THE SEARCHER - I've seen it and I liked it, but . . .

[DarylR]

Well, I enjoyed my complimentary viewing of Elvis Presley: The Searcher in Graceland's state-of-the-art theater at The Guest House on Saturday afternoon. I'll simply start out by saying that I liked it, but I'm afraid it's not going to satisfy every Elvis fan to the fullest.

I personally give it 4 out of 5 stars... very good, but not excellent.

The following are things of interest that I made note of as the movie played . . .

Positives:
1. All interviews or voice-overs were done without showing the faces of those speaking.

2. Commentary from Red West was scattered throughout the documentary, which means that Priscilla obviously thought enough of his firsthand accounts to include him in the documentary. There was nothing mentioned about the book Elvis-What Happened? ... a positive for sure.

3. I liked the way they went from the 1950s to the '68 Comeback Special with some effective splicing... especially with the song "That's All Right".

4. The '68 Comeback Special was sort of a centerpiece of the documentary.

5. Albums that were highlighted in a positive light were...
Elvis Presley ; Peace In The Valley (EP) ; Elvis Is Back! ; His Hand In Mine ; How Great Thou Art ; From Elvis In Memphis

6. Some color home movies of Sam Phillips at play from the 1950s were shown... at a beach and such.

Both versions of "Lonely Man" were used back-to-back in the movie. It started out with the master recording lasting about a minute +
and then they smoothly transitioned with a splice to the solo version lasting about another 1 minute or so.

They showed some unreleased footage from the Elvis On Tour mock sessions/rehearsals... "Burning Love" and "Separate Way".

They used some unreleased close-up footage (from his chest up) in very good condition of Elvis performing "An American Trilogy" from 1973 (or '74) showing mostly the second half of the performance. The footage might have been from Las Vegas in August or early September 1973...
Freeze at the 1:53 mark to see the footage I'm referring to (with red scarf) >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qULBo4iPV8M

Negatives:
1. The producer lead the unknowing viewer to believe that Graceland was the first house/home that Elvis bought. There was no mention of the Audubon Drive house in east Memphis. While the narrator was talking about Elvis' purchase of Graceland, they were actually showing several photos from the Audubon Drive home. Any knowing Elvis fan would quickly pick up on that.

2. It was stated in the movie that Elvis never played a concert outside of the United States. No mention of Canada 1957.

3. In the early section of Part 2, they made reference to Flaming Star and Wild In The Country as movies that "lost money". I don't think that's accurate. They may not have been the box office successes that G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii were, but "money losers"? I don't think so.
They showed a quick image of a Flaming Star poster (bare chested Elvis holding a rifle) and had that screen-lettered as "Wild In The Country".
They then quickly showed an image of a Wild In the Country poster (image of Elvis about to kiss Hope Lange) as "Flaming Star".

4. They made the mistake of only saying that Colonel Parker wanted a Christmas song included in the 1968 NBC-TV Special. In truth, which they didn't hit on, was that Colonel Parker originally wanted the entire show to be a Christmas special. I was disappointed with their oversight on that crucial issue. It was during a segment focused on what a tough/unreasonable manager Parker could often be.

5. In Part 2 when making reference to the Aloha From Hawaii tv special, they only showed footage from the rehearsal show... "You Gave Me a Mountain" was highlighted, but the entire performance wasn't shown.

If my memory serves me correctly the only songs they played in their entirety without any interruptions from voice-overs were near the end of Part 2... "Hurt" and "If I Can Dream". I suppose the forthcoming 3-cd set is for complete songs.

One disappointment was that they only showed about 4 seconds of Elvis with Sam Phillips in Memphis from 1961.

If anyone has questions, I'll try my best to answer what I can about the documentary.

Did they show anything from the 1977 CBS special, "Elvis In Concert"?

Did they have any 8 mm film with matching sound; either via multi-track, a soundboard or an audience recording?

Was there any music / performances from the year, 1957? I know there were some people questioning the soundtrack not featuring hardly anything from that year.

Does the film cover Elvis' return to live performing in Las Vegas in 1969? Does the film feature any footage of Elvis performing at the International during either of the first two Las Vegas engagements (July / August, 1969 or January / February, 1970)?

Does the film feature any unseen "That's The Way It Is" footage?

How does the film go from "Aloha" to "Hurt"? Any mention of the albums in between such as the Stax sessions, the Today LP, etc.?

Does Lisa Marie say anything in the film?

How did they work Jon Landau's article about the Boston show from 1971 into the film?

Was there anybody that was interviewed for the film, either using new interviews or archival interviews that surprised you?

[Colin B]

...One interesting quote i read is that in the course of the film not even Priscilla can answer why Elvis placed so much trust in his manager and allowed him to put him through so much stuff that Elvis was unhappy with...

My understanding of this was:

In 1955, Elvis had been 'discovered' as an entertainer & was cutting records, but the big money wasn't flowing in.

He met Parker who told him "Stick with me son & I'll make you a millionaire !"

And he went on to do just that !

After that, Elvis was in awe of him for more-or-less the rest of his life...

[Tulsa Mclean]

One disappointment was that they only showed about 4 seconds of Elvis with Sam Phillips in Memphis from 1961.

That´s a great dissapointment.... . Monkey/FECC contributer "robbie" sold his 6 to 7 minutes reels (including the arrival at the airport) of this to them and they only included 4 seconds??? .

Robbie-Is the Elvis -Sam Philips footage in the trailer the footage you sold to them and if so how much of it was there?

Yes and getting off the plane with the press conference i sold all the reels i had of it 6 or 7 mins

[TonyS]

One disappointment was that they only showed about 4 seconds of Elvis with Sam Phillips in Memphis from 1961.

That´s a great dissapointment.... . Monkey/FECC contributer "robbie" sold his 6 to 7 minutes reels (including the arrival at the airport) of this to them and they only included 4 seconds??? .

Robbie-Is the Elvis -Sam Philips footage in the trailer the footage you sold to them and if so how much of it was there?

Yes and getting off the plane with the press conference i sold all the reels i had of it 6 or 7 mins

This is very common in TV.
You may well find more of it appearing elsewhere in the future.
To think you would see all of it in a single documentary that encompasses a whole career is unrealistic .
They paid for it, they now own it and will exploit it how they see fit in the future.

[Tulsa Mclean]

One disappointment was that they only showed about 4 seconds of Elvis with Sam Phillips in Memphis from 1961.

That´s a great dissapointment.... . Monkey/FECC contributer "robbie" sold his 6 to 7 minutes reels (including the arrival at the airport) of this to them and they only included 4 seconds??? .

Robbie-Is the Elvis -Sam Philips footage in the trailer the footage you sold to them and if so how much of it was there?

Yes and getting off the plane with the press conference i sold all the reels i had of it 6 or 7 mins

This is very common in TV.
You may well find more of it appearing elsewhere in the future.
To think you would see all of it in a single documentary that encompasses a whole career is unrealistic .
They paid for it, they now own it and will exploit it how they see fit in the future.

I really hope so on the dvd/bluray release!. That said, they could have included a bit more, I´m not asking for the whole thing.... .

[Jukebox]

Did they use commentary from Elvis himself (thru interviews, concert monologues)?

Yes, many times all throughout the documentary.

How much of the voice overs came from musicians? Any one of them stood out in your opinion?

D.J. Fontana, Scotty Moore, Ronnie Tutt, Hal Blaine, Cissy Houston, maybe a couple of others that I can't recall right now.

Roughly, of course, how many people were invited to the Viewing?

Looked like about 300 were there.

Were you all invited to attend a Before or After party with Priscilla, Marian Cocke, and Letetia Henley Kirk?

Yes, a reception with good food followed the viewing. Priscilla, Jerry Schilling, and Marian Cocke were there. I don't know about L.H. Kirk.

Are there subtitles indicating who is talking ?

Yes... everytime.

That footage of An American Trilogy is from 28 April 1973 AS. Funnily enough, there's no audio circulating from that show.

Thanks, Ben. The footage they showed was possibly overdubbed with audio.

[a mess of Polk salad]

Was there any TTWII footage ..? 'Words?'etc ...

[Jukebox]

By JACOB KNIGHT - Mar. 17, 2018
We're transfixed by the image of Elvis, as the visuals proceed in chronological order.

Not 100% in chronological order, but not intended to be entirely.

By JACOB KNIGHT - Mar. 17, 2018
Zimny is examining what Gospel, Soul, R&B, Country/Western and even Pop Music meant to a Southern white man who grew up dirt poor, practically without a father, and possibly without a future beyond music.

There was a lot of previously unseen (to me) black&white footage of several musical acts from several different genres... very enjoyable to see. Zimny's purpose was to give the viewer an idea of what Elvis absorbed in his youth and how he absorbed it all.

By JACOB KNIGHT - Mar. 17, 2018
There’s those early shows, where Elvis was a "wild animal" on stage, his hips signaling their own sexual revolution as pearl-clutchers gasped in panic.

This part was one of the highlights of the documentary. One can't help but love those early performances on the Dorsey Brothers shows.

By JACOB KNIGHT - Mar. 17, 2018
TV hosts attempted to humiliate Elvis by turning Presley's persona into a novelty act to which they could condescend, many in the white establishment not wanting this underclass young man to bring "black music" to the masses. However, Elvis was such a force of nature that not even racist '50s regional broadcasts could subdue his swinging intensity.

The only hosts in the documentary that attempted to humiliate Elvis (as we already know) was Steve Allen, and a touch or two from the Hy Gardner interview. Priscilla commented (via voice-over) that Elvis never liked Steve Allen after that.

By JACOB KNIGHT - Mar. 17, 2018
Not even Priscilla Presley can offer up a cogent response as to why Elvis put so much trust into the man who would essentially work evil magic to undo his unruly youthful image .... After that, Parker continuously negotiated contracts with movie studios that transformed the rock legend into little more than a poppy OST maven, tarnishing his status as a disobedient sex symbol.

From seeing this part of the documentary (and based on things that I already knew) it was actually the death of Elvis' mother that started the personal and musical change in him, along with his 2-year stint in the military away from the limelight, that led him to seek out new musical directions. It's my opinion that the documentary didn't attempt to blame Colonel Parker entirely for Elvis' change... and they were right not to.

By JACOB KNIGHT - Mar. 17, 2018
– his '68 TV Special viewed as a real “make or break” moment for the artist’s career – the Colonel is always lurking in the background: a devil looking to take down this Patron Saint of Rock.

That part of the docu. was actually not addressed fully or accurately.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but it's always been my understanding that Colonel originally wanted an entire Christmas program. It wasn't until Colonel found out that he wasn't going to get his way that he supposedly firmly demanded that at least 1 Christmas song be included.
I don't know who is to blame for this omission in the docu. (Steve Binder or Jerry Schilling), but someone failed to explain the entire ordeal.

By JACOB KNIGHT - Mar. 17, 2018
By the time Parker's pushing him through a grueling '70s touring process – hundreds of dates forcing the King to increase his intake of uppers and downers just to get by while his body puffed and swelled – The Searcher is clearly positing that Elvis was, in fact, not a human being to the person he arguably put the greatest amount of faith in. For Colonel Tom Parker, the musician was a cash machine: an image being utilized to make this enterprising monster rich.

The documentary allowed Colonel Parker to defend himself by using voice-overs by Parker from his ABC Nightline interview where he states that he never forced Elvis to do all of the touring that he did. He claimed that Elvis instructed him to keep the bookings coming.
-- That interview with Ted Koppel can easily be found on YouTube for anyone who wants to see it.

[Jukebox]

All in all, it's sounds like a winner in regards to Elvis and his music and how his story is being told to the viewer.

... seems that this film is of a serious nature and giving the viewers a good perspective of artist and manager relationship.

True on both accounts, Mojo Filter.

[Jukebox]

Questions by DarylR --

1. Did they show anything from the 1977 CBS special, "Elvis In Concert"?
~ No.

2. Did they have any 8 mm film with matching sound; either via multi-track, a soundboard or an audience recording?
~ "Never Been To Spain" from MSG (June 10, 1972), and "An American Trilogy" (April 1973... date according to member Ben)

3. Was there any music/performances from the year, 1957? I know there were some people questioning the soundtrack not featuring hardly anything from that year.
~ Only "Peace In The Valley" & "Loving You".

4. Does the film cover Elvis' return to live performing in Las Vegas in 1969?
~ Yes... and for most of those segments they used "That's The Way It Is" footage passing it off as 1969.

5. Does the film feature any footage of Elvis performing at the International during either of the first two Las Vegas engagements (July/August, 1969 or January/February, 1970)?
~ Only some photo stills.

6. Does the film feature any unseen "That's The Way It Is" footage?
~ I don't recall seeing any, so I'll say no.

7. How does the film go from "Aloha" to "Hurt"?
~ That's a tricky one to answer. They sort of jumbled things from 1973 with 1972, and then started mentioning how his prescription drug addiction was beginning to affect his stage performances a year or two later. They showed some distant fan footage from '76 and some photo stills. Nothing earth shattering.

8. Any mention of the albums in between such as the Stax sessions, the Today LP, etc.?
~ The latest album mentioned or shown was Aloha From Hawaii if my memory serves me correctly. Nothing about the Stax sessions or the albums that followed.

9. Does Lisa Marie say anything in the film?
~ No.

10. How did they work Jon Landau's article about the Boston show from 1971 into the film?
~ I don't remember exactly "how" they worked it in, but it shined a nice light on Elvis' image during that time of his career.


11. Was there anybody that was interviewed for the film, either using new interviews or archival interviews that surprised you?
~ Yes... I was pleasantly surprised to hear how much voice-over input they used from Red West.

They used only about 15 - 20 seconds of Gladys' voice singing "Home Sweet Home"... very chilling with a lot of echo. My gosh... It sounded like a ghost singing from beyond the grave! I don't know if they added echo for the movie or if the recording really has that much echo. Either way, it was a joy to hear. I hope it lasts for more than 20 seconds on the soundtrack (when it eventually ends up on YouTube for all to hear for free).

[a mess of Polk salad]

What was the opening 2 minutes and what footage did it consist of ? Thank you ...

[gerry]

Thankyou Jukebox.

Please can you tell me if they showed the 8mm film of 1969?

Did they show the 8mm film of jan or feb 1970?

thankyou

[cadillac-elvis]

So, when this thing was announced, I said something along the lines of there was no need for another documentary because everything
we have been told about Elvis has been told. ........so, was there any new nuggets of importance that came about during this re-telling
of the Elvis story?

[Mister Moon]

Folks, I feel that old Fredric March feelin' comin' on.

Zimny and Landau should stick to Springsteen. This Elvis job was not for them.

So Elvis' 1957 recording of "Jailhouse Rock", one of the landmark rock and roll records of all time, is not contained in a 4 hour documentary that is pompously presented as the definitive thing on rock and roll's most important performer.

Of course, Elvis covered Dylan, and blah, blah, blah.

And we have gone from "Elvis, What Happened ?" to "It Never Happened".

Keep repeating, aloud - "It Never Happened", "It Never Happened", "It Never Happened"...

[cadillac-elvis]

Folks, I feel that old Fredric March feelin' comin' on.

Zimny and Landau should stick to Springsteen. This Elvis job was not for them.

So Elvis' 1957 recording of "Jailhouse Rock", one of the landmark rock and roll records of all time, is not contained in a 4 hour documentary that is pompously presented as the definitive thing on rock and roll's most important performer.

Of course, Elvis covered Dylan, and blah, blah, blah.

And we have gone from "Elvis, What Happened ?" to "It Never Happened".

Keep repeating, aloud - "It Never Happened", "It Never Happened", "It Never Happened"...

Of course it never happened. and There never was an Elvis.

The Elvis we all know and love was really an imposter. He was the very first Elvis impersonator.
The real Elvis was an illusion. He was a holographic creation by our government to lead us astray.
We will all wake up soon. I'm glad I got this message out. I feel like they are following me.
I hope this post doesn't get deleted. I'm afraid I've said too much already.