After serving time for manslaughter, young Vince Everett becomes a teenage rock star.
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Reviews
Wuchak
7
By Wuchak
_**From con to concert performer**_
A young construction worker (Presley) is sentenced to a year in the state penitentiary for manslaughter, but wisely takes advantage of his time learning to play guitar better from an inmate who was formerly a county & western performer (Mickey Shaughnessy). After meeting a promoter when he gets out (Judy Tyler) and facing several challenges, he’s a hit.
“Jailhouse Rock” (1957) was Elvis' third movie of the 31 he did, but it was his second starring role. This one has a similar plot to the previous “Loving You,” released earlier the same year, except for the ex-con angle. Despite the flat B&W photography, it’s superior due to the iconic title song performance and the fact that the last act is more compelling.
I’d put it up there with Elvis’ better early flicks, like “Wild in the Country” (1961), "Blue Hawaii" (1961), "Kid Galahad" (1962) and “Roustabout” (1964). It best conveys the charisma that attracted fans by the millions in the 50s-early 60s.
While Judy Tyler and 2-3 other women are certainly lovely, they don’t beat the top females to costar in Presley movies, such as Anne Helm in "Follow That Dream" (1962), Ann-Margret in "Viva Las Vegas" (1964) and Michele Carey in "Live a Little, Love a Little" (1968). I’d cite the ‘banana dancer’ in “King Creole” (1958), but it was only a bit part.
The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Century City & Hollywood, Los Angeles.
GRADE: B
CinemaSerf
6
By CinemaSerf
The hot-tempered young "Vince" (Elvis Presley) finds himself caught up in a bar-room brawl that has tragic results and sees him sent to jail. There, he is luckily placed with "Hunk" (Mickey Shaughnessy) who is the prison grifter with a penchant for the odd ballad on his guitar. It's the guitar that provides the conduit for the increasingly popular "Vince" and when he's released, he hooks up with the well-connected - and pretty tolerant "Peggy" (Judy Tyler) who manages to get him a recording contract that offers him wealth and stardom. Thing is, he soon finds that's not all it is cracked up to be and his newfound fame might not be enough to compensate for the relationships he's throwing under the bus. Elvis is really just going through the motions here, as is the really quite wooden Tyler and the story is little more than a weakly processional vehicle for the star that mixes a sluggishly developed romance with the eponymous song, along with a couple of other Lieber and Stoller numbers - "Treat Me Nice" and "You're So Square". It does take a swipe at the fickleness and duplicity of the record business but there's not much else to it, and it's quite a long wait til the songs breathe a bit of overly staged life into things.
