MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

ELVIS PRESLEY:THE STAR, THE IMAGE AND THE PERSONA IN HIS PRE-ARMY MOVIES Elvis Presley, whose aficionados observed the fortieth anniversary of his death on 16 August 2017, had aspired to become a major movie star rather than a rock ‘n’ roll icon which he became by default. During a remarkable music career of just over twenty years, he made thirty-one films and two documentaries – an output that exceeded that of other contemporary singer-actors such as Pat Boone, Frankie Avalon, Dean Martin (discounting the comedies he made with Jerry Lewis), and across the Atlantic, Cliff Richard (the British “Elvis”). Although Presley never achieved the status of a James Dean or Marlon Brando, who were his early role models, he gave creditable dramatic performances in his four pre-army movies: Love Me Tender (1956) which “introduced” the new singing sensation in a supporting role alongside established Hollywood stars, Loving You (1957), Jailhouse Rock (1957) and King Creole (1958), the latter arguably his best film. What is remarkable about these pre-army musical films, especially Loving You and Jailhouse Rock, is how they reflect biographical elements in the contemporary Elvis and, in a proleptic sense, the future star. Elvis, under the guidance of his manager Tom Parker, explored like no other performer before or after him, the three dimensions of star manufacture: live performance, the visual medium of film and TV, and the vinyl record. This paper, focusing on Loving You and Jailhouse Rock, explores Presley’s relationship with these three dimensions of star manufacture and how it is reflected in these two early films which, in themselves, constitute a dialectics between the star, his image and his persona.