Rock ‘n’ Roll at the King Creole

King Creole is not your average musical. For one it stars the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll himself, Elvis Presley. And secondly he does all of the singing (which is unusual for a musical but I am not complaining).

King Creole is another musical based on a book called “A Story for Danny Fisher”. The movie/musical loosely follows the book. When producer Hal Willis bought the rights to the book he originally wanted James Dean to play the lead role but his premature death left them looking for a new Danny Fisher. This story was then taken to Broadway and was a hit. So after this great success they made the decision to try and make this story into a film. They chose Elvis Presley to play their Danny Fisher in this 1958 film.

In Elvis’s acting career he released 31 movies from 1956-1969. This sounds like an incredible feat to accomplish on top of recording songs and touring the country. He found out the month before filming King Creole that he got drafted into the military. For this movie, Elvis was able to get a 60 day deferment from the military to film this movie.  And 14 days after filming ended in March 1958, he was sent overseas to Germany to serve our country.

Lose your blues in Louisiana

King Creole is an adventure packed musical with gangs, romance, and everything New Orleans. Danny Fisher is a 19 year old who is struggling to graduate high school and provide for his family. Since the death of his mother three years before, his father can’t hold a job to provide for his children. Danny works every morning before school as a bar cleaner to help make ends meet.

Danny ends up falling in love with two different women. And he gets entangled with the head gangster of New Orleans. Danny is a strong-willed young man who is tired of listening to other people tell him what he can and can not do. With all this violence and romance he finds his true passion, being a performer. He becomes an instant success at the bar, King Creole.

This is personally my favorite Elvis musical that I have seen so far. And coincidentally it is also Elvis’s favorite movie role. I think it is awesome that Elvis was able to show both of his passions at the same time, singing and acting. This movie shows off his skills as a singer. All of Elvis’s movies have songs that landed in the top 5 charts. For King Creole, “Hard Headed Woman” and “Don’t Ask Me Why” made their way to number 1 on the pop charts with the release of the movie. If you like Elvis and New Orleans this is a musical worth watching!

Picture Credits

http://www.visitmosselbay.co.za/pec-events/king-creole-monroe-theatre/

http://www.gettyimages.com/pictures/elvis-presley-67209#jennifer-holden-and-judy-tyler-with-singer-and-actor-elvis-presley-on-picture-id843341804