MovieChat Forums > Jailhouse Rock (1957) Discussion > Vince Everett's personality

Vince Everett's personality


In the movie, you see his personality change. They make it out like he's becoming a heal. But I can't really blame him. First of all, he was doing well in the beginning. He was working and making good money. Then all of a sudden, he goes to jail for killing a guy in a fight he didn't start, he loses all his money, and comes out of jail with nothing. There was also Hunk, who told him it was not only a jungle in the pen, but it was a jungle out there and worse. Prison and Hunk hardened Vince. I don't blame him if he came across like a jerk in the movie.

I blame Peggy a little too. She asked if all he cared about was money when she wanted to go out. His response to her was, "What else?" I feel like she never let him forget that he said that. She got romantic with him and then rubbed it in when she went out with Teddy Talbot. Then she never called him and when he was so happy to finally see her, she said she was only there to discuss him making another record. She was kind of stubborn and should've thought of his feelings too. In the end, when he's laying in the hospital, she finally tells him she loves him. You could tell during the movie that he loved her. Just by the way he went to see her the first time they got romantic, the way he was so happy to see her after so long, the way he acted towards her in the hospital. I guess in the end, Peggy believed Vince was a good guy when he wouldn't fight back when Hunk was beating him up. He was probably afraid he'd kill Hunk like he did the guy in the barroom brawl. Just my take.

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I agree with you. He has no real friends. I guess Peggy, but that was romantic, which makes it complicated. Hunk was a real scumbag. For just having a guitar in his cell that Vince was curious about, Vince finds he's really got something. So this pig tries to rob him. Also his jealousy is apparent from the beginning. Then the scumbag shows up trying to exploit Vince's conscience. Ultimately, even though Vince is exceedingly generous to him, he simmers the entire time, then uses Peggy as an excuse to attack him.

I went off on a tangent there. But I think if the writers were trying to make Vince look bad so he could gain redemption, learn a lesson, they did it clumsily, poorly. If they were really trying to show how women and so-called friends can complicate an already ruthless record business, and how unfair life is, then they succeeded. As you said, Peggy wasn't ever straight with him, ever. He was just a bumpkin, unsophisticated, but seemed decent. She messed with his head. As much as he got the breaks he needed to hit big, he was, after all, very talented. Nobody who supposedly cared about him took any time to teach him anything, Peggy just berated him, and Hunk pretty much hated him for his talent.

This guy needs some real friends, fast!

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