JAILHOUSE ROCK A Film Review Copyright Dragan Antulov 2000
The author of this review must admit that he was never particularly big fan of Elvis Presley. The undisputed musical talent of King and his equally undisputed importance in the history of modern culture have very little to do with that. I tend to judge Presley mostly on his movie appearances, which is most unfair, since his record in that field, unlike music, wasn't very inspiring, to say the least. Even JAILHOUSE ROCK, directed in 1957 by Richard Thorpe and often cited as Presley's best film, could hardly improve such unflattering impression,
The plot begins when Vince Everett (played by Elvis Presley), young manual labourer who suffers from temper tantrums. One of occasions led to the bar brawl that resulted with his prison sentence for manslaughter. In prison Everett is put in the same cell with Hank Houghton (played by Mickey Shoughnessy), former country singer that couldn't fail noticing the musical talent in his young cellmate. Hoping for a lucrative partnership, Hank teaches Everett few tricks that would make him a pop star after release. Once free, Everett, however, has quite different ideas and pursues his own career, which practically goes nowhere until he meets recording industry employee Peggy Van Alden (played by Judy Tyler). Guided both by the appreciation of Everett's talent and her feelings towards the young man, Peggy decides to become his partner and later witnesses his meteoric rise to fame and fortune. However, their relationship remains strictly platonic and later deteriorates when Everett gets seduced by the irresponsible and decadent lifestyle of a pop star.
The only reason to watch JAILHOUSE ROCK lies in the musical numbers featuring Presley. However, in order to see them, a viewer should endure truly horrible script by Guy Trosper and mediocre direction by Richard Thorpe. Film lacks coherent plot and looks like a various unfinished films hastily patched into one. The acting is good, though. Character actor Mickey Shaughnessy is more than passable in rather complex role of Everett's mentor and young Judy Tyler, tragically deceased after the shooting of the film, is quite charming as Everett's romantic interest. Elvis Presley here plays surly, arrogant character, closer to his original image of 1950s youth rebel than his later, more mainstream incarnations. Quality of his acting is merely passable but quite adequate for the job, although Presley looks like someone who could do much better with proper script. Unfortunately, such better chances never materialised in his lifetime and watching of this film might be quite depressive experience for those aware of King's unfulfilled potentials.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
Review written on May 9th 2000
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax Fido: 2:381/100 E-mail: dragan.antulov@st.tel.hr E-mail: drax@purger.com E-mail: dragan.antulov@altbbs.fido.hr
Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in Croatian http://film.purger.com
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