Published on May 26th, 2020
This year would mark 40 years when we lost a legendary performer i.e. Elvis Presley.
It has been a long time yet his hits still enthrall the audience and his home a popular tourist location. In fact, even now he is one of the top-earning dead celebrities.
Though he started off as a singer what made him more popular were the hugely successful movies he made.
Between 1956 and 72 he made nearly 33 movies though he starred only in one of them.
However, all of the movies were very successful and at present, their earnings equal around US$2.2 billion only from the USA.
He blended his music and film career and was able to become one of the most earning celebrities.
For some of the movies, he even contributed the music tracks thus making them more interesting. Here are 20 of the most famous Elvis Presley movies that we would like you to know about.
All of these movies have been listed in chronological order and include information like title, year of release, studio name, and cast and crew names.
1. Love Me Tender
Elvis plays Clint Reno, one of the Reno brothers who stayed home while his brother went to fight in the Civil War for the Confederate army. When his brother Vance comes back from the war, he finds that his old girlfriend Cathy has married Clint. The family has to struggle to reach stability with this issue.
Review:
This is Elvis’ first movie, so if you’re a fan you won’t want to miss it. I saw it a long time ago, so I don’t remember it very well, but I do remember liking it. I’ll have to see it again.
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2. Loving You (1957)
Deke Rivers is a delivery man who is discovered by publicist Glenda Markle and country-western musician Tex Warner who want to promote the talented newcomer to fame and fortune, giving him every break he deserves. Romantic complications arise as Susan, another singer in the group, offers him devoted admiration as Glenda leads him on with promises of a golden future.
Review:
Early Elvis that, probably due to distribution problems, is his most obscure. A decent if unexceptional film that contains one of his more popular songs “Teddy Bear” as well as the title tune. It tells a simple tale of a country bumpkin looking for a place in the world and incidently having a great voice and star power to burn.
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3. Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Vince Everett is serving a one-year jail sentence for manslaughter. While in the big house, his cellmate, a former country singer, introduces him to the record business. Everett takes to it so well that he decides to become a singer when he gets out. However, he is quickly disillusioned by the record business. But with the help of a new friend, he decides to form his own label, and soon becomes an overnight sensation.
Review:
Elvis delivered his definitive screen appearance in this budget-minded black and white production, a dark reflection of the Loving You rise to fame.
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4. King Creole (1958)
Having flunked graduation for a second time and needing cash to support his crabby (and thus unemployed) father, Danny Fisher takes a job as a singer in the King Creole nightclub – about the only joint around not run by smarmy crook Maxie Fields who wants him for his own place. He gets on pretty well with Fields’ floozy though.
Review:
Elvis in One of his Rare Good Films.An unusual Elvis Presley vehical which actually gives him the opportunity to act. Elvis was a talented actor who was put in crap for most of his career. The Hollywood system always put him in films where he sings without doing much else.
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5. G.I. Blues (1960)
Tulsa is a specialist in the US Army stationed in Germany. He loves to sing and has dreams to run his own nightclub when he leaves the army….but dreams don’t come cheap. Tulsa places a bet with his friend Dynamite that he can spend the night with a club dancer named Lili, who is rumored to be hard to get.
Review:
‘Elvis does an adequate job carrying the movie, playing his natural self in a project that was produced solely to capitalize on his return to civilian life.’
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6. Flaming Star (1960)
West Texas in the years after the Civil War is an uneasy meeting ground of two cultures, one white. The other native American. Elvis portrays Pacer Burton. The son of a white rancher (John McIntire) and his beautiful Kiowa Indian wife (Dolores DelRio).
Review:
This is definitely one of the King’s best flix, his best performance surely. It was nice to see him play a taciturn guy but be believable, the surrounding cast-from LQ Jones to Jeanie there to Del Rio to John McIntire-were all pros, plus Don Seigel’s record(Dirty Harry, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, etc.) speaks for itself.
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7. Wild in the Country (1961)
Glen Tyler (Elvis Presley), a down on his luck young man, is sent to counselor Irene Sperry (Hope Lange) to begin battling his personal demons. While under her tutelage a flair for writing emerges. Can she guide him down the right path or will her interference lead to his demise?
Review:
It’s soap opera but so far above the usual junk Elvis was given to work with with costars, Hope Lange and Tuesday Weld, who can actually act that it seems entirely removed from them. Not his best film, that would be King Creole, but enjoyable.
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8. Blue Hawaii (1961)
Chad Gates (Elvis Presley) has just gotten out of the Army, and is happy to be back in Hawaii with his surfboard, his beach buddies, and his girlfriend. His father wants him to go to work at the Great Southern Hawaiian Fruit Company, but he is reluctant.
Review:
While this is one of Elvis’ greatest and fun movies it is a great shame that it was so successful, as it ruined the promise of a wonderful movie career for the King. The scenery and songs are unmatched and it is a fairly decent script, even after some sour comments from Angela Lansbury.
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9. Follow That Dream (1962)
When the Kwimper family car runs out of gas on a new Florida highway and an officous state supervisor tries to run them off, Pop Kwimper digs in his heels and decides to do a little homesteading.
Review:
This is one of Elvis’s best films in my opinion. And one where he extended his range a bit. Usually he plays he troubled youths, or confident smart people who are trying to prove themselves.
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10. Kid Galahad (1962)
When he completes his military service Walter Gulick returns to his birthplace, Cream Valley, New York. He was orphaned as an infant and grew up elsewhere but always wanted to return to where he was from. He hopes to be a mechanic but soon after his arrival finds himself working as a sparring partner at a boxing camp.
Review:
As a big fan of Elvis Presley, Gig Young, and Charles Bronson, as well as the sport of boxing, I enjoyed this movie for those reasons alone. Elvis gives a decent performance, but is stereotyped by the script as a goofy, goo-natured, lug-head, who has a natural gift of a cast-iron chin and one-punch knockout power. Half the movie Elvis looks in a daze with his mouth open catching flies!
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11. Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)
Elvis plays Ross Carpenter, a fishing guide/sailor who loves his life out on the sea. When he finds out his boss is retiring to Arizona, he has to find a way to buy the Westwind, a boat that he and his father built. He is also caught between two women: insensitive club singer Robin and sweet Laurel.
Review:
As you can tell by reading the synopsis on here, this movie has many faults, but if you’re an Elvis fan you can’t help not enjoying it anyway. This movie is okay, although on the fluffy side.
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12. It Happened at the World’s Fair (1963)
Mike and Danny fly a crop duster, but because of Danny’s gambling debts, a local sheriff seizes it. Trying to earn money, they hitch-hike to the World’s Fair in Seattle. While Danny tries to earn money playing poker, Mike takes care of a small girl, Sue-Lin, whose Uncle Walter has disappeared. Being a ladies’ man, he also finds the time to court a young nurse, Diane.
Review:
I like this film. It has everything for a relaxed, stress-free Sunday afternoon entertainment. Elvis Presley, lots of gloriously silly early sixties fluff and footage from the 1962 Seattle World fair.
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13. Fun in Acapulco (1963)
Mike works on a boat in Acapulco. When the bratty daughter of the boat owner gets him fired, Mike must find new work. Little boy Rauol helps him get a job as a lifeguard and singer at a local hotel.
Review:
Fun in Acapulco is one of those films that might surprise you. Often overlooked, it is loaded with great music and a cast that really worked well together. The interplay between Elvis and Larry Domasin, who played little Raoul, was amazing. Elvis has a history of working well with children.
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14. Kissin’ Cousins (1964)
An Army officer returns to the Smoky Mountains tries to convince his kinfolk to allow the Army to build a missile site on their land. Once he gets there, he discovers he has a lookalike cousin.
Review:
I think this is a good movie, it does what it is suppose to do make you chuckle and listen to Elvis sing. The cast is totally into the “backwoods characters” they play. Elvis himself (in a dual role) gives a great performance as the backwoods cousin Jody, a Jethro type character but a little sexier and a little smarter.
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15. Viva Las Vegas (1964)
Lucky Jackson arrives in town with his car literally in tow ready for the first Las Vegas Grand Prix – once he has the money to buy an engine. He gets the cash easily enough but mislays it when the pretty swimming pool manageress takes his mind off things.
Review:
Although my own personal favorite Elvis film is “Tickle Me” (1965), “Viva Las Vegas” is the last remotely classy film he made and his best musical in years. The Las Vegas locale enabled M-G-M to put in some rock songs–and Ann-Margret (a cross between Marilyn and Madonna) whose image is similar to Elvis’s, was a definite plus.
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16. Roustabout (1964)
Charlie Rogers (Elvis Presley) is a leather-jacketed biker who’s fired from a singing engagement after getting into a fight with a group of college toughs. While riding his cycle to the next gig, an irate dad runs him off the road when he flirts with his daughter. He’s forced to hook up with a travelling carnival until his bike can be fixed.
Review :
During the years of entertainment history there have been a plethora of stars who have left a trail of distinction in this world with their inimitable prowess in the arts, but nobody has ever reached the legendary status that Elvis Presley attained.
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17. Girl Happy (1965)
Elvis Presley is in fine form as singer Rusty Wells, who is hired by Big Frank to watch over his daughter, Val, while on her first girly holiday. Much mayhem ensues when heart throb Romano tries his luck with the hapless girl, and Elvis et all have to intervene.
Review:
Elvis Presley formula movie at its best. Some catchy music, nice scenery and girls galore. Rusty Wells (Elvis) leaves the blowing snow of Chicago for the beaches at Fort Lauderdale during spring break. Rusty and his band are to guard a mobster’s(Harold J. Stone) daughter(Shelley Fabares) without her knowledge.
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18. Tickle Me (1965)
A singing rodeo rider hires on at an expensive all-women dude ranch and beauty spa. He falls for a pretty fitness trainer who is constantly threatened by a gang who wants her late grandfather’s cache of gold hidden in a ghost town.
Review:
Funny! This is one of my Elvis favorites! Yes, there is nothing serious here but good fun entertainment. Elvis in some really great candid shots and a spooky ghost town. Elvis in the rodeo. I really like this one and hope to see it on DVD.
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19. Frankie and Johnny (1966)
A riverboat singer with a weakness for gambling wants to find his lucky red head, but his girlfriend Frankie is not amused.
Review:
Some fun names — Elvis, kind of in the middle of his movie making days. Donna Douglas (Elly May), Harry Morgan (Dragnet, and MASH, of course!) Elvis is the singer on a riverboat casino, with Morgan on piany. Singer Donna Douglas made this while playing Elly May in Beverly Hillbillies. Johnny (Elvis) is on a losing streak, and is searching for the redhead that will end his bad run.
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20. Spinout (1966)
Mike McCoy is the lead singer for a band combo and part-time racecar driver trying to get by when he is persued by a trio of very different women who want his hand in marriage. The first is Les, the female drummer of his band, The second is Cynthia, a spoiled heiress and Daddy’s girl. The third is Diana, a writer of books on men.
Review:
This movie was released in a year that wasn’t a particularly good one for Elvis Presley but it’s still, in my opinion, an excellent film. I like it because I think it has some very funny moments and an awesome movie sound track. Very much enjoyed from start to finish.
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