Bill Bram
went behind
the scenes
of nine of
Elvis'
movies.
Design
Contrary
to the many
"Inside"
books
released the
last two
years this
book is a 99
percent text
book. The
cover comes
in full
colour; the
pictures
inside are
all black
and white.
Content
The book
reads like a
Q&A. Bill
Bram tracked
down a lot
of people
who were in
one way part
of one of
the nine
movies -
King Creole,
Kid Galahad,
Roustabout,
Easy Come
Easy Go,
Double
Trouble,
Clambake,
Live A
Little Love
Little, The
Trouble With
Girls and
"Change Of
Habit" - and
interviewed
or
corresponded
with them. A
lot of the
big names
are missing
from the
list of
interviews,
but the vast
amount of
smaller
co-stars,
stuntmen,
crewmembers
and
musicians
makes up for
this.
Tracking
these people
down must
have been a
labour of
love,
looking at
the dates of
the
interviews
it took
nearly six
years to
gather the
information.
The author
asked the
same
questions to
different
people and
printed
their
answers. He
didn't
integrate
their
answers into
a story. It
takes a bit
getting used
to reading
the book,
but the
answers by
themselves
are funny,
interesting,
informative
or factual.
It is always
fun te read
memories and
anecdotes of
those who
had the
chance to
meet or work
with Elvis.
Besides this
I picked up
a lot on how
an Elvis
movie was
made and
learned
quite a few
new facts
and tidbits
on our man's
moviecareer.
We also
learn that
more songs
were filmed
for the
movies, like
"Danny Boy"
for "King
Creole" but
they ended
up on the
cutting room
floor for
various
reasons.
Besides
the
interviews
Bill Bram
did a lot of
research and
it shows in
the book in
the
footnotes
added to the
interviews
and the
introduction
chapter on
each movie.
In fact he
added three
appendixes
with
information
on the
movies King
Creole,
Roustabout
and Easy
Come Easy
Go. Also
featured are
the stories
behind the
"lost" movie
projects
like "A Star
Is Born" and
Elvis'
karate
movie.
The pro
of the book
is the huge
amount of
information
and many
personal
recollections
from those
involved;
many very
personal or
very
detailed on
what
happened on
and off the
set; a lot
of new
insights.
The con is
the lack of
illustrations.
The author
turned up a
handful of
images, but
that doesn't
illustrate a
nearly four
hundred
pages book.
It would be
great if
Bill Bram
would have
joined
forced with
the Likes of
Elvis
Unlimited
who produce
many
"Inside"
books which
are mainly
picture
books. The
combination
of both
could easily
create a
series of
definitive
movie books.
Conclusion
A well
researched
look behind
the scenes
of several
of Elvis
better and
mediocre
movies. A
nice read; a
few more
illustrations
could have
helped the
"Q&A"
format.
Hopefully a
researcher
like this
teams up
with the
guys from
Elvis
Unlimited
