Elvis 75th Birthday Collection – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Elvis Presley would only be 75 if he’d have faked his death. Amazing to think that he’d be more than 10 years younger than Betty White. In celebration of this milestone comes the Elvis 75th Birthday Collection boxset. The collection features seven films that have been released by Fox and MGM over the years (including his screen debut). The King of Rock and Roll demonstrates his cinematic range from dramatically serious to the musically surreal.

Love Me Tender launched Elvis’ film career. He wasn’t officially the lead in this film. It wasn’t even supposed to be called Love Me Tender. This was supposed to be a Richard Egan flick called The Reno Brothers. But thanks to his superstardom, the producers decided to promote this as an Elvis film named after one of his songs. It keeps fans from getting confused asking for that song from a film that doesn’t have the same name. Egan and Elvis are the Reno brothers. Turns out Egan went to fight for the Confederates during the Civil War. Elvis stayed behind and married Egan’s girlfriend. There’s a lot of tension at the welcome home party. Egan’s old war buddies complicate things since they pulled a train heist during their time fighting for the South. They don’t appreciate Egan wanting to do the right thing. Not to spoil the film, but Elvis doesn’t give us his typical ending. He does since a couple songs, but nothing as extensive as his later flicks.

Flaming Star is another serious outing for Elvis dealing with race relations. He’s the son of a white father and American Indian mother. His older brother is all white. When fighting breaks out between the settlers and the natives, the half brother’s split their allegiances. The serious nature of the film is underlined by only two Elvis songs on the soundtrack.

Wild in the Country makes Elvis a troubled teen with a talent. Oddly enough, it’s not for singing. He’s got a gift for writing. It’s up to Hope Lange to get him to tap into it instead of causing trouble with Tuesday Weld.

Follow That Dream gets a little light. Elvis is apart of a family that attempts to homestead on a Florida beach. The locals aren’t too happy especially the mobsters. Elvis attempts to do right for his family and the community. His trial scene should have been his entry to making legal thrillers. Although those don’t make quite the amount of cash as him singing with little motivation.

Kid Galahad is Elvis’ Raging Bull. Shortly after a military discharge, Elvis returns home in hopes of finding a mechanic gig. The best job he finds is being a sparring partner. Turns out he packs a monkeywrench in his punch. He quickly rises through the boxing ranks. The mobsters want him to take a dive before a big match. Can he resist? Charles Bronson (Death Wish) co-stars.

Frankie and Johnny is a riverboat musical full of gambling, romance and singing. Elvis and Donna Douglas (Beverly Hillbillies) are singing partners. Complicating their relationship is his ability to lose cash gambling. He thinks his luck will change after a gypsy foretells a redhead’s arrival. This happens with the arrival of Nancy Kovack (Star Trek). Donna doesn’t like the situation. There’s lot of singing on the showboat. Harry Morgan proves his comedic skills that would come in handy when he took over M*A*S*H. Director Frederick De Cordova’s best known as the producer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Clambake is the pinnacle of the goofy musicals done by Elvis. He’s a rich kid that dreams of escaping his parents’ clutches. He swaps identities with Will Hutchins so he can focus on speedboat racing. He sings up a storm to seduce Shelley Fabares (Coach). In “Hey, Hey, Hey,” Elvis sings his worst line ever with “Blako-oxy-tonic phosphate, it’s the latest scoop.” Clambake is lovingly dopey. Editor Tom Rolf would win the Oscar for being part of the crew on The Right Stuff.

There was a time when UHF channels would hype Elvis week on their nightly movie slot. This was one of the scheduling highlights next to Godzilla week. You knew it was summer when Elvis was on the Million Dollar Movie. Nowadays, it seems the only time they run an Elvis movie is on the anniversary of his death. Thankfully with Elvis 75th Birthday Collection, there’s a week of Elvis inside a box that covers him from the dramatic to the goofy.

The video varies by the film. Kid Galahad is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The biggest disappointment is Clambake since it’s a second rate transfer and letter-boxed instead of anamorphic. Follow That Dream is also just letterboxed with a pan and scan on the flip side. Frankie and Johnny is 1.66:1 letter-boxed. Most of the audio is Dolby Digital mono. Love Me Tender has a Dolby Stereo track. Most of the films are subtitled in English and Spanish.

Commentary on Love Me Tender by Elvis Historian Jerry Schilling gives plenty of details about the King’s conquest of cinema.

Elvis Hits Hollywood (12:42) recounts how he went from singing to the screen. They have plenty of pics from the opening of Love Me Tender in Manhattan.

The King and the Colonel (11:02) deals with the manager who kept making bad choices for the greatest singer. Amazing to think he survived so many lame career moves.

Love Me Tender: The Birth and Boom of the Elvis Hit (8:04) gives more details about how this movie was overtaken by Elvis-mania.

Still Gallery covers the production of Love Me Tender.

Trailers for Clambake, Frankie and Johnny, Follow That Dream, Flaming Star, Love Me Tender (including Spanish version) and Wild in the Country.

Elvis 75th Birthday Collection brings together seven of his films. They vary in tone from his serious debut in Love Me Tender to the musical comedy of Clambake. No matter what he did on the screen, he always had you humming the title song by the end of the film.


Twenith Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM present Elvis 75th Birthday Collection. Starring: Elvis Presley, Charles Bronson, Donna Douglas and Harry Morgan. Boxset Contents: 7 movies on 7 DVDs. Released on DVD: June 1, 2010. Available at Amazon.com.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.