1h 30min | Drama, Musical | 21 February 1958 | b/w, ws
Director: Henry Ephron
Stars: Tommy Sands, Lili Gentle, Edmond O'Brien, Nick Adams, John McIntire, Jerry Paris, Regis Toomey.
Nick Castle ... choreographer
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052198/
Watched online, mediocre print.
13 songs in the Soundtrack, many without performer listed, so maybe background.
1st of 8 films for TS; this was originally a 1 hour Kraft Theatre episode in Jan '57 called The Singin' Idol. TS says that Tom Parker recommended him for the TV show.
TS was a pop singer of the day. He's sort of a pocket Elvis: smaller, younger, less threatening. Apparently he toured with Elvis in early days.
I couldn't help thinking, especially during the last 1/3rd of the film, that if Elvis had played this story, this film would be much better known and he might have made better quality films.
The story: poor Southern small-town boy who makes good in early rock, becomes a phenom, but his strong ties to his evangelist grandfather adds conflict to his life. EO is an overbearing manager/agent, JP his sympathetic publicist/promoter, NA as hired friend/companion (not a friend from before success, just a delivery boy who brings a sandwich when TS is a star).
I had a tough time getting through this, likely more because I was sleepy than because the film or print was inferior. But these are not people that I cared about. I'm not certain how it ended, and don't want to go back to find out. Did TS quit pop music, or go back to fulfil his contracts? Did he stay with EO? Don't care. If it had been Elvis, I might have been more curious.
Fox, dir. Ephron; 6
