A Star Is Born

Much has been written about the opportunity that Elvis had to get back on the big screen in 1975 when he was offered the co-starring role in A Star is Born. Is there any record that Elvis ever saw the finished product with Kris Kristofferson in the lead role that was first offered to him?

Apparently he used his bazooka and shot the movie screen and said "Kris Kristofferson my ass".

How could he not have made a point of seeing it? The picture would have been much better if Elvis would have done the picture.

To me knowledge there has been no confirmation from anyone saying he saw it.

While I have never heard that Elvis ever saw the finished film, I do agree that Elvis cold have done a great job in the lead role.

Does anyone know the "real" reason why Elvis never did act in the film? I've heard stories but would like to know what really happened. Thanks

rlj

He watched it on April 23rd 1977 at 2:33pm EST.

How could he not have made a point of seeing it? The picture would have been much better if Elvis would have done the picture.

Actually, it is hard to imagine Elvis circa 1975/1976 pulling off a convincing performance.

He watched it on April 23rd 1977 at 2:33pm EST.

Did the movie start at 2:33pm on that date or was that the time it ended?

How could he not have made a point of seeing it? The picture would have been much better if Elvis would have done the picture.

Actually, it is hard to imagine Elvis circa 1975/1976 pulling off a convincing performance.

Not really, He probably would be in better shape and spirits, had the colonel not blew the deal

I cannot imagine Elvis, in the state he was in, shooting any movie, getting up in the morning, staying focused, not blowing or slurring his lines, etc. He would have had to go through a major cleanup-up to do this movie. If not for the Col, perhaps this would have happened and overall been a good thing healthwise as well as careerwise. Bu thanks to the Col, we will never know. As for him ever seeing the movie, perhaps 'Ask Marty'.

What a pity Elvis never made this movie.
Then we could have argued about how bad he was and how much was acting and how much was his real life.

Elvis was at his best just playing himself, so "A Star is Born" script about a male singer in decline could be a perfect match for him in 1975. He could be in a very realistic role, no more, no less.

If Elvis really wanted to do the movie he would have. The Colonel was against the karate film as well, but what stopped it was Elvis's fading focus, drugs and health. Elvis realized that the Colonel was right in three of his objections; that Elvis wasn't on the top of role list, that the director was unexperienced in directing, and that he didn't fit into a role as a looser. As many times before Elvis was up in the air at first but lost interest when reality set in. Elvis was a victim of his circumstances in so many ways but we shouldn't see him in that light when he wasn't.

Elvis in 1975 was in perfect role for a singer in decline. Nobody believed how great was his decline then but he could do a better and convincing part than Kris Kristofferson. Elvis, with few exceptions, never could play a better role than himself. So I think that "A star is Born" could be a perfect match for him, despite John Peters, Barbra Streissand, the Colonel's veto and just being only the second major star on the movie and the money.

Elvis in 1975 was in perfect role for a singer in decline. Nobody believed how great was his decline then but he could do a better and convincing part than Kris Kristofferson. Elvis, with few exceptions, never could play a better role than himself. So I think that "A star is Born" could be a perfect match for him, despite John Peters, Barbra Streissand, the Colonel's veto and just being only the second major star on the movie and the money.

You could be right, but of course Elvis and the Colonel didn't see it quite that way.

Much has been written about the opportunity that Elvis had to get back on the big screen in 1975 when he was offered the co-starring role in A Star is Born. Is there any record that Elvis ever saw the finished product with Kris Kristofferson in the lead role that was first offered to him?

There is no known record of Elvis seeing "A Star Is Born," but the film and its soundtrack were a HUGE success at radio, stores and theaters. Presley could have been one of the stars, and he loved seeing movies, so it is almost for certain that he saw it at the time.

It was released around Christmas 1976, and Elvis had nearly six free weeks between his final tour show in Pittsburgh on 12-31-1976 and opening tour date in Hollywood on 2-12-1977.

In fact, his horrendous physical decline between those six weeks might possibly be traced to his enormous depression over management's failure to get him involved in the making of "A Star Is Born."

761231_Pittsburgh_Bob Heis.JPG

Elvis in concert, Friday, December 31, 1976
Photo: Bob Heis

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770212_Hollywood_Lou Toman_02.JPG

Elvis in concert, Saturday, February 12, 1977
Photos: Lou Toman


Man, oh man, bad times.

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My God! It looks like Elvis in 6 weeks turned into a completely different person, 10 years older and too much heavier.

I think it had more do with problems with ginger had started to creep in. She wouldn't go to Nashville with him to record IIRC.

I am no fan of the Col. However, could it be that the movie "A Star is Born" become personal in a sense that the story line seems to reflect Elvis' life and career at that point? Hence influencing Parker's decision?

While I think IF he wanted to, Elvis would have done a terrific job in the role. However, maybe the Col thought it would produce negative publicity for Elvis(?). Personally, I think it was the perfect challenge at the perfect time for Elvis. Just wondering out loud.....

rlj

In a way i'm surprised Elvis was even interested in doing a movie like A Star is Born.

From all accounts Elvis' goal was to not sing in films or play a singer and to keep his acting career separate from his music career.

Barbara Streisand comes to Elvis in 1975 wanting him to play a washed up rock star on the decline.

I would have thought he'd want to get a script where he would play a completely different character from himself without any singing.

I can understand the people around Elvis wanting him to do this movie to break the routine but i don't think it was a challenging role for him.

To hear Jerry Schilling and a couple of other guys tell it they act like it was a role of a lifetime.

In a way i'm surprised Elvis was even interested in doing a movie like A Star is Born.

From all accounts Elvis' goal was to not sing in films or play a singer and to keep his acting career separate from his music career.

Barbara Streisand comes to Elvis in 1975 wanting him to play a washed up rock star on the decline.

I would have thought he'd want to get a script where he would play a completely different character from himself without any singing.

I can understand the people around Elvis wanting him to do this movie to break the routine but i don't think it was a challenging role for him.

To hear Jerry Schilling and a couple of other guys tell it they act like it was a role of a lifetime.

I know, and it was a remake that was made time and again.

It was never a good choice.

Elvis wanted to play a bad ass type of role kind of like Dirty Harry. I think he could have done that.

To hear Jerry Schilling and a couple of other guys tell it they act like it was a role of a lifetime.

It was a plum part at a time when Elvis' career was at a standstill. It could have potentially changed the course of his career, at least for the short-term, and August 16th would have at least been staved off for a few more years.

It always surprises me how some fans fail to take the long view on this story.

To hear Jerry Schilling and a couple of other guys tell it they act like it was a role of a lifetime.

It was a plum part at a time when Elvis' career was at a standstill. It could have potentially changed the course of his career, at least for the short-term, and August 16th would have at least been staved off for a few more years.

It always surprises me how some fans fail to take the long view on this story.

I think it's because some fans look at it in the context of the time, and other fans like to project 20-20 hindsight within their analysis.

Even if he had taken the movie, which would've taken, what, maybe 12-16 weeks to film, I don't think it would have staved off what happened on August 16th.

Furthermore, by declining the film, you act as though management basically killed Elvis.

Looking at it in the time, of 1975 when Barbra when to see Elvis, no one, including his fans, management, or Elvis himself, thought he would be dead in 2 years.

People saw Elvis as almost super human and someone who was always going to be there to make thier lives happy.

No one at time thought Elvis was in any imminent danger.

There was no red alert. No hurry to save him. It just wasn't part of anyone's thinking at the time, that Elvis' days were numbered.

Perhaps as soon as a year later but not in 1975.

Elvis has some obsticles to over come.

The raquetball court fiasco.
The bodyguard book.
Ginger
His finances.
And his dependence of prescription meds.
Keeping Parker as his manager.
Those were the things that were causing his life to get out of control.
He needed some big changes, but a flop movie would not have helped or hindered the outcome of August 16th.

He needed to take care of those obsticles that were sending his life in a downward spiral, that would end tragically on aug. 16th.

If he only couldv'e stopped being Elvis for a year, gotten everything taken care of, and made a brand new start, he could've saved himself.

He needed a whole new path, because the path he was on was headed for a cliff.

Like it or not, this movie offer is just a blip in his life. He had more important things to worry about.

How could he not have made a point of seeing it? The picture would have been much better if Elvis would have done the picture.

Actually, it is hard to imagine Elvis circa 1975/1976 pulling off a convincing performance.

Not really, He probably would be in better shape and spirits, had the colonel not blew the deal

There is no evidence to suggest Elvis ever could have gotten in "better shape" to meet the demands of filming that movie during the 1975/1976 period. He was in seriously bad health physically and mentally due to his severe drug abuse. He was at a point where he needed professional medical help and psychological counseling - and nothing suggests he could have received it based on his management team and group of enablers intertwined in his personal life. It was beyond a scenario of Elvis simply reducing his intake, popping a few diet pills, and tanning in Hawaii for a week. He was a full-blown addict. Additionally, while Tom Parker had a hand in killing the deal, you can bet Elvis felt a sense of relief when his potential involvement in the project died because in his depressed state, one wonders if he really felt he had it in him to fulfill the demands of the filming process at that point in his life.

To hear Jerry Schilling and a couple of other guys tell it they act like it was a role of a lifetime.

For Elvis, it would have been a role of a lifetime. It would have been his chance to star in a mainstream, credible, major motion picture with an emphasis on his dramatic skills in a setting way outside the formulaic parameters of the vast majority of his lightweight musical comedies from the '60s. Some of you guys act like it would not have been a worthy project simply because it was flawed in certain ways and that it contained a musical element. That bizarre logic doesn’t hold any weight because few film projects ever are flawless, and this film was a credible Hollywood vehicle that spawned a hit album and acclaim by the Academy. Considering his past body of film work, it is absurd to suggest the film would not have been a role of lifetime for Elvis. He would have had a chance at regaining mainstream, contemporary credibility that began to elude him at the time with his substandard MOR albums and casino engagements. It also would have quite possibly opened the door to additional mainstream acting roles. Elvis not starring in the movie was a huge lost opportunity; but at the same time, it is very possible that Elvis did not have it in himself to pull it off during 1975/1976.

How could he not have made a point of seeing it? The picture would have been much better if Elvis would have done the picture.

Actually, it is hard to imagine Elvis circa 1975/1976 pulling off a convincing performance.

To hear Jerry Schilling and a couple of other guys tell it they act like it was a role of a lifetime.

For Elvis, it would have been a role of a lifetime. It would have been his chance to star in a mainstream, credible, major motion picture with an emphasis on his dramatic skills in a setting way outside the formulaic parameters of the vast majority of his lightweight musical comedies from the '60s. Some of you guys act like it would not have been a worthy project simply because it was flawed in certain ways and that it contained a musical element. That bizarre logic doesn’t hold any weight because few film projects ever are flawless, and this film was a credible Hollywood vehicle that spawned a hit album and acclaim by the Academy. Considering his past body of film work, it is absurd to suggest the film would not have been a role of lifetime for Elvis. He would have had a chance at regaining mainstream, contemporary credibility that began to elude him at the time with his substandard MOR albums and casino engagements. It also would have quite possibly opened the door to additional mainstream acting roles. Elvis not starring in the movie was a huge lost opportunity; but at the same time, it is very possible that Elvis did not have it in himself to pull it off during 1975/1976.

Disagree.

I think if Elvis wanted to gain credibility as an actor he'd have to get a good non singing role in a good film.

Playing a singer for the uptenth time in a Barbara Streisand star vehicle i've always had my doubts about.

I think there was a strong possibilty that people would be saying that Elvis was just playing a variation of himself again.

In my opinion the movie flat out sucked it just wasn't flawed in certain areas.