Elvis Meets Nixon

Year 4, Day 127 - 5/6/12 - Movie #1,126

BEFORE: I suppose the most logical movie to watch after "Nixon" should have been "Dick", that 1999 comedy about Nixon, since the two films shared at least two actors in common - Dan Hedaya and Saul Rubinek.  But I didn't know that, so I didn't have the latter film on my list, and opted to record this one instead.   Fortunately, linking from "Nixon" is still easy, since Anthony Hopkins was also in the film "Fracture" with Bob Gunton (last seen in "Born on the Fourth of July"), who plays Tricky Dick tonight.

THE PLOT:  A "mockumentary" about Elvis's real-life trip to the White House to become a federal marshal under the DEA.

AFTER:  The very famous photograph of Elvis Presley, shaking hands with Richard Nixon in the Oval Office - how did it come to be?  I'm sure you've seen the photo, if not, go check it out (I'll wait). 

Pretty cool, huh?  Though I suppose it's no weirder than the footage of Nixon on "Laugh-In", or any of the photo-ops these days when the championship sports team gets invited to meet the president, or there's footage of Obama throwing a gutter-ball while bowling on the campaign trail.  But the film draws connections between these two iconic figures - both rose to prominence in the 1950's, pretty much sat out most of the 1960's while the Beatles and JFK ruled the roost, and then both rose back to fame and glory in 1968 thanks to an election and a TV special.

According to this film, both were questioning their careers at the same time, both were wracked with self-doubt, and both liked to watch football games (though rooting for different teams) - but only one had a tendency to shoot out the TV screen if he didn't like the outcome - I'll let you guess which one.
The only other connection, and it's somewhat forced, is that both celebs were larger than life, and wildly referenced in the world of impressions - though back in 1970 there was no such thing as an Elvis impersonator, so if you saw a guy walking around in a rhinestone suit and a cape who looked like Elvis, it probably was him.

You could also say that both were out of touch, Nixon with his own honesty or lack thereof, and Elvis with the music scene, and the experiences of the common man.  And both were disheartened with the state of society, with the hippies and the counter-culture, the Vietnam protests and the drug scene.  Yes, there are certain ironies in both cases, with Elvis being "against drugs" yet at the same time dependent on speed ("uppers") to make it through the day.  And Elvis' obsession with boxes of chocolate (despite being allergic) almost gives this a "Forrest Gump" feel.  Almost.

So Elvis goes walkabout and leaves Graceland - learns how to buy a plane ticket for himself, and criss-crosses the country from D.C. to L.A. and back in a wild weekend, culminating in a hand-written and hand-delivered letter to Nixon, requesting that he be made a federal drug-marshal at large.  Seriously.  And Nixon takes the meeting, because he sees a way to connect with the youth vote through the rock and roll, and well, because it's Elvis.  Who wouldn't?

No one really knows what was said (or sung) in this closed-door meeting, so it's all conjecture.  But wasn't Oliver Stone's film mostly conjecture too?  Who's to say the meeting didn't inspire the comeback special from Hawaii, where Nixon sang "Burning Love"?  Wait a sec, that's not right. 

You can almost deduce what year this TV movie was produced, however, since there's just a few too many in-jokes, like Elvis hearing the Jackson Five on a taxi's radio, or Nixon making a reference to Elvis' daughter growing up and "not marrying a creep".  There's a big wink at the audience right there.  Let me just check - this film aired in 1997, and Lisa Marie was married to Michael Jackson from 1994 to 1996.  Seems about right.

Also starring Rick Peters, Curtis Armstrong (BOOGER!), Denny Doherty (from The Mamas and the Papas), Richard Beymer, with "interviews" with Dick Cavett, Tony Curtis, Graham Nash and Wayne Newton.

RATING: 3 out of 10 concealed handguns  (yes, I realize this is the same rating I gave "Nixon".)