rot in hell, col. parker
elvis could have been in this movie. guess who told him not to do it?
share[deleted]
MovieChat Forums > Thunder Road (1958) Discussion > rot in hell, col. parker
why did the poster delete himself?
sharecol. parker made half of what Elvis made. the sing-a-song movies made money.
pat boone and bobby darin made a serious turn at acting but those movies were not big box office but gave Darin an Oscar Nomination. if Darin had won, then
Elvis would have had a serious show down with the col.. it has been said that a lot of movies were given to Elvis to check out. can you imagine Elvis in this.
Thank God the striesand version of Star is Born was turned down.
Elvis and Mitchum.... what could have been huh? Damn.....
shareThe Fugitive Kind by Tennessee was rewritten for Elvis and the director Lumet wanted Elvis badly too. But when the Colonel turned it down, they got Brando instead. Lumet after, regretted not getting Elvis and wondered how the film would've turned out with Elvis in it because it was tailored made for him. The quote about the legless bird in the new Elvis film is a reference to that and sort of a way to give the role to Elvis indirectly.
Also the Colonel I believe made more than 50%, likely 75% actually. There's an interview with 1 of the tour promoters. And everything made on merchandising, the Colonel got 100% or shared with the promoter, nothing went to Elvis. Think how George Lucas made money off the merchandising. Elvis killed himself doing those shows while sick, he needed to be hospitalized and operated (but no doctor wanted to touch him, they were afraid he would die and they didn't want to risk it), yet he pushed himself doing those shows and only got 25%.
Old post but the only one on Elvis so here goes....
I read in Guralnick's bioand the MM 5hr documentary that Mitchum was very passionate about this film and very passionate about getting Elvis for the role of Luke. He went over the Colonel's head and went straight to Elvis himself in his trailer while on the set of Jailhouse Rock or Loving You. Elvis was apparently excited but when the Colonel found out Mitchum bypassed him, he was pissed and turned it down.
I just saw this film and read the trivia that Robin was offered to Elvis but the role seems pretty small to me, so I think Luke was a more likely role offered to Elvis. The role called for a young guy and like another thread mentioned, his looks were highlighted which Mitchum didn't warrant, Elvis did.
According to Mitchim Jr, Sr saw Elvis in 55 before he made it big and was a fan then and mentioned him to others that he was going to be big.