Most Photographed

Steve , AW was around 23 back then . More later ? Dont feel too good this morning. See yah .

Steve -

I didn't have any probs watching the programme you kindly provided.

Thanks !

"Tallhair AKA Ger Rijff" wrote:

Good morning ! For some fresh oil on the fire... Heres what a Dutch tv weekly had to say about the movie 3000 Miles to Graceland [ 2001 ] this week on our screen :

'Set against an Elvis impersonaters week held in Las Vegas , Kevin Kostner, Kurt Russel and Christian Slater - in jumpsuits - mangle in with the impersonaters while planning to rob one of the casinos . The only one not looking like a real DORK is Kurt Russel! Thanks largely to the imperson lunies - and with a little too much help from our Hero himself - the 70s Elvis to many "outsiders " will never be taken seriously , no matter the good stuff recorded in his later years.... Its the 50s Elvis that forever will shine.'

That's a surprisingly fair assessment from the mainstream press! I think the "jumpsuit" thing long-term was a disaster for Elvis' image. We think of "Aloha" as a kind of final triumph, but I've heard of people who were really put off by seeing him, well, walking around like the NBC Peacock! It's great, royal, even majestic, alas, it is not, as was said, embody "cool."

Don't get me wrong, I love it and all of the '70s, but any of his outfits from five years earlier on the Singer "Elvis" special (and not just the leather one) would have been fine.

Instead, Elvis is over-burdened by this outfit in "Aloha," to say nothing how how little he is able to interact with the crowd and the band, unlike most other shows of the era. He seems really alone out there. That's part of the triumph, but, ...Really, the loudness of the '70s persona is something we love, but about half of the public just does not. You never hear anyone complaining about his '50s look - they may not like him but the clothing? Not discussed!

P.S. Steve, so far the footage is working fine on my Real Player. I'll finish watching it later. Thanks!

I thought it was a brilliant show, although as my pal TigermanGB pointed out, far too short.

Hearing the AW stories was cool, especially since a lot of Ger's books came out when I was just a kid and I'm trying to catch up now. (Love Inside Jailhouse Rock!).

I just finished the whole show and mostly enjoyed it. Thanks again for posting it.

I really liked the production values. Just the fact that someone knew enough to interview photographers Alfred Wertheimer,James Reid and Lew Allen for one program was impressive. "Most Photographed" didn't surpass Elvis '56 , which also used a lot of Wertheimer, but it was close.

I'm also not sure if I ever saw the A.W. shots of Elvis yelling for his mother after taking his watch in the pool...

But the downside:

What a ridiculous thesis: there was a "raw" Elvis that we briefly saw only when Tom Parker was not around to tame him. Anything after 1959 was a suppression of the "real" Elvis? Even Loving You and Jailhouse Rock are represented - and panned- by photos of Elvis with dogs and teddy bears. Who ideological hobby-horse was this program? Who wrote this? Albert Goldman? Johnny Rotten?

Such a simplistic and frankly sophomoric approach. Do the makers of this program really know anything about Elvis Presley?

For such an otherwise decent program, I have to ask how shallow can you get?

Greg -

They overdid it, but the nub of the story was that after Wertheimer, no photographer was ever again granted such an intimate, lengthy, no-restrictions access to our man going about his everyday tasks.

Guess there is some truth in that.

That's a good point, Colin, and it was evident at times during the show.

But they couldn't help themselves and ended up pandering to the 3 photogs they managed to interview.

Ask Steve Binder about "the real" Elvis....!

Oh, I forgot: "Most Photographed" doesn't acknowledge that era.

Finally viewed the programme thanks to a kind hearted FECC member.

I feel that there was no need in the programme to show the 70's shots at all.
This programme was about the rare access that the few got in the 50's and it should have been left at that..... king of 50's cool.

Mind you it wouldn't surprise me if the BBC producers put them in just to tip the scales at EPE for the less than helpful way they have been treated recently.
Just a thought?

Conspiracy theory........NAH !

Dear Colin and Gregory reg. the Colonel not permitting photographers after Werdheimer to cover Elvis' every step is bull. Go back to page 1 and re-read
my comment from july 07 9.00 am. If there had been any restrictions at all how - to give an example- did both gentlemen : Jay Leviton [ Florida Close Up ] and Bob Moreland [ The Cool King ] cover E in his hotelroom bed, hanging around the parking lot, talking to press and fans, hotting up girls in a cafetaria and on and on.....! Elvis must have been the easiest guy in the world in those early years...and Parker didnt come into the picture till the early 60s when things slowly changed....

Thanks, Ger.

I thought that seemed a bit over-stated, too!

It's like they couldn't control themselves.

Hate to say it but it seems like a dishonest and poorly-done documentary, the more I think about it!

And playing an instrumental version of James Taylor's "Fire & Rain" when Elvis is in the swimming pool in '56 at home was a bit rich too!

Ger -

Yes, I said they overdid it.

But their point that in the later years [60's onwards] he wasn't so 'available' is a valid one.