Roy
(played by Burton Gilliam): “We're
the Flying Elvises. Utah chapter.”— Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), written
and directed by Andrew Bergman
Happy birthday to Elvis Presley, who would have been 80 today.
Some of my readers, however, are saying, “What do
you mean, ‘Would have been’?” They
refuse to believe Elvis ever died.
It’s a little like those ancient Welsh, Cornish and
Breton traditions that held that King Arthur never really perished—he was simply
healing from wounds in battle against the villainous Mordred, safely carried
off to the island of Avalon, waiting to lead his people again at the right
moment.
Similarly, his more enthusiastic fans might claim
that The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, knowing that nobody could ever really take his place, has been taking his own sweet time before
reclaiming his crown. For my money, however, Avalon strikes me as far more
hospitable to royalty than the local Kmart, Piggly
Wiggly, or wherever Elvis has been sighted.
Whatever the case may be, everybody still wants to
pay tribute to Elvis. The most affectionate homage I can think of came in the
form of Honeymoon in Vegas, with the hilarious climax of skydiving Elvises from
which today’s “Movie Quote of the Day” is derived. I can’t imagine how the upcoming Broadway
musical starring Tony Lanza could possibly top it.
But then again, who would have guessed that a poor
boy from Mississippi would take the music world by storm and remake the
cultural landscape, too?
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