King Creole (1958)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Harold Robbins (novel)
Herbert Baker (writer) ...

Release Date:

2 July 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Musical

Plot:

Having flunked graduation for a second time and needing cash to support his crabby (and thus unemployed) father...

Plot Keywords:

Nightclub | Delinquent | Crime Boss | High School | Young Love

Cast

Elvis Presley	...	Danny Fisher
Carolyn Jones	...	Ronnie
Walter Matthau	...	Maxie Fields
Dolores Hart	...	Nellie
Dean Jagger	...	Mr. Fisher
Liliane Montevecchi	...	Forty Nina
Vic Morrow	...	Shark
Paul Stewart	...	Charlie LeGrand
Jan Shepard	...	Mimi Fisher
Brian G. Hutton	...	Sal (as Brian Hutton)
Jack Grinnage	...	Dummy
Dick Winslow	...	Eddie Burton
Raymond Bailey	...	Mr. Evans
Gavin Gordon	...	Mr. Primont - Druggist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leon Tyler	...	Drug Clerk (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Danny (USA) (working title)
Sing, You Sinners (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for violence and sensuality.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Curiously, in the current version of this film, "Hard Headed Woman" a #1 hit for Elvis Presley at the time of the film's release has been cut and added is the previously unseen stripper's sequence with the song "Banana".

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the beginning of the movie there is a scene where people on the street sing a song. In one part a woman is singing on the song, but the picture shows a male singer.

Quotes:

Mr. Evans: Now, you've just been told that you're not graduating tomorrow. Doesn't that mean anything to you?
Danny Fisher: You said I'm not graduating. OK, that's it. Now what do you want?
Mr. Evans: I once had a son, Danny. He lived 13 years. Some hoodlums jumped him one night, and he died.
Danny Fisher: I'm sorry. But what's that got to do with me?
Mr. Evans: Because you have all the earmarks of being a hoodlum.
Danny Fisher: Aw!
Mr. Evans: A hoodlum or a hustler, whatever you want to call it.
Danny Fisher: This isn't principal talk.
Mr. Evans: Well, the more difficult the student, the more I try to lean over backwards.
Danny Fisher: Listen, Mr. Evans. We moved into this neighborhood 3 years ago. In that 3 years that I've been going to school here, I've shined shoes and dusted people off in a barbershop. I've done towel duty in 4 different men's rooms. I've stacked chairs and bottles and swept the floor up of every joint on Bourbon Street...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Beck: Lockpojken (#1.1)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

As Long As I Have You

"Probably one of Presley's finest movies!"

Elvis Presley plays Danny Fisher, a misunderstood teenager who is forced to live in a neighbourhood frequented by hoodlums because his father's business went bankcrupt and lost their other house. Danny flunks out of high school and does several dead end jobs in order to make ends meet, but it is discovered that he has a talent for singing and his hired by nightclub owner Charlie Le Grand. However, sadistic blackmailer and criminal Maxie Fields (Walter Matthau) also has corrupt designs on Danny's talent.

Probably one of Presley's finest movies with a fairly strong storyline and assured direction by Michael (Casablanca) Curtiz. The acting is good from Presley in one of his better roles and Matthau scores as the ruthless gang boss. The film is shot in gorgeous noir black & white and the memorable tunes include "King Creole", "Trouble" and "As Long As I Have You".