An Elvis Christmas 1977
It’s the 3rd December (2019) and very nearly Christmas; Christmas trees are going up everywhere, and my town centre has come alive to the sounds of singing penguins and reindeers and other such exotica. My dad thinks the penguins are appalling; he hasn’t seen the reindeers yet. But that’s by the by. This piece is about Elvis at Christmas.
I should have written this a couple of years ago on the fortieth anniversary of the season of Elvis films that ran on BBC1 Christmas 1977. But in the spirit of ‘better late than never,’ and the fact that I have nothing better to be doing tonight, I shall take a little time to reminisce about the Christmas and New Year of 1977/1978. From 24 December 1977 to 4 January 1978, the BBC showed an amazing ten Elvis films, one day after another, with the exceptions of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. I was perplexed as to why there was no Elvis film on on Christmas Day. That day was made for an Elvis film. Follow That Dream would have been good. Or Viva Las Vegas. Not to worry, I was busy listening to a new Elvis album I had received as a Christmas present.
Given that Elvis made some twenty nine films, excluding the two concert documentaries, these ten films represent one third of Elvis’ film career, which is a sizeable proportion. So this was an Elvis fest to be appreciated and was very much the highlight of Christmas 1977. Elvis had, of course, died in the August 1977, so this season was something of a tribute. I had my usual Elvis album as a Christmas present, the double album Elvis in Concert, which we played over and over. I also received Elvis’ Hits of the Seventies as an additional present. It was obtained second-hand from The Magpie’s Nest in St Helens, a veritable Aladdin’s Cave of discarded treasure. So we were listening to and watching Elvis every day over Christmas. It is in the glow of warm and happy memories that I pen my reminiscences.
Of course, seeing as this is the Elvis film world, the experience was somewhat … well, chequered, and so too are the memories. Whilst we were always very excited when we found out that an Elvis film was to be shown on TV, it was sometimes - often - the case that what we saw and heard could best be described as a very mixed bag, and not always meeting our impossibly high expectations. It was this season of films that made it clear to me that not all of Elvis’ films were great and that, possibly, maybe, perhaps, one or a few of them were of somewhat dubious quality. It is possible that Elvis could have more profitably applied his talents in other ventures. We used to watch them one at a time, occasionally two at the cinema, and the thrill and excitement at seeing Elvis always carried the day. Watching one after another somewhat dulled the appetites. It was impossible to coast on anticipation and event alone; instead we came face to face with the actual content and quality of the film. This made for an uneven experience.
We watched all ten films, of course. They were shown late morning around 11am. There would be a kind of religious reverence in the silence which accompanied the performance of the songs during the films. Of course, my mother’s faithful Grundig cassette recorder was on hand and ever-ready to be pressed into service in order to capture each and every song as it was delivered. It's hard to imagine the way that video recorders enabled us to enter a world of permanent repetitive bliss - which also dulled the appetites. I sat there in anticipation, fingers on the buttons, being careful - in the teeth of haste and excitement - to press ‘play’ and ‘record’ buttons at the same time. No one dared make a sound whilst recording. Even the dog seemed to understand the need for silence and maintained an unusual calm.
The films were the place where Elvis was most visible to me. We didn't see him - he didn’t do TV and didn’t tour. I grew up on the Elvis ‘Camden ‘budget’ albums which mostly gathered Elvis film songs together in one place. I still maintain that these albums were decent and varied collections with lots of underrated gems in the Elvis catalogue. I never really separated Elvis’ music from his movies, considering Elvis’ career to be all of a piece. I considered Elvis as much a film star as a singer and performer. There was no distinction. In fact, it was from the films that I knew Elvis as a performer. Although That’s the Way It Is and Elvis on Tour had been released, you didn’t see them much, and in my recollection I had yet to see them at all in 1977. The Aloha from Hawaii concert was only shown for the first time in the UK in 1978. We never saw Elvis’ performances on the TV shows of the fifties, maybe the occasional clip on a news item. The fifties Elvis was a figure that existed in the land of myths and legends. So it was in the films that I knew Elvis as both singer and performer. And let’s be fair, many of the songs were staged very well in the films, existing as prototypes of the videos that would be made in later times to promote a single release.
As to the actual films, I considered all Elvis films to be great, for the simple reason that they had Elvis in them. But as my experience widened – as it had to watching ten films in quick succession - my judgement 'matured,' and I formed the reasonable view that whilst all Elvis films were great, some films were much less greater than others, and that many of those others films were a good deal less great than my exceedingly high estimation of Elvis was. Indeed, in my growing maturity, I even started to entertain the heretical notion that some of the Elvis films were pretty appalling. It was all good fun, though. I have a feeling that even the bad Elvis films are good, in that they have a certain entertainment value, in both good and bad senses. It depends on what you think of Elvis. I watch some of these films now and I feel genuinely sorry for him. Many of these films were not worthy of his talent, nor of his complicity.
I shall take the films in the order in which they came, and recall my impressions at the time. I remember this season very well indeed, it was a very merry Christmas.
BBC CHRISTMAS TV 1977
Christmas Eve Saturday 24th December 1977
11.00am G.I. Blues (1960)
The season came in right at the top. For many years, I considered “G.I. Blues” and its accompanying soundtrack to be the pinnacle of Elvis’ career. I even had my mother make me a “US Army” badge for my coat. I wasn’t alone in this. The super-cool Bryan Ferry had a US Army costume based on Elvis in “G.I. Blues” made for his performances in the mid-seventies. You can see it on the 'Both Ends Burning' video. If it seems daft now, it all made complete sense at the time. This was Elvis the clean-cut all-American hero that I, in my youthful naivety, presumed that all the world loved. That Bryan Ferry seemed to agree meant that I had good reason to think I was right. A great start, with what I then considered to be Elvis’ best film and Christmas Day to come! Life is good.
Boxing Day Monday 26th December 1977
10.00pm Jailhouse Rock (1957)
This was the very first time I had seen this film, and also the first time I had heard the songs it contained, apart from the title track. The film had a tough story line and I found it heavy going. Elvis was surly and a most unappealing character. ‘Fun’ it wasn’t. It was the songs that were the real revelation for me. For all that I had a fairly decent Elvis collection, the Elvis of the fifties was seriously under-represented among my records. I had been brought up on Elvis' ballads and film songs. I had little of his music from 1956 and 1957. In however inchoate a fashion, I started to appreciate that in specific instances, such as this, that Elvis’ music actually transcended his iconic status. It was his music that earned him that status as an icon. The was a genuine reality behind the myth. This Elvis actually was a truly great singer, dynamic, thrilling, and exciting. I absolutely flipped over the performance of Treat Me Nice. But Baby I Don’t Care was just as good. Then there was the set-piece which was the title track. Beyond fandom, I could hear why Elvis had become the global phenomenon we knew him as. Here was the reason for the legend. I heard the songs not as a fan, but as a music lover. I just found the film itself rather ‘adult,’ 'serious,' unsympathetic. There was Elvis’ rather aggressive approaches to Judy Tyler, and then there was the scene of Elvis in the strip club, eyes levelled in the direction of places you were not supposed to look. This didn’t strike me as television for a Boxing Day morning. When an Elvis film is on TV, your eyes are glued to the screen. I just felt that there were things going on here that I felt I shouldn’t be looking at. I didn’t like the story line of the film, Elvis as ungrateful young punk who stole songs from others, but I loved the songs. The songs saved the day. I found the film bleak.
Christmas Tuesday 27th December 1977
11.20am Blue Hawaii (1961)
This was the counterpart to G.I. Blues in my youthful tastes. A very enjoyable double-hitter. OK, I admit it, I am a pleasure seeker and didn't care to be challenged by a hard-hitting story line. I had seen both GI Blues and Blue Hawaii many times before, first seeing them in a double-bill at the local picture house. The memory of that cemented their reputation in my mind as the greatest ever Elvis films. They were the Elvis staples. This was the archetypal ‘feel good’ movie and, having yet to start worrying about its flaws, it did indeed make me feel good. It looked good and it sounded good. Even on our black and white television, the film was abundant with colour. Life is still good.
Wednesday 28th December 1977
11.00am Kissin' Cousins (1964)
Heavens to Murgatroyd! What on Earth ... this film was a strange beast indeed. I didn’t know what to make of this film at the time, and am little wiser forty years later. This was my first experience of those Elvis films of the sixties that earned Elvis the scorn and ridicule of critics and which did untold damage to Elvis’ reputation as a serious artist. This film was a joke in poor taste. Elvis looked dumb. He also looked bored, when not looking embarrassed. I have read that he hid in his dressing room in between scenes. The film involved Elvis playing two parts, cousins, each chasing and being chased by girls. There were two Elvises, then. And a lot of girls. The songs made little impression on me. Apart from the really dumb and stupid ones, which were obvious film fodder (Barefoot Ballad, I have no words). They didn’t seem to be proper songs to me. I always waited in eager anticipation of the killer song that came with each film. With this film I just remember waiting and waiting and finally giving up hope. For the first time ever, I started to hesitate when it came to pressing the record buttons. I think I realized that the film was supposed to be a comedy. I just didn’t find any of it funny. I thought it the worst Elvis film I had ever seen. I didn’t buy the conceit of two Elvises, not least because one of the Elvis’ is dumb beyond belief, conforming to the worst hillbilly stereotypes. (The Beverley Hillbillies was a big TV show at the time). And given that the film is based entirely around that premise, it had nothing going for it. I watched it and kept waiting for the girls to go away and the film to start. At some point I reconciled myself to the fact that the girls actually were the film. I endured the film, and can’t remember a single solitary highlight from my first time watching it. I'll admit to having There's Gold in the Mountains as a guilty pleasure. But watch the scene closely. The film is so poorly edited that after the song is finished, Elvis can be seen with a face like thunder, seriously hacked off with the whole thing. All that said, whenever I come across pompous film buffs asking us to name the greatest film ever, I have been known to nominate Kissin' Cousins, for the reason that it has two Elvises and batgirl. It's true! Yvonne Craig, who also played an impressive green woman called Marta in Star Trek. There's no other film that has that combination.
Thursday 29th December 1977
11.00am It Happened at the World's Fair (1963)
I’m still less than sure what the ‘it’ of the film title refers to. I am entirely sure that whatever ‘it’ was, ‘it’ never happened. Not in this film anyway. Nothing happened. It was a happy enough film, in an idle and undemanding way. It had Elvis embroiled in the usual scrapes and misunderstandings with women and their pursuers, and the obligatory happy ending. Absolutely no different to G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii then. Except that this film struck me as decidedly dull. And the music just didn’t strike me as particularly outstanding, either. Unmemorable. Boring rather than bad. The characters were cardboard and soulless. But the film ended on a happy ending with the song Happy Ending. And batgirl (Yvonne Craig) turned up again.
Friday 30th December 1977
11.05am Stay Away Joe (1968)
This film ended Kissin’ Cousins’ two-day reign as the worst ever Elvis film. I thought it truly abysmal. There were few songs. In between, mayhem and chaos, with lots of fighting, drinking and other such things. There are also some appalling stereotypes. I sat there getting increasingly exhausted in trying to work out what the plot was. It looked like a disaster to me. It just looked like Elvis drinking and womanizing and larking around. And Elvis sang a very strange about and to a bull in need of serious advice and encouragement. (I'll ignore the scene involving the native Indian women leading Elvis up a mountain by leaving a trail of their discarded clothing behind them. By the time he got to the top, the women had disappeared, which was probably for the best seeing as he was exhausted. I'm not rightly sure this scene hadn't been cut for TV viewing). It looked like everyone turned up without a script and just larked around on set with whatever and whoever came to hand. I did like the opening track, mind, Stay Away, which was based upon Greensleeves. I had never heard it before, and found it very memorable. The blues of All I Needed Was the Rain was very good, too - but wasted in this sorry affair. After that, search me. When in doubt, throw some girls in seems to have been the director’s approach. The stereotypes didn't do Elvis - who was part Cherokee - any favours at all. I like to think he was showing open contempt for a Hollywood that had treated him with contempt from the first.
New Year's Day Sunday 1st January 1978
10.55am Change of Habit (1969)
There’s just no satisfying some people. I thought this film serious but boring. I thought it a bit soppy, too, the story of Elvis with the little girl who didn't speak. It was full of very earnest themes about doctors and nuns in an inner city ghetto. The very charming moments in the film made a lasting impression. I can’t say I appreciated them at the time, but they did strike me as highlights. The film planted a few seeds that would later grow. At the time I thought the film completely boring. I now consider it one of Elvis’ very best films. It’s a proper film with a grown-up theme. And Elvis looks great and contemporary. It's one of the first films to address autism sympathetically (albeit via some cack-handed fashionable 'therapy' that was utterly misguided, doing more harm than good). I rate the film highly now - despite its flaws.
Bank Holiday Monday 2nd January 1978
10.45am Paradise Hawaiian Style (1966)
This is one of Elvis’ worst films. This was another film I had not seen before, and another which put an almighty dent into the increasingly damaged reputation of the Elvis film. I watched this film through gritted teeth. The irritating brat who spent the entire film mugging for the camera seriously annoyed me. I had to tape her on the excruciatingly awful and unutterably grim Queenie Wahine’s Papaya. I live in hope that that song has an ulterior meaning, because taken at face value it is execrable. The film was obviously an attempt to repeat the success of Blue Hawaii, but it's a lame copy on a low budget, poorly filmed, poorly scripted, poorly acted. I found it leaden and boring. Elvis himself looked leaden and bored. It was a real effort to watch. I was taping the songs as they were performed. I distinctly remember when You Scratch My Back (and I’ll Scratch Yours) started, sung by a female dancer flashing her long legs all over the place, stretching them high and handsome. I asked my mother whether I should tape this. ‘You do what you like,’ she said rather sharply as she left the room. I don’t think she quite approved. The woman starts to sing ‘scratch me now, a little lower. What a feeling, do it slower. That’s it, hm, you are getting hot. Well I got to admit, you just hit the spot.’ At the age of twelve I detected that there might have been something of a subtext to the song. I taped it all the same. This would go on to become the Elvis film I have watched the most. That's not because I like the film, but simply because it was on TV the most, and I felt duty bound to watch everything with Elvis in it whenever it appeared. The film is awful, although I have a theory that the sounds influenced The Beatles on Hello, Goodbye. This is My Heaven is a great song, too. For some unfathomable reason - all too typical in the Elvis world - the best song, Sand Castles, was cut.
Tuesday 3rd January 1978
11.10am Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)
Sad to say, the Elvis films were starting to get rather tedious. I mean, what was I supposed to do with all these girls, girls, girls at the age of 12? I wanted to see much more Elvis and a ,lot less girls. I was noticing the same plots and scenarios, the same gags, the same boy chases girl, fights boy, wins over all doubters ‘storyline.’ The films had outstayed their welcome. I was enjoying the Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe episodes that preceded the films every morning. Girls! Girls! Girls! was enjoyable enough, in that there were a lot of songs in the film. I was kept busy recording. The film just didn’t strike me as comparable to Blue Hawaii. Similar, but not the same. I wasn’t grabbed by the film. Maybe it was post-Christmas blues setting in. Maybe it was just a boring and predictable film. Then again, there is no other film where you can see a singing and dancing Tuna fisherman singing Song of the Shrimp to a calypso beat. It's most moving.
Wednesday 4th January 1978
11.05am Roustabout (1964)
This was not a bad way for the season to end. Elvis looked good, and there were a lot of songs to enjoy. The taping kept me busy. Elvis was playing a kind of moody tough guy loner, and he was involved in bad-tempered exchanges with all manner of folk, including none other than Big John Cannon from the High Chapparel. He sang It’s a Wonderful World, which was most pleasing. And Leiber and Stoller's Little Egypt was quirky. Life on the carny was colourful enough. I found the storyline predictable and uninteresting. Elvis was in demand as a singer, the moody loner who comes good, a hero who comes to the rescue of a failing carnival. The film just didn’t make a huge impression on me. I don’t know why, because it is not one of Elvis’ worst, far from it. I think by now I had just grown tired of the same lines and scenarios and set-pieces. It all seemed rather contrived, the loner/loser with a grudge against the world coming good, aving the day, and getting the girl. 'There's a brand new day on the horizon.' It was a happy ending.