ELVIS (1979)

Kurt Russell as Elvis

ELVIS (1979 telefilm). Director: John Carpenter.

Elvis Presley (Kurt Russell), inspired by black musicians, develops his own singing style and frenetic dancing movements. He rises to the top of the recording and film industry with the help of Colonel Tom Parker (Pat Hingle), but is frustrated by the insipid scripts that he is given. Marrying Priscilla (Season Hubley), whom he meets when she is fourteen, he develops a dependency on prescription drugs that alter his personality and make him paranoid. He attempts a comeback by appearing at the International Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, but will this lead to a revitalization of his career or will he fall flat on his face as hundreds of fans await his entrance?

Russell with Shelly Winters

Kurt Russell gives a terrific performance as Elvis in this long but entertaining telefilm, which also stars Shelley Winters as Elvis' mom, and Bing Russell (Kurt's real-life father) as Elvis' dad. (To keep it all in the family Kurt Russell later had a short marriage to Season Hubley, who plays Elvis' wife). There's way too much of Winters in the first half of the movie, especially as she is giving one of her kind of twitchy  and breathless performances in what one could call her fat and whiny period. Pat Hingle isn't really given much to do as Parker, his character being shunted into the background most of the time, unlike in the 2022 Elvis. 

Russell with Season Hubley

The last fifteen minutes or so of the movie are given over to Elvis' triumphant concert at the International, where Russell performs the pants out of songs like "Burning Love" and displays the King of Rock at his most energetic. Credit also must be given to Ronnie McDowell, who does a fine job providing Elvis' singing voice. Ironically, the first movie Kurt Russell ever appeared in was an Elvis flick, It Happened at the World's Fair, where the king asks a boy (Russell) to kick him in the shins. This telefilm began a long association between Kurt Russell and John Carpenter, who also directed him in The Thing and many others. 

Verdict: Good approximation of the King. ***. 

THE THING (1982)

THE THING (aka John Carpenter's The Thing/1982). Director: John Carpenter. 

The second film version of John W. Campbell's creepy science fiction/horror story "Who Goes There?" In a science base in Antarctica, a thawed out creature from outer space disguises itself as a dog and then as various humans while the paranoid men try to figure out which of them is human and which is the monster. The acting is good for the most part -- although Disney star turned action hero Kurt Russell sometimes acts as if he'd rather go take a nap than anything else -- and the effects are often outstanding, but the characters in Bill Lancaster's screenplay are not likable people you feel like rooting for. None of them express the slightest sympathy for the victims of the creature, or even seem to have any feelings of friendship for one another. Carpenter misses all opportunities for humanism as well. A bigger problem is that the film at times seems like a silly burlesque, and the humor works against the tension of the piece. The bit with the defibrillator and the spider-head is marvelous stuff, however. Rob Bottin's make up effects are very effective. Ennio Morricone's dull electronic throbbing isn't much of a score, however, hardly worthy of a paycheck. Wilfred Brimley makes an impression as Doctor Blair, who realizes how serious the situation is, and Donald Moffat [who has the bushiest, whitest, and most untrimmed eyebrows in Hollywood] and Richard Dysart are as reliable as ever. There are other good supporting performances as well. 

Verdict: Essentially mindless schlock but often effective for what it is. **1/2.

THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD

THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1975). Director: Vincent McEveety.

Even a host of veteran comics and character actors can't save this Disney comedy that takes a workable premise -- a super-strength formula increases a rivalry between two cereal companies -- and beats it into the ground. Student Dexter Riley (Kurt Russell) is the first one to inadvertently ingest the formula, but the Dean (Joe Flynn) demonstrates its efficacy to a cereal board presided over by no less than Eve Arden. Phil Silvers plays the head of the rival cereal company. It all leads to a weight-lifting competition which will supposedly prove which cereal is the best. Fritz Feld is a board member, Kathleen Freeman plays a cop, Mary Treen is the dean's secretary, and Cesar Romero is a hired crook -- all of them (and Silvers) deserved a better script. Flatly directed by McEveety. A few amusing bits but not enough to sustain a feature. Michael McGreevey is the kid who supposedly invented the formula.

Verdict: A waste of a great cast.