Baz Luhrmann's fever dream film Elvis premiered June 24, and fans were excited to see Austin Butler's portrayal of the rock and roll icon. From hearing his voice transformation, to seeing Butler and Priscilla Presley pose together at the Met Gala, to the signature pelvic dance moves, the fans can't seem to get enough of this Elvis story. The film focuses on the story of Elvis and his deceitful manager, Colonel Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks, as well as Elvis's relationship with Priscilla, played by Olivia DeJonge.
The movie is a signature Luhrmann piece (Moulin Rouge, Romeo & Juliet, The Great Gatsby), with its overwhelming excess, camp, and a lot of fun. While more and more people become enthralled with this story, it's important to point out the inaccuracies in this new film.
6 Elvis And The Lightning Bolt Necklace
In the sequences of Elvis as a young boy, the audience sees him constantly wearing this giant yellow lightning bolt necklace. While this fashion choice is not historically accurate, it is based in facts. In the film, Presley wears this because of his love of the comic Captain Marvel Jr. His love for this comic book is actually completely true, Elvis loved this comic book hero. He actually modeled his signature haircut after it, as well as later in his career by wearing half capes and then lightning bolt jewelry. Director Baz Luhrumann decided to add this as a creative choice since he views Elvis as a superhero.
5 Elvis And The Gospel Church
The Elvis biopic confirms that he spent his childhood living in "The Hill," a neighborhood in Tupelo, Mississippi. While living there, Elvis attended gospel church revival meetings where he was inspired by gospel music. This is completely accurate, and Elvis biographies conclude this community was referred to "Shake Rag" back then. Presley's love of gospel music started in the church as a young boy, and later in his career he did branch out into recording his own gospel music.
4 Elvis Recording His First Single
When Butler's Elvis is in the process of creating his first single, he's watching an old bluesman stomp through a gloomy version of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right." Elvis then combines this version with a gospel choir's elevated rendition of "I'll Fly Away," resulting in something similar to the version of "That's All Right" the real Elvis Presley produced.
While the production does seem close to accurate, it is definitely a way for the director to play up that Elvis was appropriating black culture and benefiting from doing so, all while his black contemporaries weren't being given the same opportunities or success. This is very well portrayed in Doja Cat's single for the soundtrack as well, sampling the original version of "Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton, which was not very successful. While all of this is certainly true, it does also ignore the fact that Presley was also heavily inspired by southern country music at the time.
3 Elvis And Priscilla
This whole relationship was truly wild. Priscilla Wagner (Olivia DeJonge) was in fact just 14 when she met Elvis, who was 24 at the time. They did meet while Elvis was stationed in Germany, and her father was also stationed there. They began dating, and she faced the challenge of juggling their high-profile relationship with high school. At age 15, Elvis invited her to come live with him in Memphis. Priscilla's parents okayed the decision, she transferred to the local Catholic school, while maintaining her relationship. They married six years later in 1967.
Their marriage was very controversial. The two both proved to be unfaithful to each other, his drug addictions hurt their relationship, as well as his odd aversion to her after she gave birth to their daughter, Lisa Marie. The two did divorce, but remained friends, and she was the heiress to everything, and still manages his estate today.
Priscilla was actually heavily involved in the production of the film, and loved it. "It is a true story told brilliantly and creatively that only Baz, in his unique artistic way, could have delivered. Austin Butler, who played Elvis, is outstanding," Priscilla wrote on her Facebook page after watching the movie at a private screening.
2 How Did Colonel Tom Parker Discover Elvis?
The film depicts Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) while he is working as a carny. While Parker did in fact work as a carny when he first immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands, those days were long behind him by the time we found Elvis. So the scene where he convinces Elvis to sign with him in a hall of mirrors was in fact too good to be true.
By the time Colonel Tom Parker met Elvis he e was already managing hit country music artist Hank Snow. Colonel Parker's assistant saw Elvis perform and suggested to Parker that he should take a look at him.
1 Elvis And The Colonel's Complicated Relationship
The Colonel plays a crucial role in the film, as he did in Elvis's life and career. But there are tons to go into here about what is fact and fiction. At first, The Colonel never told Elvis to turn down his sex appeal. Parker loved that Elvis danced the way he danced, and it sold tickets! According to the biography The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley by Alanna Nash, the only time Parker got critical of Presley's stage behavior is when the shows began to falter with drugs or erratic behavior on stage. But that wasn't until the ’70s.
The film's director and screenwriter, Baz Luhramann did admit that he has not read this biography. He did get one very crucial detail correct. Parker did in fact have huge gambling debts. According to the biography, Parker's gambling addiction was so bad that he had hotels he stayed in bring a roulette wheel up to his room. Elvis Presley's Las Vegas residency was in fact meant to pay off Parker's gambling debts, and Presley had no idea. Biographers and fans speculate that Presley had no idea how many shows he played for free, that went right into Parker's gambling.
That's just the tip of the iceberg of the complicated relationship between Elvis and his manger, Colonel Tom Parker that is depicted in the biopic Elvis.