Elvis Presley

When The Beatles came to America in 1965 there was only one person they wanted to meet: Elvis Presley (1935-1977). Elvis had more multi-platinum album sales than any other performer, with twelve albums selling over 2 million copies. The King also appeared in several films, including several formulaic, modest-budget musical comedies.


Dutch postcard. Elvis Presley in Flaming Star (Don Siegel, 1960).


Dutch postcard, Serie 6. Elvis Presley in Flaming Star (Don Siegel, 1960).


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/145. Photo: UFA. Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii (Norman Taurog, 1961) with Pamela Austin, Joan Blackman, Jenny Maxwell, Darlene Tompkins, and Nancy Walters.


Vintage postcard, no. 3. Laurel Goodwin, Elvis Presley and Stella Stevens in Girls! Girls! Girls! (Norman Taurog, 1962).


Spanish postcard by Postal Oscarcolor, no. 251. Photo: RCA. Ursula Andress, Elvis Presley and Elsa Cardenas in Fun in Acapulco (Richard Thorpe, 1963).

The first pop idol

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1935. He moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee when he was 13 years old. His musical career began in 1953 when he recorded a song at the later Sun Studio that was released on Sam Phillips' Sun Records.

Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley became an early populariser of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country and rhythm and blues. The record company RCA Victor took over his contract in a deal prepared by Colonel Tom Parker, who would serve as the singer's manager for more than two decades.

Presley's first single 'That's All Right' was released in July 1954. This was followed by 'Heartbreak Hotel', an American number one hit, in January 1956. After a series of successful television appearances and records that reached the top of the sales charts, he was regarded as rock 'n' roll's most prominent figure. His energetic interpretations of songs and sexually provocative stage performances, combined with a remarkably appealing fusion of multi-ethnic influences that coincided with the rise of the civil rights movement, made him at once immensely popular and controversial.

America in the immediate post-World War II period saw great economic growth, with young people having more to spend. Individual development gradually became more important and so a youth culture emerged with various subcultures that opposed the older generation. Presley was the embodiment of this and thus became the first pop idol.

Elvis made his debut as an actor in the film Love Me Tender (Robert D. Webb, 1956). Although he was not at the top of the bill, the film's initial title, The Reno Brothers, was changed to capitalise on his last number one hit: 'Love Me Tender' had topped the charts earlier that month. To capitalise even more on Presley's popularity, four musical numbers were added to the original strict actor's role. Although critics cracked the film, it did well with filmgoers. Soon followed more films, including Jailhouse Rock (Richard Thorpe, 1957) and King Creole (Michael Curtiz, 1958) with Carolyn Jones and Walter Matthau, In 1958, he was drafted into the army.


Austrian postcard by HDH Verlag (Hubmann), Wien. no. 6647 2. HDH Verlag was the Austrian licence holder for UFA/Film-Foto, Berlin. Photo: Centfox. Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender (Robert D. Webb, 1956).


West-German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H, Minden/Westf. no. 2482. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Richard Egan, Debra Paget and Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender (Robert D. Webb, 1956).


Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 3216. Photo: Paramount. Elvis Presley in Loving You (Hal Kanter, 1957).


Dutch postcard by 't Sticht, Utrecht, no. AX 5901. Elvis Presley in Loving You (Hal Kanter, 1957).


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 5350. Dolores Hart and Elvis Presley in Loving You (Hal Kanter, 1957).


Dutch postcard by Uitgeverij Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4499. Photo: M.G.M. Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock (Richard Thorpe, 1957).


German postcard by Kunst und Bild (KB), Berlin-Charlottenburg, no. 1 296. Photo: MGM. Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock (Richard Thorpe, 1957).


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg, Rotterdam / Antwerpen, no. 877. Photo: Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock (Richard Thorpe, 1957).


West-German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 2948. Photo: M.G.M. Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock (Richard Thorpe, 1957).


West-German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 2347. Photo: M.G.M. Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock (Richard Thorpe, 1957).

Formulaic, modest-budget musical film comedies

On 2 March 1960, Elvis Presley returned to the US and was given an honourable discharge with the rank of sergeant. The train taking him from New Jersey to Tennessee was stormed by a crowd the entire way. In Nashville, he recorded songs for a new album and the single 'Stuck on You', which quickly became a number one hit. Two weeks later, he recorded a pair of ballads that would become among his best-selling singles, 'It's Now or Never' and 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?'

In October, 'G.I. Blues' was a number one album. It was the soundtrack to Presley's first film since his return, G.I. Blues (Norman Taurog, 1960) with Juliet Prowse and Leticia Roman. On 25 March, another benefit concert took place in Hawaii, raising money for a memorial to the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was Presley's last public appearance for the next seven years.

Colonel Parker had manoeuvred Presley into a busy schedule of making formulaic, modest-budget musical film comedies. Initially, Presley insisted on pursuing serious roles, but when two films of a more dramatic nature - the Western Flaming Star (Don Siegel, 1960) with Steve Forrest and Dolores Del Rio, and Wild in the Country (Philip Dunne, 1961) with Tuesday Weld - met with less commercial success, he resigned himself to the formula.

Even among the 27 films, he made in the 1960s, there were still a few exceptions to the formula. In Viva Las Vegas (George Sidney, 1964) he met his perfect match in the stunningly beautiful Ann-Margret who was a more independent-than-usual female co-star. The film was a big hit. His other films were almost universally criticised, but almost all were profitable.

Hal Wallis, the producer of nine of these films, declared: "A Presley film is the only certainty Hollywood knows." After seven years of no live performances, Elvis returned to the stage in 1968 in the television comeback special Elvis, which resulted in a long series of concerts in Las Vegas and a series of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley performed in the first satellite concert broadcast worldwide, Aloha from Hawaii.

Long-term drug abuse ruined his health and Elvis Presley died in 1977 at the age of 42. With his wife Priscilla, he had one daughter Lisa Marie (1968). Presley is one of the best-selling solo artists in the history of the music industry with estimated sales of approximately 600 million records worldwide.


Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 3978. Photo: Paramount. Elvis Presley and Carolyn Jones in King Creole (Michael Curtiz, 1958).


Dutch postcard by Drukkerij Uitg. Int. Filmpers, Amsterdam, no. 5019. Elvis Presley, Dolores Hart, Carolyn Jones, Liliane Montevecchi and Jan Shepard in King Creole (Michael Curtiz, 1958).


Dutch postcard by N.V. v.h. Weenenk & Snel, Baarn, no. 458. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Elvis Presley in Flaming Star (Don Siegel, 1960).


Dutch postcard by Int. Filmpers (I.F.P.), Amsterdam, no WPS 141. Elvis Presley in Flaming Star (Don Siegel, 1960).


Dutch postcard by Uitgeverij Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4571. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Elvis Presley in Flaming Star (Don Siegel, 1960).


West-German postcard by Netter's Star Verlag, Berlin. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Elvis Presley in Flaming Star (Don Siegel, 1960).


Dutch postcard by Uitgeverij Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4673. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Elvis Presley and Hope Lange in Wild in the Country (Philip Dunne, 1961).


Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4694. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Elvis Presley in Wild in the Country (Philip Dunne, 1961).


Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4695. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Elvis Presley and Tuesday Weld in Wild in the Country (Philip Dunne, 1961).


Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4870. Photo: Paramount. Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii (Norman Taurog, 1961).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 375. Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret in Viva Las Vegas (George Sidney, 1964).


Vintage postcard. Elvis Presley and Suzanna Leigh in Paradise, Hawaiian Style (Michael D. Moore, 1966).


British postcard from 'The Elvis Presley Book of 30 Postcards' by Magna Books. Photo: MGM / British Film Institute. Elvis Presley in Elvis on Tour (Robert Abel, Pierre Adidge, 1972).


French postcard by Ed. F. Nugeron, no. E14. Reproduction of the French film poster for Jailhouse Rock (Richard Thorpe, 1957), starring Elvis Presley. Art by Roger Soubie.


American postcard by Ed. Classico San Francisco, no. 110-070. Reproduction of the American film poster for Viva Las Vegas (George Sidney, 1964), starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.