Elvis' twentieth movie was 'Frankie and
Johnny'. Elvis reported for pre-production on May 11, 1965 and he
was released on June 24, 1965. The film premiered in Baton Rouge,
Lousiana on March 31, 1966. Co-stars Donna Douglas, Sue Ane
Langdon and Nancy Kovack attended. It was the #48 movie for the year of 1966, grossing over
$2,000,000. The single 'Frankie and Johnny' peaked at #25 in an
8-week run on the chart. The soundtrack album spent 19 weeks on the
chart and peaked at #20.
'Frankie and Johnny' was 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' 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.
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' version was arranged by
Alex Gottlieb, Fred Karger and Ben Weisman for this movie.
Elvis plays Johnny, a
riverboat entertainer that has a big gambling problem.
Donna Douglas is Johnny's girl, Frankie. A fortune
teller tells Johnny how he can change his luck. Enter a
new lady luck played by Nancy Kovack and the cat fight
begins.
Johnny's sidekick Cully was played by Harry Morgan, who has had many roles in film
and TV since 1942, including his recurring roles on
'December Bride', 'Pete and Gladys', 'Dragnet' and 'Hec
Ramsey'. However, he is best known for his portrayal of
Colonel Sherman T. Potter on the TV series 'M*A*S*H',
for which he received eight Emmy Award nominations,
winning one. He also received a nomination for the
series 'December Bride'.
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'.
Donna
Douglas played Frankie opposite Elvis'
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.
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'.
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'.
Frederick De Cordova was
the director for 'Frankie and Johnny'. The long-time
producer/director had many TV credits including 'The
George Burns and Gracie Allen Show', 'December Bride',
'Leave It To Beaver', 'My Three Sons', 'Burke's Law',
'The Smothers Brothers Show' and 'Mr. Belvedere'. He is
best known for 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'
for which he received four Emmy Awards.
Anthony
Eisley played Clint Braden. The former stage actor had
become a household name in the very
popular 1959 TV series 'Hawaiian Eye'.
Gravelly voiced Robert
Strauss played Blackie. Earlier, he played Sam, the
owner of the Pirate's Den in the
Elvis movie 'Girls!
Girls! Girls!' The son of a theatrical costume
designer, he worked as a singing waiter before becoming
a successful actor on Broadway. He portrayed 'Animal' in
the play 'Stalag 17' and his reprisal of that role in
the movie version earned him a 1954 Academy Award
nomination.
Naomi Stevens was Princess Zolita the
gypsy fortune teller. Among her credits are many roles
on TV series including 'The Flying Nun', 'The Doris Day
Show', 'The Streets of San Francisco', 'The Montefuscos'
and 'Vega$'. She also played Queen Liliuokalani in the
movie 'The Hawaiians'.
Stevens's fellow gypsy was
played by veteran actor Henry Corden, who has had
numerous TV and movie roles. However, you might want to
close your eyes and listen to his voice and see if you
recognize it - he has been the voice of Fred Flintstone
for over thirty years and has other animated characters.
Earl Barton was the choreographer for 'Frankie and
Johnny' as he had been for the Elvis movies 'Roustabout'
and 'Harum Scarum'.
Joining him were a number of the Earl Barton dancers
including Wilda Taylor, who had played both Little Egypt
in 'Roustabout' and Amethyst in 'Harum Scarum'. Another
of his dancers, Judith Chapman, has since gone on to
numerous roles on TV that include recurring roles on
'Ryan's Hope', 'General Hospital', 'One Life To Live'
and 'Days of Our Lives' among others.
Soundtrack
Frankie And
Johnny
Come Along
Petunia, The
Gardeners Daughter
Chesay
What Every
Woman Lives For
Look Out, Broadway
Beginner's Luck
Down By The Riverside / When
The Saints Go Marching In
Shout It Out
Hard Luck
Please Don't Stop Loving Me
Everybody Come Aboard
Recorded at:
Radio Recorders Studios, 7000, Santa Monica Boulevard,
Hollywood. May 1965.
Musicians: Elvis
Presley (vocals), Scotty Moore, Tiny Timbrell, Charlie
McCoy (guitars), Bob Moore (bass), D.J. Fontana, Buddy
Harman (drums),George Worth (trumpet), Richard Noel
(trombone), Gus Bivona (sax), John Johnson (tuba), the
Mello Men (vocals)
Extensive overdubbing with
horns was done on a number of these songs to give them
the Twenties feel.
Directed
Frederick De Cordova
Writing Credits Alex
Gottlieb
Producer Edward Small
Story
Nat Perrin
Associate Producer Alex
Gottlieb
Music Fred Karger
Technicolor
Cast Overview:
Elvis Presley .... Johnny, Donna
Douglas .... Frankie, Harry Morgan .... Cully, Sue
Ane Langdon .... Mitzi,
Nancy
Kovack .... Nellie Bly, Audrey Christie ....
Peg, Robert Strauss .... Blackie, Anthony Eisley ....
Braden, Joyce Jameson .... Abigail. |
