BEFORE: Yes, there is a SECOND documentary about Elvis' 1968 Comeback Special. This tends to happen when we are dealing with moments of extreme importance in history, I imagine that there are several docs about Hurricane Katrina and many about 9/11, that's just the way these things go. But one Elvis concert from almost 50 years ago? And one doc was released in 2023 and the other in 2024? Could there have been two separate directors working for two separate production companies that chose the exact same subject matter? Yes, that is where we find ourselves tonight, with me running the risk of watching, essentially, the same movie made by different people, two nights in a row.
First off, there are obvious differences - one is 110 minutes long, the other is 90 minutes long. Another difference is that one is streaming on Paramount+ and the other is on Netflix. Hmm, which one do think more people are going to watch? Like, who doesn't want to save 20 minutes by dialing up Netflix, which they have, instead of another service that they don't have? Tonight's film clearly has more star power, they found bigger stars to interview, for the most part. The race is not always to the swiftest, after all. But anyway, let's proceed - I'd rather watch them back-to-back then find out about the second one years later and get that weird deja vu, saying, "Wait a minute, didn't I watch this, or something very close to it, before?"
Elvis Presley carries over, obvi, and very conveniently, to help me out, the man did a show in Hawaii to benefit the construction of the USS Arizona Memorial, and then made a film called "Blue Hawaii", AND his second big comeback special was aired Live from Hawaii. SO today's state profiled in my "Get to Know a State" feature is New Mexico. Just kidding, it's HAWAII.
Date admitted to the U.S.: August 21, 1959 (50th state)
Claim to fame: It's the youngest state, home to Pearl Harbor and luaus and hulas and the place where the Brady family found a cursed tiki emblem.
Nickname: The Aloha State
State Motto: Ua mau ke Ea o ka Aina i ka Pono, or "The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness". Be honest, you have no idea right now if I'm kidding or not.
State Flower: Pua aloalo
State Bird: Nene
State Tree: Kukui tree
State Food: Taro
State Dance: hula
State Fish: Humuhumunukunukuapua'a
State Gemstone: black coral
Notable Sports Teams: I don't think so, since the state sport is surfing.
Fun Facts: It's not just the youngest state, it's the only state completely made of islands and no mainland, the only state that is an archipelago, the only state south of the Tropic of Cancer, and one of only two states that used to be its own country (Texas is the other). It's made up of 137 islands and therefore has the fourth-longest ocean coastline in the country. Also there's an extra apostrophe in the state name, even though federally it's Hawaii, locally it's Hawai'i.
I have NOT had the pleasure of going to Hawaii, so I'm still at 26 states visited out of 45. Seems like a great place though, full of beautiful scenery and big luau buffets. Loco moco sounds like a solid thing to eat, so maybe someday.
THE PLOT: He had one chance to show the world he was still the King of Rock 'n' Roll - discover the story behind Elvis Presley's triumphant '68 comeback special.
AFTER: Guys, these two documentaries couldn't be more different - one shows us footage from the comeback special and then flashes back to show us different parts of Elvis' back story, while the other gives us the Splash Page treatment and tells us how Elvis had stage fright, and then snaps back to Elvis's entire life, then plays the footage from the Comeback Special when we get there. Umm, fine, but there's not really any suspense over whether he would perform the show, because we all know that he did. Plus it's not like the show was LIVE or even made in one night, they taped segments for weeks to put that damn thing together, let's be real.
Yeah, it's pretty stupid here to have two docs that basically make the same points about the same historical moment in pop culture. It's hard to find something that one covers that's not mentioned in the other, though today's film has a bit more of a focus on Elvis's time in the military service (this was so bogus, why didn't they make an exception for famous people, or just move him right into the USO or the army division that entertains the troops and consider that to be his service?) and the other key points in his early career. But both films play the same stupid clips from "Blue Hawaii" and the film where he's flying a plane with dogs in it for some reason to prove that his 1960's movie career was formulaic and schlocky at best.
Again, though, there's this weird montage of movies from the 1960's, I guess to compare and contrast with Elvis's movies made during that decade. Did they really need to point out that Elvis was making movies that were different than the ones made by Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and Gregory Peck? Umm, thanks for the help, guys, but we all know how movies work. By the same token, did we need to hear that Mick Jagger's moves reminded Priscilla Presley of Elvis's gyrations in his early days? Again, we don't really need the comparison because it only proves that Priscilla needed to get out of the house more.
You may ask yourself why two different film studios made documentaries about the same exact subject and released them in successive years, one in 2023 and one in 2024, and one's streaming on Paramount and the other's on Netflix? Why couldn't the two filmmaking teams gotten together and just made one GREAT documentary about the Comeback Special, instead of wasting all that time and energy to make two middling ones? Also one team had the access to more footage and information and the other had a better contact list of celebrities, why couldn't they just get together on the same page? Yes, that would be a very relevant question to ask.
Only one of the two docs, though, comes close to declaring Col. Tom Parker a con-man, illegal immigrant and possible murder suspect, and that was yesterday's film. I re-iterate that all of this bears further investigation ASAP. Today's film, while shorter, has more time devoted to Elvis hanging out with the Beatles in person, which is a plus, as possible insight to how he felt about being replaced in a way by them and the Rolling Stones. Dude, John Lennon was an Elvis fan! We might not even HAVE the Beatles if not for Elvis! But Elvis also makes a very good point, when he mentions that the Beatles were songwriters and singers, and though they all did cover versions of blues songs, the Beatles wrote MOST of their songs themselves, and Elvis didn't, he just recorded black music and made it acceptable for white kids to listen to. Still not OK.
Directed by Jason Hehir
Also starring Billy Corgan (last seen in "Jagged"), Barbara Eden (last seen in "Being Mary Tyler Moore"), John Jackson, Ernst Jorgensen, Darlene Love (last seen in "Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple"), Baz Luhrmann, Conan O'Brien (last seen in "John Candy: I Like Me"), Priscilla Presley (also carrying over from "Reinventing Elvis: The '68 Comeback Special"), Robbie Robertson (last seen in "Film Geek"), Jerry Schilling, Bruce Springsteen (last seen in "Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan"), Wright Thompson, Sandi Tompkins, and the voice of Steve Binder (also carrying over from "Reinventing Elvis: The '68 Comeback Special")
with archive footage of Chuck Berry, D.J. Fontana, George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Martin Luther King, John Lennon, Scotty Moore, Col. Tom Parker, Paul McCartney, Gladys Presley, Vernon Presley, Ringo Starr (all carrying over from "Reinventing Elvis: The '68 Comeback Special"),
Joan Baez (last seen in "Joan Baez: I Am a Noise"), Milton Berle (also last seen in "John Candy: I Like Me"), Bob Dylan (ditto), Pat Boone (last seen in "Starring Dick Van Dyke"), Bing Crosby (last seen in "Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything"), Arthur Crudup, Sammy Davis Jr. (also last seen in "Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan"), Dean Martin (ditto), Cary Grant (last seen in "The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: the Unheard Tapes"), Frank Sinatra (ditto), B.B. King (last seen in "Travelin' Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall"), Mario Lanza, Walter Matthau (last seen in "Beyond 'JFK': The Question of Conspiracy"), Steve McQueen (also last seen in "Film Geek"), Gregory Peck (last seen in "Audrey"), Little Richard (last seen in "The Alto Knights"), Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Big Joe Turner,
RATING: 5 out of 10 hookers in the "bordello" scene, which was removed from the initial broadcast but restored when it aired again after Elvis' death.
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