Change of Habit

[Judith]

Saturday I bought the FTD Change of Habit book. It's beautiful! Spent the weekend drooling over the pictures I had last watched the movie many moons ago, but the book really made me want to watch the movie. So on Sunday (it was autumn in Holland) I watched it and I really enjoyed it. Elvis looks so cool and relaxed. In some of his movies from the mid sixties he moves as if he's lost all sense of rhythm and you can actually see he's embarrassed. But in Change of Habit he seems to be at ease, probably because he knew he was out of the movie contracts. Anyway I hugely enjoyed this movie and even though it might be a bit naive, it does address topical issues. Another thing that struck my mind was that in many Elvis movies the songs often seem out of place or far fetched, like Elvis said: "I got tired of singing to turtles and guys I'd just beat up". Now Change of Habit is a movie in which more songs wouldn't have looked out of place. Especially when you consider that Barbara McNair was a singer in her own right. I had a hard time watching the rage reduction scene the first time ( not helped by the fact that I watched it on German television) but after reading the book I have a new found admiration for the scene which had been extremely difficult to film. Also it must have been one of the first mentions of autism in popular culture, even though of course now we know a lot more about it.

[Art Rush]

I don't know if you've heard of the "Bechdel Test": A film is sexist unless it has two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.

99% of movies fail this test. Change of Habit passes with flying colours.

I really don't know how or why the Colonel let such a great screenplay and brave concept through.

[John]

I don't know if you've heard of the "Bechdel Test": A film is sexist unless it has two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.

99% of movies fail this test. Change of Habit passes with flying colours.

I really don't know how or why the Colonel let such a great screenplay and brave concept through.

Hi Art, I've never heard of the Bechdel Test but it's interesting to know about. I'll be looking at films in a different light from now on.

[Luuk]

I don't know if you've heard of the "Bechdel Test": A film is sexist unless it has two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.

99% of movies fail this test. Change of Habit passes with flying colours.

I really don't know how or why the Colonel let such a great screenplay and brave concept through.

The Colonel demanded better scripts for Elvis, that's why!

[Colin B]

I don't know if you've heard of the "Bechdel Test": A film is sexist unless it has two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.

99% of movies fail this test. Change of Habit passes with flying colours.

I really don't know how or why the Colonel let such a great screenplay and brave concept through.

The Colonel demanded better scripts for Elvis, that's why!

That could be the case.

For whatever reason, there was certainly an improvement in both scripts & quality toward the end of his film career !

Unfortunately, a case of 'too-little-too-late' as the public had already decided, after all those years, that an 'Elvis' film was a lightweight, unimportant, musical travelogue affair...

[Suspicious Minds]

Here's a copy of the script attributed to Barbara McNair (by name on script and in inscriptions to her from her co-stars on the cover).

The final screenplay no. 02032 dated March 3, 1969 from Universal City Studios has “Barbara McNair” handwritten on the red front cover.

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The title page is a yearbook of co-stars’ signatures, including Elvis Presley, Mary Tyler Moore, Jane Elliot and director William A. Graham.

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The inscriptions are as follows:

- Elvis: “Love you Barbie Doll, from Elvis Presley” (see also detail 1 below)
- Mary Tyler Moore: “Dear Barbara, It was so nice, Love, Mary Tyler Moore” (see also detail 2 below)
- Jane Elliot: “To Mc, With all my love & good thoughts to you & Jack, Jane Idiot.” (“Jack” would be McNair’s husband at the time, Jack Rafferty, and the “Idiot” in place of Elliot must have been an on-set, inside joke.)
- Director William A. Graham: “To my darling - I love you forever - Barnacle Billy.”

Detail 1:

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Detail 2:

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Source: http://auction.graceland.com/lot-485.aspx

[Suspicious Minds]

Here's a Belgian poster of Change of Habit.

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The illustrated artwork mimics the U.S. movie posters for the film, but it is in a unique composition with both the French and Dutch titles for the film. A beautiful and unique movie poster for Elvis’ last dramatic role. Importantly for collectors, the phrase “Imprimé en Belgique” appears printed on the lower right of the bottom border—later Belgian reprints often have these phrases printed in English.

Source: http://auction.graceland.com/1969__em_C ... T2466.aspx

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For photos of Elvis on the set of Change Of Habit, please visit:
https://www.theelvisforum-phoenix.com/v ... bit#p39596

See Change of Habit trailer here:
https://www.theelvisforum-phoenix.com/v ... bit#p12572

FTD book + cd Change of Habit:
https://www.theelvisforum-phoenix.com/v ... abit#p3944

[Norman]

Totally agree with Pink and Black about the charm of this movie. This thread reminded me of the first time I saw Change of Habit. It was on a borrowed DVD, and I sat down to watch it, to let it breathe, free of anybody else's opinions running through my mind. As a result, I was pleasantly surprised about this film! He looked so relaxed, just as you might imagine someone who is about to be set free might appear. And the inclusion of social issues, handled delicately, actually added something to the run-of-the-mill formulaic movie career. And the songs worked for me, too. I can see myself watching this movie over and over again.

[Private Presley]

I don't know if you've heard of the "Bechdel Test": A film is sexist unless it has two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.

99% of movies fail this test. Change of Habit passes with flying colours.

I really don't know how or why the Colonel let such a great screenplay and brave concept through.

The Colonel demanded better scripts for Elvis, that's why!

Shameless spin!

[Norman]

Luuk loved the Colonel "very, very much!"

[Suspicious Minds]

Lobby cards from Change of Habit.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find them all in same size and res. Sorry about that.

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[Mountain Mist]

Could you please tell me what Lobby cards are all about, Sus?

[John]

Lobby cards from Change of Habit.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find them all in same size and res. Sorry about that.

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Thanks SM. I think we should have a special lobby cards section. What do you think?

[Suspicious Minds]

Could you please tell me what Lobby cards are all about, Sus?

Hi Mountain Mist! Thanks for your question. You could say it's 'promo stuff'. Basically, they're small alternate movie posters, depicting key scenes, usually in a set of eight, and designed for display in theaters.

Here's some more background info:

Lobby Cards are no longer used in U.S. theaters and are rarely produced for today's films. These small movie posters (usually 11"x14" in a landscape, or horizontal format, printed on card stock) were generally produced in sets of eight, although the number of cards in a set can vary from as few as four to as many as 16.

As the name suggests, these small movie posters were designed for display in a theater's lobby or foyer with the intention of luring patrons into the theater by showing glimpses of key scenes from the movie. A lobby card set typically consists of one Title Card (TC), a lobby card of special design usually depicting all key stars, listing credits and designed to represent the entire film rather than a single scene, and seven Scene Cards (SC), each depicting a different scene from the movie.

Lobby Cards made their first appearance in the early 1910s around the same time that Charlie Chaplin was breaking into motion pictures. The earliest Silent-era lobby cards were often nothing more than black and white or duotone stills. These were eventually replaced by hand-tinted scenes, and by the 1920s most studios were producing full-color lobby cards.

The collectibility value of lobby cards is influenced by several factors, the most important of which is the graphic appeal of the card itself. A lobby card featuring a closeup of the main actors, or the monster, or depicting a key scene, is much more desirable than a card showing only a distant shot of the stars, or a "dead" card featuring no stars at all. The importance or popularity of the film is another key factor in determining a lobby card's value.

Source: http://www.filmposters.com/lobby-cards.cfm

[Suspicious Minds]

Lobby cards from Change of Habit.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find them all in same size and res. Sorry about that.

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Thanks SM. I think we should have a special lobby cards section. What do you think?

You're welcome, John.

So far, I've always checked for an existing (movie) thread to add the lobby cards. That was e.g. the case for the Change of Habit and Wild In The Country lobby cards I posted. Cause I like to have things together, so to speak. As there wasn't a specific LALLAL thread, I started one in the photo section, though perhaps I should have done it in the movie section.

So, I could keep adding lobby cards to (existing or new) threads about the movie in question. In that case, such threads could contain - and some of them already contain - a mix of photos, movie stills, lobby cards, movie posters, promo stuff, script pictures, etc.

However, if you guys think it'd be nice to have a separate lobby card section, and if helps to 'tidy things up', I'll gladly contribute and try to find/share the lobby cards for each movie. So, I'm open to it, and I'd do my best to build a systematic 'Phoenix' collection of lobby cards.