The Pied Piper of Cleveland

[Joe Car]

The fate of the film isn't a mystery from 1958, but a mystery from November 1955. That's where the trail stops. It may even be one wild goose chase - there's nothing to say that the filming even produced anything worthwhile. It could have come out too dark, or there could have been sound problems etc. In other words, the materials could have been junked almost as soon as they were filmed.

I spoke to both the USC Arts Library and the Universal Archivist, Jeff Pirtle, and found that no record of the film exists anywhere at either place; neither any film footage nor any paperwork (contracts, correspondence, pay records). Universal has had numerous inquiries about this film over the years and the studio's former head-archivist, Bob O'Neill, did an exhaustive search for the film and any records pertaining to it and came up with nothing. No copyright for the film exists and none was ever filed by anyone, under any of the rumored titles - not Universal, not Randle. It's as if the film never existed.

It is possible, as you suggest, that the film was either ruined or destroyed somehow -- truly a "lost film" -- or (wait for it) perhaps Randle did own it! This is highly unlikely because the man's stories are so contradictory, sketchy, and unreliable and there are several loopholes in the theory. But let's just suppose that he came up with the money to make a film like that, contracted with Universal to shoot it (Whoops! There we are with no surviving contracts again!), and a Universal crew shot the film on that basis. Universal did weekly newsreels for theaters from the 1920s through the 1970s, so maybe it was not unusual to have crews around the country that could have shot the film. Arthur Cohen, the film's director, specialized in shorts and this may have been the sort of assignment he might have gotten. If this scenario were true, then Randle could have, indeed, owned the film. But he then would have had to hire a professional editor and, since he claimed the film would be shown in theaters, a distributor. These services are costly and normally handled by the studio, which has the infrastructure, personnel, etc. to perform them routinely. So none of that adds up.

Maybe the thing is really lost, destroyed, ruined somehow. Perhaps we ought to invoke Sherlock Holmes' rule of thumb here: "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

I still have one more highly improbable lead and will let you know what, if anything, I learn.

Thanks for your time and effort Allen!!

[Channeling Elvis]

I'm actually enjoying this. Just wish I could come up with something new.

[mysterytrainrideson]

I'm actually enjoying this. Just wish I could come up with something new.

I'm enjoying it too. I just hope that you or GuyLanbert or Honeytalknelson can come up with something to put this great film to rest - whether it's proof that the film is lost or destroyed or it does indeed still exists somewhere at least we wiil know one way or the other for certain.

I just wish to god that it turns up because this footage will be the most important footage of Presley ever - a man in his prime pre-fame......

[HoneyTalkNelson]

The fact that nothing has turned up in the paper files is strange. Production files from that period are VERY complete.

It's almost as if Universal was never really involved, outside of the initial mention in Variety...

[Moonchild]

Was Bob Neil Elvis's manager at the time of filming Pied Piper?

[mysterytrainrideson]

The fact that nothing has turned up in the paper files is strange. Production files from that period are VERY complete.

It's almost as if Universal was never really involved, outside of the initial mention in Variety...

Just wish i can contribute in a small way in helping finding this amazing footage.

[mysterytrainrideson]

Was Bob Neil Elvis's manager at the time of filming Pied Piper?

Yes he was. Though by that time Parker was getting more involved and he was getting help from more people like Randle who had more big contacts then Bob Neil had though he was still exclusively Elvis' main manager.

[poormadpeter]

The fact that nothing has turned up in the paper files is strange. Production files from that period are VERY complete.

It's almost as if Universal was never really involved, outside of the initial mention in Variety...

Surely if the footage filmed was, for some reason, unusable, then there would be little or nothing in the paperwork?

Having searched what local newspaper archives are available online, there is no mention of the screening of the film at the school in 1955/6. We know from the trade journals/mags at MHDL and Variety that there was never any mention of the film being completed or about to be released. We know there is nothing in production files or the Universal archive. We know the purported 1993 sale never happened. And we know that Randle was never willing to prove that he had the film himself.

Other than when Randle was interviewed (or writing his own column), there is seemingly no news of the film ever again (plenty of mentions, but no news) after that first mention in Variety. It's as if the film never existed...and, oddly, having put together the information from the various contributors to this thread, that seems like to be the most likely scenario: that, for some reason, the footage filmed was never used or kept. Its not the answer people want to hear - but, until/unless we get something else to work on, it's a fair conclusion to make.

[HoneyTalkNelson]

If it had gotten any further at Universal, there would be a paper trail. Even as a planned short, they would have kept records and assigned a production number.

[mysterytrainrideson]

If it had gotten any further at Universal, there would be a paper trail. Even as a planned short, they would have kept records and assigned a production number.

What about the Graceland archives mentioned by GuyLambert on page 2? Saying there are telegrams in the Graceland archives concerning the film as late as July '56 - be worth looking into.

[rjm]

Wouldn't it be something if they finally found some of the footage, with Elvis cut out of it! Pat Boone fans will rejoice!

Anything's possible.

rjm

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

[mysterytrainrideson]

Wouldn't it be something if they finally found some of the footage, with Elvis cut out of it! Pat Boone fans will rejoice!

Anything's possible.

rjm

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

No, it wouldn't be something.....

[drjohncarpenter]

Wouldn't it be something if they finally found some of the footage, with Elvis cut out of it! Pat Boone fans will rejoice!

Anything's possible.

Some on this forum would be overjoyed at such a prospect, they consider Boone a seminal artist of the 1950s.

[r&b]

Wouldn't it be something if they finally found some of the footage, with Elvis cut out of it! Pat Boone fans will rejoice!

Anything's possible.

Some on this forum would be overjoyed at such a prospect, they consider Boone a seminal artist of the 1950s.

Yeah we should start a new topic, Should Pat Boone be in the rock and roll HOF? I bet the vote would be split!

[mysterytrainrideson]

Wouldn't it be something if they finally found some of the footage, with Elvis cut out of it! Pat Boone fans will rejoice!

Anything's possible.

Some on this forum would be overjoyed at such a prospect, they consider Boone a seminal artist of the 1950s.

Mike edwards66 would certainly be one of them.

[poormadpeter]

Wouldn't it be something if they finally found some of the footage, with Elvis cut out of it! Pat Boone fans will rejoice!

Anything's possible.

Some on this forum would be overjoyed at such a prospect, they consider Boone a seminal artist of the 1950s.

Mike edwards66 would certainly be one of them.

Do you have anything positive to contribute tonight? Or are you just going to go from thread to thread insulting people?

[Mister Moon]

Yeah we should start a new topic, Should Pat Boone be in the rock and roll HOF? I bet the vote would be split!

Never mind the R&RHOF. It's a bunch of crap.

ABBA and Miles Davis are among the inductees.

Larry Williams and The "5" Royales are not !

[mysterytrainrideson]

Yeah we should start a new topic, Should Pat Boone be in the rock and roll HOF? I bet the vote would be split!

Never mind the R&RHOF. It's a bunch of crap.

ABBA and Miles Davis are among the inductees.

Larry Williams and The "5" Royales are not !

Makes you wonder the kind of people who make these desicions....

[r&b]

Yeah we should start a new topic, Should Pat Boone be in the rock and roll HOF? I bet the vote would be split!

Never mind the R&RHOF. It's a bunch of crap.

ABBA and Miles Davis are among the inductees.

Larry Williams and The "5" Royales are not !

Makes you wonder the kind of people who make these desicions....

A long time ago I ran into Little Anthony of Little Anthony & The Imperials before a show. I said man, you guys have got to be inducted one day. He said it was a tremendously political process to get voted in. Kind of like who you know but in a different vein. Well they did eventually get in (way over due) and it seems once Phil Spector was out of the scene so did Darlene Love. I think it s a lot of crap that some people are still not in there (rap stars are in?) I have my choices, but who am I? Just a rock and roll fan! I was happy to see Linda Ronstadt finally get in last year.

[Mister Moon]

Yeah we should start a new topic, Should Pat Boone be in the rock and roll HOF? I bet the vote would be split!

Never mind the R&RHOF. It's a bunch of crap.

ABBA and Miles Davis are among the inductees.

Larry Williams and The "5" Royales are not !

Makes you wonder the kind of people who make these desicions....

A long time ago I ran into Little Anthony of Little Anthony & The Imperials before a show. I said man, you guys have got to be inducted one day. He said it was a tremendously political process to get voted in. Kind of like who you know but in a different vein. Well they did eventually get in (way over due) and it seems once Phil Spector was out of the scene so did Darlene Love. I think it s a lot of crap that some people are still not in there (rap stars are in?) I have my choices, but who am I? Just a rock and roll fan! I was happy to see Linda Ronstadt finally get in last year.

Just a brief visit to the R&RHOF website gives an idea of what it is all about. It just stinks.

I bet Lester Bangs would have loathed it too.

[drjohncarpenter]

Wouldn't it be something if they finally found some of the footage, with Elvis cut out of it! Pat Boone fans will rejoice!

Anything's possible.

Some on this forum would be overjoyed at such a prospect, they consider Boone a seminal artist of the 1950s.

Mike edwards66 would certainly be one of them.

Do you have anything positive to contribute tonight? Or are you just going to go from thread to thread insulting people?

Actually, that member recently went on a huge troll about how incredible Pat Boone was in the 1950s, so it's not an "insult" but a very accurate suggestion.

Context: always helpful before making unfounded accusations.

[mysterytrainrideson]

Wouldn't it be something if they finally found some of the footage, with Elvis cut out of it! Pat Boone fans will rejoice!

Anything's possible.

Some on this forum would be overjoyed at such a prospect, they consider Boone a seminal artist of the 1950s.

Mike edwards66 would certainly be one of them.

Do you have anything positive to contribute tonight? Or are you just going to go from thread to thread insulting people?

Actually, that member recently went on a huge troll about how incredible Pat Boone was in the 1950s, so it's not an "insult" but a very accurate suggestion.

Context: always helpful before making unfounded accusations.

Indeed.

[davide]

From the book ' The Blue Moon Boys - The Story Of Elvis Presley's Band by Ken Burke and Dan Griffin.

David

[poormadpeter]

From the book ' The Blue Moon Boys - The Story Of Elvis Presley's Band by Ken Burke and Dan Griffin.

David

Thanks for this. It's odd that Pat Boone remembers Randle telling him that he had signed with RCA... a whole month before it actually happened!

[mike edwards66]

Wouldn't it be something if they finally found some of the footage, with Elvis cut out of it! Pat Boone fans will rejoice!

Anything's possible.

Some on this forum would be overjoyed at such a prospect, they consider Boone a seminal artist of the 1950s.

Mike edwards66 would certainly be one of them.

Whooshh........

Actually, that member recently went on a huge troll about how incredible Pat Boone was in the 1950s

Huge troll? Get a grip. Pat Boone, In terms of success, in the latter part of the 50's, was second only to the King.