votes, and more than half of the 31 features have less than 2,500.
Despite this, it is interesting to see the early days of what one might call the “stan” culture today. The Presley movies could be considered the beginnings of an era where, collectively, society felt the need to see its favorite singers in acting roles and paid money to see the movie no matter how genuinely terrible it was.
The top 10 Elvis Presley movies are:
#10. ‘Blue Hawaii’ (1961)
– Director: Norman Taurog
– IMDb user rating: 6.1
– Runtime: 102 minutes
Elvis Presley is back in an Army uniform, but trades it in for Hawaiian florals. In the first of his three movies filmed in Hawaii, he plays Chad Gates who returns to his Hawaiian home after his release from the U.S. Army and becomes a tour guide with his girlfriend. At one point he saves a teenage girl from drowning. The film also features Angela Lansbury as Chad’s mother and introduced the world to his song “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
#9. ‘Love Me Tender’ (1956)
– Director: Robert D. Webb
– IMDb user rating: 6.2
– Runtime: 89 minutes
“Love Me Tender” is named after Elvis Presley’s hit song, which passed 1 million in advanced sales upon the single’s release. In the first of his 31 films and set during the Civil War, Presley plays Clint Reno, whose older brothers leave to fight for the Confederacy. Clint marries his brother’s girlfriend thinking he’s died in the war, but when the brother returns, very much alive, things become romantically and familially complicated.
#8. ‘Wild in the Country’ (1961)
– Director: Philip Dunne
– IMDb user rating: 6.3
– Runtime: 114 minutes
In “Wild in the Country,” Elvis Presley plays Glenn Tyler, a troubled 25-year-old from a dysfunctional family who defies all odds and goes to college to become a writer with the help of a beautiful counselor. The film features multiple ballads, alcoholism, and romance.
#7. ‘Girl Happy’ (1965)
– Director: Boris Sagal
– IMDb user rating: 6.3
– Runtime: 96 minutes
Elvis Presley plays a nightclub singer whose employer, Big Frank, pays him to keep an eye on his daughter, played by Shelley Fabares, as she takes her spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In the first of three movies to feature both Presley and Fabares, the two fall in love, and complications ensue.
You may also like: Different movies with the same plots
#6. ‘Viva Las Vegas’ (1964)
– Director: George Sidney
– IMDb user rating: 6.3
– Runtime: 85 minutes
Elvis Presley plays a race car driver who is in need of a new engine and enters a talent competition to earn the cash. He also falls in love with a hotel swimming instructor played by Ann-Margret. “Viva Las Vegas” went on to become Presley’s most financially successful film, returning more than $5 million to MGM Studios on an investment of less than $1 million.
#5. ‘Loving You’ (1957)
– Director: Hal Kanter
– IMDb user rating: 6.4
– Runtime: 101 minutes
“Loving You” was Elvis Presley’s second film and first starring role. He played an average Joe who skyrockets to fame after being convinced to join a country-western show by a success-thirsty woman and her country singer ex-husband. The single from the film, “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear,” backed with “Loving you,” sold over a million copies and was later certified platinum. Gladys and Vernon Presley, Elvis’ parents, were cast as audience members in the film.
#4. ‘Flaming Star’ (1960)
– Director: Don Siegel
– IMDb user rating: 6.4
– Runtime: 101 minutes
Another Western with Elvis Presley playing part-Native American, “Flaming Star” revolves around the character Pacer Burton feeling torn between two worlds—the Texan and the Kiowa. Presley received some of the most positive reviews for his acting performance in this film, and it continues to be cited as an influential Western from this era.
#3. ‘Follow That Dream’ (1962)
– Director: Gordon Douglas
– IMDb user rating: 6.5
– Runtime: 109 minutes
“Follow That Dream” follows Toby, played by Elvis Presley, and his family of vagabonds as they set up a makeshift home in Florida. An evil rich man attempts to evict them, a custody battle ensues, and Toby falls in love with the babysitter. The extended play record from the film has been certified both gold and platinum since its release.
#2. ‘Jailhouse Rock’ (1957)
– Director: Richard Thorpe
– IMDb user rating: 6.5
– Runtime: 96 minutes
In arguably his most iconic and identifiable film role, Elvis Presley plays Vince Everett, a prisoner who learns how to play guitar in jail and subsequently becomes a rock ’n’ roll star. Presley’s iconic hip thrusting is on full display in this movie. The film has been preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
You may also like: Best Clint Eastwood movies
#1. ‘King Creole’ (1958)
– Director: Michael Curtiz
– IMDb user rating: 6.9
– Runtime: 116 minutes
Elvis Presley received a 60 – day deferment from military service to act in this film, where he plays a troubled teenager with a past just trying to avoid a life of crime. The film received both critical and commercial success and the song “Hard Headed Woman” from the film reached #1 on the Billboard Singles chart and went on to become certified gold.
You may also like: 25 iconic closing shots from film history
This article has been re-published pursuant to a CC BY-NC 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=chooser-v1
Written by: Charlotte Barnett
Edited by: Hatchie Press
