Year: 1957
Director: Hal Kanter
Country: US
Language: English
Following Elvis Presley's debut picture Love Me Tender, Loving You seemed like a conscious effort on behalf of the studio execs to cash in on the adolescent fandom forever following Elvis. In Love Me Tender Elvis wouldn't arrive until 20 minutes after the opening credits, here he arrived onscreen four minutes in. While his first film would only feature four songs in the middle of the movie, his second was sure to have at least....10.
Deke Rivers (Elvis Presley) is a delivery man who is discovered by publicist Glenda Markle and country-western musician Tex Warner who want to promote the talented newcomer to fame and fortune, giving him every break he deserves. Romantic complications arrive.
Lights, camera...quick! Pick up the guitar! In Loving You the writing does not hesitate to wait for Elvis to belt out some tunes. Producer Hal Wallis' strategy in regards on how to to feature Elvis on film was to have him sing early and often. The box office receipts would show how financially wise Wallis was, and would set the precedent for every other Elvis film to come. Our hopes of Elvis being a viable star that would win major awards were slashed.
Elvis' acting did improve compared to his previous picture, but that doesn't seem hard when the only requirement for Loving You was for Elvis to be the musical phenomenon that he was. Regardless it's a big step in the Hollywood career of Elvis, as any fear execs had of the man not being an instant money-maker vanished. The man would have 20+ film roles between the 50's and 60's.
Loving You is too obvious of a cash-grab to enjoy, although I get that all of his films weren't exactly made with substance in mind. One of the last Elvis pictures in his filmography that I've viewed, I can't say that it's an easy recommend. History has not been kind to this particular film.
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