It’s Elvis Week, a celebration of the life and legend of the King of Rock N’ Roll, Elvis Presley. Born in a shotgun shack in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1935, Elvis spent his teenage years in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1953, he walked into the Memphis Recording Service to record a demo for his mother’s birthday. Secretary Marion Keisker recorded the session. She asked the teenager “Who do you sound like?” He replied, “I don’t sound like nobody.” Two years later, Elvis signed a contract with RCA records, and was well on his way to international fame. It turned out nobody sounded quite like him.
Over the course of his short life and career, Elvis changed the course of American music with sold-out performances, hit movies, and a string of hit songs that defined the sound of rock n’ roll. Behind it all was a magnetic personality that held all the contradictory parts of the man and the myth together. He was a deeply religious man who scandalized middle America with a shake of his hips. He was private, even shy, and hid behind a persona that planted one foot in the revival tent and one in the pro-wrestling ring. He was pure camp and completely earnest. He was Elvis.
The first Elvis Week began as an impromptu vigil held at the gates of Graceland after the King’s passing in 1977. Since then, legions of fans have made the pilgrimage to Memphis every August to commemorate the King. If you can’t make the trip to Graceland, you can celebrate Elvis in all his swagger and soul with these movies and albums from our catalog.
Blue Hawaii
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Elvis Presley sings 14 songs and still manages to drive sightseers around the islands in golf carts in this lush musical. Back home in Hawaii after being discharged from the Army, Chad Gates (Presley) is pressured to work with his father in the fruit business. Instead, Chad takes a much more enjoyable gig as a tour guide with his girlfriend's agency. Angela Lansbury, Joan Blackman, Roland Winters also star. Features the title tune, "Can't Help Falling in Love," "Rock-a-Hula Baby," and more.
Clambake
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Wealthy Scott Heyward (Elvis Presley) wants to experience life outside of his privileged upbringing. When he meets Tom Wilson (Will Hutchins), an earnest water-skiing instructor, Scott offers to trade places with him. As Tom warms up to the good life, Scott gets used to a less luxurious existence and falls for Dianne Carter (Shelley Fabares), who, ironically, is hoping to meet a rich man. Sticking to his humble guise, Scott tries to woo Dianne without the benefit of his true status.
Elvis & Nixon
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On a December morning in 1970, the King of Rock ’n Roll showed up on the lawn of the White House to request a meeting with the most powerful man in the world, President Nixon. Starring Academy Award® nominee Michael Shannon (Best Supporting Actor, Revolutionary Road, 2008) as Elvis Presley and two-time Academy Award® winner Kevin Spacey (Best Actor, American Beauty, 1999 and Best Supporting Actor, The Usual Suspects, 1995) as Richard Nixon, comes the untold true story behind this revealing, yet humorous moment in the Oval Office, forever immortalized in the most requested photograph in the National Archives.
Elvis Presley: The Searcher
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He was a boy from Tupelo who grew up to become the biggest star in music. Along the way, he absorbed a staggering range of influences, creating a revolutionary sound in his lifelong search for self-expression. Following his creative journey from childhood through the final 1976 Jungle Room recording sessions, Elvis Presley: The Searcher includes never-before-seen photos and footage from private collections worldwide, stunning atmospheric shots taken inside Graceland, Elvis’ iconic home, and more than 20 new interviews with Priscilla Presley and the many artists, session players, producers, engineers and directors who knew him or who were profoundly influenced by him.
Elvis: The Miniseries
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Jonathan Rhys Meyers delivers a definitive performance in the acclaimed mini series event that depicts Elvis from 50s teen outcast to worldwide sensation, through his grim decline to spectacular 68 comeback. Experience the triumphs and tragedies, excesses and affairs, madness and music of The King Of Rock & Roll, featuring a stellar cast that includes Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Camryn Manheim as his beloved mother Gladys, Oscar® nominee Randy Quaid as the notorious Colonel Parker, Robert Patrick as Vernon Presley, and Rose McGowan as Ann-Margret.
On Stage
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After an eight-year absence from live performance, Elvis Presley made his triumphant return to the concert stage in 1969 at The International Hotel in Las Vegas. On the heels of Suspicious Minds, In The Ghetto, the 68 Comeback Special and the acclaimed album From Elvis In Memphis, the year that man landed on the moon was also the year that Elvis reclaimed his standing as the ultimate live performer.