Jailhouse Rock (HD DVD)

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Note: In the following review, both John and Dean offer their opinions on the film, with John also writing up the Video, Audio, Extras, and Parting Thoughts.

The Film According to John:
Elvis's remarkable career falls neatly into three sections: (1) His early years as a rock-and-roll sensation in the mid-to-late 1950s; (2) his movie-star years in the late 50s and 60s; and (3) his final years as a Las Vegas headliner in the 1970s. For me, it was always the first part of his career I found most interesting and entertaining, so it's no surprise that I think "Jailhouse Rock" from 1957 is the best movie he ever made.

Most of Elvis's films were formulaic--boy meets girl, boy and girl (although usually just boy) sing up a storm, boy often gets into a fight, boy and girl live happily ever after. By the 1960s Elvis and his manager, Col. Tom Parker, were content to produce dozens of these lightweight, paint-by-the-numbers musical comedies, usually followed by a soundtrack album. But in 1957, they were early enough in the singer's career to try something different. MGM hired a veteran director, Richard Thorpe, to helm "Jailhouse Rock." Thorpe was an old-line director who had started in silent films and did such things as "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "The Great Caruso," "Ivanhoe," and "Knights of the Round Table." Together, Elvis, Parker, Thorpe, and MGM made a darker, edgier, grittier film than Elvis would ever make again. I mean, how many times do you get to see Elvis being whipped in a movie? I mean literally whipped. And it contains some of the King's best, most-rocking music.

The studio also decided to do a film that was more autobiographical than most other films Elvis would do, yet it was not quite Elvis. It concerns a young country boy who breaks into singing stardom and finds trouble adjusting. The main character Elvis plays, Vince Everett, is alternately polite, sulky, kind, sullen, rude, greedy, pugnacious, charming, surly, courteous, conceited, generous, selfish, and rebellious. According to the assistant director on the film, Elvis tried to act that way off camera as well, sort of tough, but it was clearly an act he used to keep in character. Most people who knew Elvis say he was a kind and generous man, so we have to remember that "Jailhouse Rock" is, after all, just a picture.

Vince is a poor, backwoods Southern fellow, likeable but rowdy and quick tempered, who accidentally kills a man in a bar fight and finds himself in prison for over a year. In jail Vince meets a cell mate, Hunk Houghton (Mickey Shaughnesy), who teaches him to sing, and when the state releases him, Vince goes into show business and becomes a sensation. The movie follows Vince's career as stardom goes to his head, he begins to forget his friends, and he starts to think only of himself.

Along the way he meets the requisite romantic interests, in this case a music industry insider, Peggy Van Alden (Judy Tyler), who tells him "I like the way you swing a guitar"; and a movie starlet, Sherry Wilson (Jennifer Holden). And he has the requisite difficulties deciding how to deal with them. Plus, he meets a no-nonsense lawyer, Mr. Shores (Vaughn Taylor), who helps steer him into financial success; and a popular DJ, Teddy Talbot (Dean Jones), who promotes his first record. Best of all, we meet briefly one of Hollywood's most-recognized character actors, Percy Helton, playing a nightclub owner. If you don't know who Percy Helton was, you'd recognize him the moment you saw him or heard him speak. He appeared in films for over sixty years, starting in the 1920s and continuing through the 1970s. Think of Sweetface in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

Mostly, though, the filmmakers are savvy enough to build their movie around music, much of it pure rock-and-roll, and here you'll find such tunes as "Young and Beautiful," "I Want to Be Free," "Don't Leave Me Now," "You're So Square Baby, I Don't Care," and the megahits "Treat Me Nice" and "Jailhouse Rock." John's film rating: 7/10

The Film According to Dean:
I want more Elvis Presley on disc. In one night, I sat down and enjoyed "Viva Las Vegas" and "Jailhouse Rock." The films looked absolutely amazing and sounded brilliant. They showcased Elvis' ability to entertain and provided for a very nice evening with my older sister, who is a tremendous Elvis fan. "Viva Las Vegas" was a fun romantic comedy musical, while "Jailhouse Rock" is a far superior film but lacks the humor and good nature of the later film. Where "Viva Las Vegas" was the beginning of the end of Elvis's hold on the entertainment industry, "Jailhouse Rock" was released at a time when the King's stature was growing taller all the time and there was no hotter star in the world. When Elvis's third film, "Jailhouse Rock," was released, there was nobody bigger, and "Jailhouse Rock" stands as a testament to Elvis Presley's ability to act and sing. This film showed he was a complete entertainer.

Elvis had struck gold with his first two films, "Love Me Tender" and "Loving You." "Jailhouse Rock" was the third film released in short order for the singer. It was released at a time when rock-and-roll music was still not fully accepted by the American public and Pelvis Elvis was looked upon as being too racy for many viewers. Regardless of some of the public's hesitation to accept Elvis as a megastar with limitless talent, he was seen as a rebel. "Jailhouse Rock" downplays the rock-and-roll aspect of Elvis's career and paints a picture that the star is a cocksure and arrogant rebel. This is in strong contrast to how the singer truly was, and his character, Vince Everett, provides a vehicle for Elvis to show his talents as an actor but does not paint a picture of the man himself. This film showed a harder and stronger persona of Elvis than the more tender first films.

In "Jailhouse Rock," Vince Everett is placed in prison after killing a man in a barroom fistfight. The prison's warden (Hugh Sanders) wants to make an example of the man convicted of manslaughter and he is placed in a jail cell with a former country star, Hunk Houghton (Mickey Shaughnessy), who is behind bars for a bank robbery when his musical career floundered. Hunk educates the young Vince on the merits of keeping his nose clean in prison and the value of a carton of cigarettes. Hunk quickly realizes that Vince has a great singing voice, but is not very strong with a guitar. Hunk lands Vince a spot on a televised musical special from the prison, Vince quickly becomes a heartthrob with American audiences, and the prison is inundated with fan mail addressed to the prisoner. Hunk wants to capitalize on Vince's future success, and the Warden does not want the letters to be given to Vince, so they are kept hidden until Vince is set free.

During their time together in the same cell, Vince and Hunk create a strong friendship. Vince takes a beating after he strikes a prison guard, and Hunk tells Vince that he offered all of the cigarettes he had to prevent the whipping from happening, but that he did not have the three hundred packs required. Vince signs a paper contract with Hunk in prison that gives Hunk fifty percent of any future earnings by Vince. Hunk knows the music business and feels that fifty percent is a fair number as a managing partner.