Elvis Presley Filmography

Elvis Presley Filmography

Elvis Presley became a film star in 1956 with Love Me Tender, and would go on to appear in a total of 33 feature films (31 musicals and two concert documentaries). Despite a strong, promising start to his acting career with films like Love Me Tender, Jailhouse Rock, and King Creole, Presley's films, following his return from his military obligation, were made cheaply and quickly to keep costs as low as possible, whilst at the same time keeping profits high. Although critically panned throughout the 1960s, Presley's films were mostly well received by his fans, and led to Hal B. Wallis, who produced nine of Presley's films, to describe them as "the only sure thing in Hollywood." The singer would go on to star alongside several well-established actors, including Walter Matthau, Carolyn Jones, Angela Lansbury, Barbara Stanwyck, Jack Albertson, Gig Young, and Mary Tyler Moore. And others who would later become famous, like as an 11-year-old Kurt Russell, making his screen debut in It Happened at the World's Fair (1963).

Presley left Hollywood and returned to live performing in 1969, and following the success of his sell out tours and Las Vegas shows, he allowed cameras to film him in concert and backstage in the early 1970s. One of these films, Elvis on Tour, won the 1973 Golden Globe award for Best Documentary film.