He Sings A Song About A Jelly Roll

My girlfriend and I recently saw a free showing of Elvis's 1958 feature "King Creole" at the public library as part of their Elvis film series throughout the month of July. I knew it was gonna rock when we walked into the auditorium and were greeted with a sea of white haired people munching on popcorn. We were easily the youngest people there until some parents showed up with their annoying kids, and while it was kinda nice to have more of an age balance in the room, it was a drag to have to keep moving my legs every five minutes so the little nippers could go to the bathroom or whatever the hell they kept getting up for. Well, it still ended up being an interesting way to watch the King on the (sort of) big screen.

Old people sure have a funny way of looking at things. For those of you who have never seen what is probably Elvis's best screen performance (and much more of a "real" movie than the brainless hokum of Harem Scarem, for example), let me tell you that King Creole is a fairly depressing movie. E plays a high school kid who flunks his senior year twice, has to work before and after school to support his sister and messed up father (who lost it after their mom died), gets involved with hoodlems who talk him into participating in petty crimes, and soon becomes the object of a power struggle between two nightclub owners when they find out the boy can sing. There's psychological abuse, sexual slavery, battery, hospitalizations, stabbings, shootings, shame, and lecherous behavior in this movie.

And let me tell you, people, those gramps and grannies were laughing!!!

Sure, there are some funny lines and clever phrases that might elicit a giggle or a slight guffaw during the picture, but for the most part, the flick is sorta depressing. You see, I think that the old people were laughing at things in the movie that seem quaint now (like prices of things and over-dramatic 50's acting styles), meaning that they thought the movie was kinda corny. My girlfriend and I are fairly young and we watched the movie with the understanding that it was made almost 50 years ago and, yeah, things were different back then. I've been watching old movies all my life, so that kind of acting and melodrama don't seem weird to me; that's just how those movies are. You have to take that into consideration when watching classic films or you'll spend the whole time looking at your friends and exclaiming "That's dumb!"

My girlfriend, on the other hand, thinks that the old people just thought the movie was funny. That would mean that they're all dumb, and I'd like to give my fellow human beings a little more credit than that.

Well, it's possible that we are just too serious about all of this. Maybe "King Creole" is goofy and the past should be laughed at because in these more advanced times we know so much more about the world.

Naw, I don't think so. I just think those old people are weird and didn't get the movie.

Then again, maybe when you're at that age you need to laugh at as much stuff as possible to keep your sanity. The world can be a rough place, and getting old in it could be a real drag. I guess the only people that really know are those white-haired folks who were yuckin' it up as Ronnie lay dying, blood dripping from her mouth at the end of the movie.

Next time, we'll take a look at the horrible threat of the Hell's Grannies.