The author of this review must admit that he was never a particularly big fan of Elvis Presley. The undisputed musical talent of the King and his equally undisputed importance in the history of modern culture have very little to do with that. I tend to judge Presley mostly on his film appearances, which is most unfair, since his record in that field, unlike music, was not very inspiring, to say the least. Even Jailhouse Rock, directed in 1957 by Richard Thorpe and often cited as Presley's best film, could hardly improve such an unflattering impression.
The protagonist is Vince Everett (played by Elvis Presley), a young manual labourer who suffers from temper tantrums. One such occasion led to a bar brawl that resulted in his prison sentence for manslaughter. In prison, Everett is put in the same cell as Hank Houghton (played by Mickey Shaughnessy), a former country singer who could not fail to notice the musical talent in his young cellmate. Hoping for a lucrative partnership, Hank teaches Everett a few tricks that would make him a pop star after his release. Once free, however, Everett has quite different ideas and pursues his own career, which practically goes nowhere until he meets recording industry employee Peggy Van Alden (played by Judy Tyler). Guided both by an appreciation of Everett's talent and her feelings towards the young man, Peggy decides to become his partner and later witnesses his meteoric rise to fame and fortune. However, their relationship remains strictly platonic and later deteriorates when Everett becomes seduced by the irresponsible and decadent lifestyle of a pop star.
The only reason to watch Jailhouse Rock lies in the musical numbers featuring Presley. However, in order to see them, a viewer must endure a truly horrible script by Guy Trosper and mediocre direction by Richard Thorpe. The film lacks a coherent plot and looks like various unfinished films hastily patched into one. The acting is good, though. Character actor Mickey Shaughnessy is more than passable in the rather complex role of Everett's mentor, and young Judy Tyler, tragically deceased after the shooting of the film, is quite charming as Everett's romantic interest. Elvis Presley here plays a surly, arrogant character, closer to his original image of a 1950s youth rebel than his later, more mainstream incarnations. The quality of his acting is merely passable but quite adequate for the job, although Presley looks like someone who could have done much better with a proper script. Unfortunately, such better chances never materialised in his lifetime, and watching this film might be a quite depressing experience for those aware of the King's unfulfilled potential.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on May 13th 2000)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/15697-jailhouse-rock Critic: AA
