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Frankie and Johnny 1 of 2
Elvis's twentieth movie was "Frankie and Johnny" a remake of a 1936
Republic Pictures film starring Helen Morgan as St. Louis casino
singer Frankie and Chester Morris as Johnny the gambler. The story
of Frankie and Johnny is a blend of fact and fiction.
The story goes that in 1899 in St. Louis, Missouri a Frankie Baker
shot her man Al "Johnny" Britt when she found him in a bar with
another woman. Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton was commissioned
in 1934 to paint a series of murals in the state capitol and he
chose to depict what he called a "Social History of the State of
Missouri." One of the murals is the barroom scene of Frankie
shooting Johnny. Elvis's movie, although an United Artists film, was
shot on the MGM lot and for inspiration MGM had a reproduction of
the Missouri mural displayed during filming.
It isn't clear how the name Nellie Bly got attached to this triangle
of lovers, but there was a real Nellie Bly in history. This was the
pen name of a Pittsburgh woman journalist named Elizabeth Jane
Cochrane. In 1885 it was considered improper for a women writer to
use her real name so Ms. Cochrane took her pseudonym from a popular
song written by Stephen Foster. She was a pioneer of investigative
journalism often going undercover to expose poverty, crime, housing
and labor conditions of the day. An adventurer, she set a much
publicized record for traveling around the world in 72 days,
6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds a la Jules Verne's "Around the
World In Eighty Days."
Frankie and Johnny were perhaps the inspiration for "He Done Me
Wrong", a 1904 song written by Hughie Cannon and sung by Mae West in
her 1933 movie as "She Done Him Wrong." It has been recorded in
various forms over the years with the title "Frankie and Johnny" by
such artists as Gene Autry, Johnny Cash, Brook Benton, and Sam
Cooke.
Elvis's version was arranged by Alex Gottlieb, Fred Karger and Ben
Weisman for this movie.
Donna Douglas played Frankie opposite Elvis's Johnny in the movie.
She was from Louisiana and did grow up a critter lovin' tomboy much
like her character Elly May Clampett on the long running TV series
"The Beverly Hillbillies." The 1957 "Miss New Orleans" was known for
personally answering her fan mail. While shooting this movie, she
and Elvis discovered they both shared a deep interest in spiritual
studies and they would read and meditate together. Although her
singing in this film was dubbed by vocalist Eileen Wilson, she has
since recorded gospel albums. She also has authored Christian
children's books.
A mixture of beauty and brains, actress Nancy Kovack played Nellie
Bly. She began college at the University of Michigan at age 15 and
was graduated by 19. She had won numerous beauty titles by the age
of 20 and began acting in New York on various TV shows. She received
an Emmy Award nomination for an appearance in 1969 on "Mannix."
Today she is the long-time wife of maestro Zubin Mehta.
Golden Globe Award winner Sue Ane Langdon played Mitzi. A child
actress, she was also a singer at Radio City Music Hall in New York
as well as a Broadway performer before becoming a TV and film
actress.
She also had a role in the Elvis movie "Roustabout."
Actress Audrey Christie played Peg. Her long career included
numerous TV roles as well as roles in such films as "Carousel,"
"Splendor In The Grass," "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," "Harlow" and
"Mame." |
