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Jun 25, 2022 · No, Luhrmann has really framed this through a present-day lens. Elvis had just as many white influences and announced as early as seventh grade that he was going to sing at the Grand Ole Opry ...
Jun 30, 2022 · Elvis. Gets Right—And Wrong—About the Real Colonel Tom Parker. His accent wasn’t so theatrical, and he was way funnier than Baz Luhrmann gives him credit for. But according to Alanna Nash ...
- Alanna Nash
Jun 23, 2022 · Yes. The Colonel, who was neither a colonel nor named Tom Parker, was born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in the Netherlands and came to the U.S. without documentation at the age of 20. In an attempt ...
Jun 23, 2022 · Watch on. Baz Luhrmann’s new film Elvis, starring Austin Butler as the eponymous singer, testifies to the public’s enduring fascination with its title character. The movie dramatizes the ...
- 10 Presley and Colonel Tom Parker Did Not Make A Deal on A Ferris Wheel
- 9 Presley Did Not Sing "Trouble" at The Fourth of July Event
- 8 Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu Did Not Bond Over "Can't Help Falling in Love"
- 7 Presley Was Not The Highest-Paid Actor in Hollywood in The '60s
- 6 Presley Did Not Double-Cross Parker During The Christmas Special Taping
- 5 Robert F. Kennedy Was Not Assassinated During The Christmas Special Taping
- 4 International Hotel Did Not Pay For Presley's Vegas Show
- 3 Parker Did Not Draw Up A Contract on A Napkin
- 2 Presley Was Not Officially Cast in 'A Star Is Born'
- 1 Presley Did Not Fire Parker on Stage
They agreed on a formal deal over an extended period
Elvis might be one of the best film biopics of the 21st century, but it highly dramatized some moments in Presley's life. In the film, after Colonel Tom Parker discovers Presley's talent and ability to make the ladies all shook up, he eventually hunts the performer down at a carnival. The two take a ride on a Ferris wheel, where Parker assures Presley of his talents and offers to represent him. While this made for an exciting scene in the film, the actual story of Parker becoming Presley's ma...
"Trouble" hadn't even been written yet
Elvis tells the story of the way Presley's gyrating hurt his career, going from shaking his hips at shows to reluctantly wearing a tuxedo and performing "Hound Dog" to a live dog on television. The "new Elvis" situation bubbled up in Presley until he finally decided to risk it all at a Fourth of July event and give it all he had while he performed "Trouble" and was dragged out by police. While Presley may have gyrated on stage, he was never taken away by police and certainly didn't sing the s...
That song was released two years after they met
During Presley's time serving in Germany in the film, he meets his future wife, Priscilla Beaulieu,portrayed by Australian actress Olivia DeJonge. The two sit in the bedroom and talk while "Can't Help Falling In Love" plays, performed by Kacey Musgraves,and the scene ends with a kiss. There were a few things wrong with this part of the film. Aside from the fact that Presley met Beaulieu when she was only 14 years old — much younger than how she's portrayed in the movie — there's no way the co...
Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando were also making big bank at the time
During the film, Parker claims Presley became the highest-paid actor in Hollywood after promising the star he would help him achieve it. Some of the movies that Presley made in the '60s include Jailhouse Rock, King Creole as well as Viva Las Vegas. Viewers only see a glimpse of Presley filming his memorable movies during a much more dramatic montage but are left to believe they allowed him to make bank. In reality, Presley was said to be earning $1 million per movie in 1965, according to the...
Presley played his own songs
To heighten the drama, the Baz Luhrmann biographical filmdepicts Elvis launching a rebellion against Parker's control. It was a major part of the film as Presley reevaluated his career during the taping of his 1968 Christmas special. It delved into a sort of existential crisis for Presley, which ended in him performing his iconic songs instead of whacking on a Christmas sweater and singing "Here Comes Santa Claus," as Parker insisted. Although Presley did perform his hits during his Christmas...
It happened a few weeks before his special was taped
A defining moment in the film was when the news broke that Robert F. Kennedyhad been assassinated. Everyone working on the Christmas special, including Presley, gathered around the television and watched in shock at what happened and what it meant for their country. While the movie depicts this as the reason Presley rebelled against the Christmas special, Kennedy's assassination happened on June 6, 1968, a few weeks before the taping of the special on June 27 through June 30, 1968. The film p...
Presley paid for extra costs he incurred
In the acclaimed biographical movie, out of all of Parker's lies throughout the film, one they never addressed was when he pitched the idea of a Vegas show to Presley, claiming the International Hotel would pay for the entire cost of his show and any production he required. The truth is the International Hotel did not pay anything extra for Presley's show. The band's earnings came to about $80,000, and Presley paid it out of pocket with no help from the venue, says Best of Las Vegasduring the...
The contract was eventually drawn up formally
During Presley's International Hotel debut, the film focuses on Parker's conversation with the hotel heads, during which he made a deal with them to give Presley a 5-year deal. In return, they would relieve Parker of all his debt. The movie portrays an informal contract signing, injecting a lighthearted element into their professional dynamic. However, historical records suggest Parker's business dealings were more formal. While the hotel did discuss a 5-year deal with Parker on Presley's ope...
Kris Kristofferson played John Norman Howard
Near the film's end, when Presley is older and much more drained, it's announced that Presley was offered a role in Barbra Streisand's remake of A Star Is Bornonly a couple of years before his death. Presley might have actually been perfect as John Norman Howard, as the role is of a washed-up rockstar. While the star was considered for the 1976 version of A Star is Born after Streisand and her husband saw Presley at one of his Vegas shows, after some back and forth with Parker over Presley's...
Presley and Parker separated after a lengthy process
The climax of the film comes when Presley learns of Parker's wrongdoings and selfishness and decides to retaliate live on stage during one of his Vegas shows. Presley rants about Parker's illegal alien status and reveals his gambling debt before firing him as his manager for the entire audience to see. Presley never fired Parker publicly, but he did have an on-stage meltdown at a Vegas show over the firing of a kitchen employee he liked. After this altercation, Presley and Parker did have an...
- Ashley Amber
- Senior Lists Writer / Peer Mentor
- Baz Luhrmann
Jun 25, 2022 · Alanna Nash’s biography of Parker, The Colonel, claims he may have been trying to avoid passport scrutiny because he might have been a suspect in a murder in Breda. Parker returned to the U.S ...
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Jul 14, 2022 · The Colonel rebuked Elvis for his behavior after the show leading the two to argue. Elvis threatened to fire Parker, and Parker drew up the impossible-to-pay invoice seen in the film.
