Love Me Tender

• Year: 1956
• Country: USA
• Director: Robert D. Webb
• Starring: Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Elvis Presley

Elvis’ first motion picture! Set in the Civil War, Elvis’ older brother is part of the recently-defeated Confederate army and steals a large sum of money from them before he returns home. The only catch is everyone thought he was dead, and lil’ brother Elvis went ahead and married older brother’s sweetheart. You can see how the rest plays out. Above average western has a pretty dreadful first half hour, but then Elvis sings Love Me Tender and you stop questioning the meaning of life. The film actually gets intriguing and suspenseful around the halfway mark, making it worth watching – and not even only to see how Elvis was marketed: this isn’t a musical – Elvis just randomly sings to his family and at a town fair and shakes his stuff and the Civil War-era ladies all go wild. Nothing to do with the story. I actually should mention that his acting is pretty damn decent for a first feature! That Elvis kid sure has potential.