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Jailhouse Rock, 3 - 3
Elvis's third film, "Jailhouse Rock," had a large and eclectic
cast of character actors. Among them was Bess Flowers, who played
the Van Alden party guest espousing musical trends. Having in her
credits over 500 movie roles from 1923 to 1964, Ms. Flowers was
nicknamed "Queen of the Hollywood Extras."
On the list of her credits are two other Elvis films - "GI Blues"
and "Blue Hawaii."
Another prolific actor was Glenn Strange, who played a convict in
the prison. During his career he acted in over 200 movies and in
numerous TV guest appearances, many of them westerns. In fact, he
began his career as a country music singer on radio. He played
Frankenstein in the 1940's,
but is probably best known for his twelve years of playing Sam, the
Longbranch Saloon bartender in the TV series "Gunsmoke."
William Forrest played the head of the movie studio in "Jailhouse
Rock." Earlier that year he had played "Mr. Jessup" in Elvis's movie
"Loving You."
There are over 200 movie credits to his name.
John Daheim played the man that Elvis's character Vince Everett
accidentally kills in a barroom fight. Among his credits are roles
in two other Elvis films,
"It Happened At the World's Fair" and "Change of Habit."
Bill Hickman had the role in "Jailhouse Rock" some fans can't bear
to watch, that of the prison guard that bull whips Vince. Besides
his acting roles, Mr. Hickman was also known as an expert stunt
driver. His expertise can be seen in classic car chases in films
such as "Bullitt", "The French Connection" and "The Seven-Ups."
Dan White played the paymaster to whom Vince gleefully quips about
his paycheck, "I'm gonna buy me a herd of chorus girls and make 'em
dance on my bed."
Mr. White, one of twelve siblings, traveled the South as a teenager
in tent and minstrel shows.
He moved to Hollywood during the Great Depression and had hundreds
of roles in movies and TV. Many of his roles were in westerns.
Percy Helton played Sam Brewster. He began his long career as a
child actor and protégé of George M. Cohan. At one point in his
youth,
his vocal chords were damaged and he became permanently hoarse. His
raspy voice then became his trademark.
John Indrisano played a convict in the prison. Mr. Indrisano had
been a boxer and often used his boxing skills to stage fight scenes
in movies.
He also had roles in the Elvis movies "King Creole," "It Happened At
The World's Fair" and "Fun In Acapulco."
It's Gloria Pall's legs that you see in "Jailhouse Rock" as she
plays the striptease dancer.
Also known in Hollywood as "Voluptua," she has had a number of
screen roles as a dancer.
Songwriter Mike Stoller played the pianist who accompanies Vince.
Mr. Stoller is half of the famous song writing team of Jerry Lieber
and Mike Stoller,
who wrote a number of hits for Elvis, including several songs for
"Jailhouse Rock," including the classic title song.
The film's hair stylist provided Elvis with a specially fitted wig
for Vince's prison butch haircut.
The make-up was headed by award winning artist William Tuttle.
Special effects were provided by another award winner A. Arnold
Gillespie. Mr. Gillespie was nominated thirteen times for the
Academy Award,
winning 4 times. His credits include films such as "The Wizard of
Oz," "Ben-Hur," and "Mutiny On The Bounty."
Former Olympic pentathlete Loren Janes was in charge of the stunts.
Mr. Janes co-founded the Stuntmen's Association in 1961.
During filming, actor Robert Mitchum visited Elvis and indicated he
wanted Elvis to play his son in his forthcoming film "Thunder Road".
Elvis did not end up doing the film.
During production of "Jailhouse Rock" Elvis received a wallaby as a
gift from fans. Unable to keep the pet, he sent it home to Memphis
as a donation to the local zoo.
Another bit of trivia - the studio commissary added to their menu
some of Elvis's favorite foods, which included crisp bacon and
mashed potatoes with brown gravy.
While filming there was a small fire in Jennifer Holden's dressing
room. Elvis, ever the hero, carried the actress out to safety.
Elvis finished his duties with "Jailhouse Rock" and returned to
Memphis, boarding a train on June 25, 1957.
Impatient and excited to get there, he left the train in Lafayette,
Louisiana and rented a car to drive the rest of the way.
He spent his first night in his new home, Graceland, on June 26,
1957.
The film's premiere was attended by Anne Neyland on October 17, 1957
in Memphis.
It was released nationwide on November 8th.
The critics were unkind to Elvis's role of a man who frequented bars
and had killed a man. The film reached #3 for the week in Variety
and #14 for the year.
It was re-released on March 9, 1960 in honor of Elvis's return from
service in the U.S. Army.
In 1969 "Variety" reported that in the U.S. and Canada the film had
earned over $4 million or the equivalent of the movie "The Wizard of
Oz".
Today, "Jailhouse Rock" is widely regarded as a classic of the rock
opera genre, and the "Jailhouse Rock" production number is
considered the "father" of modern-day music videos.
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