“Love me tender,Love me true,
All my dreams fulfilled.”—“Love Me Tender,” words and music credited to Vera Matson and Elvis Presley, actually written by Ken Darby, performed by Presley (1956)
Fifty-five years ago on this date, Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender premiered at New York’s Paramount Theater, where thousands of fans lined up to see the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in his first movie appearance. This was originally supposed to be a nonsinging role, but the film’s producers decided, given the King’s popularity, to add four songs.
Here was the moment when the mold was cast for Presley’s movie career. He wanted to be the next James Dean, and to that end had even seen Rebel Without a Cause 44 times.
But it was not to be. Hollywood, with its studio system entering decline, and the star’s manager, “Colonel” Tom Parker, decided to play it safe. They were thrilled to death by the immediate results--the movie made back its costs within days--and ignored the long-term cost to The King.
Presley’s screen test for producer Hal Wallis was actually pretty good, and his co-stars, then and later, testified to his professionalism. Yet even Elvis--make that especially Elvis--understood what had happened on his introduction to Hollywood. “That first one almost finished me off in the business…They rushed me in the thing to get my name, you know, on the marquee. And the picture wasn’t all that good."
Before long, he was stuck in one formulaic movie after another. He invariably played a highly self-confident but not too brash guy, whose principal preoccupation was reflected in one Sixties film title: Girls! Girls! Girls! Critics guffawed about his lack of range (he could play everything from a singing motorcycle driver to a singing doctor, they joked).
If you’re like me, you gnash your teeth at the lack of foresight--the sheet stupidity--shown by Parker when he rejected an offer for his client to star in the 1961 film adaptation of the Bernstein-Sondheim Broadway musical, West Side Story.
One of my favorite DJs, Vin Scelsa of WFUV, has noted that West Side Story, though not the first rock ‘n’ roll musical, is the first musical with a rock ‘n’ roll attitude. It’s all about sex, danger, and the sense that everything is riding on this moment. Who better to play its male lead, Tony, than Presley himself? His early TV appearances had certainly threatened the adult establishment, but he also could play tender--and unlike the actor eventually cast in the role, Richard Beymer, his voice wouldn’t require dubbing. And unlike the bland Beymer, he radiated charisma.
Yet Parker, more comfortable with tame fare that reflected the films that he liked to see, rejected the offer out of hand. A juvenile delinquent was not the type of role his client would play, he announced.
Lost was not only the chance for Elvis to appear in that year’s Best Picture Oscar winner, but also redirect his career after his Army stint. We can only rue the squandered opportunity.
What we are left with is a title song seeking a film to match its greatness. It’s simple but enduring, as you might expect from a melody harking back to the Civil War ballad “Aura Lee.” Adding new lyrics was probably just another job for Ken Darby, who gave his wife partial credit on the tune.
Elvis got his only songwriting credit on the song, even though, as with virtually all his other songs, he had little if any involvement with composing it. It was all part of the price of dealing with The Colonel.
Still, I suppose you can say, borrowing a concept from film critics, that Elvis was the song’s auteur--adding a style so indelible that other artists could cover the song, but never hope to match his version.
By the way, you can read an informative and entertaining account of the creation and reception of the film and its song here, in a post from the "Elvis-History" blog.
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