Why Roger Ebert Avoided Elvis Presley Movies

TL;DR:

• Roger Ebert avoided most of Elvis Presley’s movies.
• He reviewed one of them despite not buying any of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s records.
• Ebert named a pop singer whom he preferred to the “Can’t Help Falling in Love” singer.

Roger Ebert avoided Elvis Presley‘s movies. In addition, he didn’t care for the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll‘s music. Here’s a look at what Ebert had to say about one of the singer’s 1960s starring vehicles.

Roger Ebert had ‘no credentials for reviewing a movie by Elvis Presley’

Thanks to the show Siskel & Ebert & the Movies, Ebert is still one of the most famous movie critics ever. In a 1967 article posted to RogerEbert.com, he reviewed Easy Come, Easy Go. The film is an Elvis musical about treasure hunting. Ebert gave Easy Come, Easy Go a paltry one out of four stars.

“Let me confess at once that I have no credentials for reviewing a movie by Elvis Presley,” Ebert admitted. “Although I belong to the correct generation, having arrived at age 13 simultaneously with the release of ‘Heartbreak Hotel,’ I never went to a single Presley movie and I never, not even once, not even for ‘Hound Dog,’ bought a single Presley record. Even then I knew Julie London had a better voice (and she certainly had sexier album covers).” For context, London was a traditional pop and jazz singer known for her tune “Cry Me a River.”

Roger Ebert said Elvis Presley had a ‘chubby face’ and a ‘petulant scowl’

Ebert commented on the “All Shook Up” singer‘s appearance and acting. “Elvis looks about the same as he always has, with his chubby face, petulant scowl, and absolutely characterless features,” he said. “Here is one guy the wax museums will have no trouble getting right. He sings a lot, but I won’t go into that.

“What I will say, however, is that after two dozen movies he should have learned to talk by now,” Ebert added. “But it’s still the same old slur we heard so many years ago on The Ed Sullivan Show.” Ebert felt Easy Come, Easy Go was inferior to The Beatles’ movie A Hard Day’s Night.

How the movie’s soundtrack and singles performed on the charts in the United States

The film Easy Come, Easy Go produced a soundtrack. That soundtrack did not chart on the Billboard 200. The title song from the album did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Two more songs from the soundtrack — “You Gotta Stop” and “The Love Machine” — were released as a single together and did not chart.

Some Elvis songs — such as “Always on My Mind”— became standards after the fact. None of the tunes from Easy Come, Easy Go achieved that kind of ubiquity. To this day, Easy Come, Easy Go is largely ignored by the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s fans. It’s just another one of the singer’s many, many formulaic movies.

Ebert didn’t think Easy Come, Easy Go was very good — and the world seemed to agree.