Yes, Priscilla invited us to a private screening, and she and Jerry Schilling were there. How about a credit? And Jerry Wexler said, But you wrote the song! Marty Lacker told me that Elvis and B.B. Peter (2018), So maybe we never win an Oscar but were going to win a few box office awards. Tom Parker wasn't a household name before Elvis, but it's clear that after the biopic, it soon will be. Dont call us sir. After all, we were all of two years older than he was! I do know that while researching for my book, The purpose here is not to recap the relationship between Parker and Presley. Parker sent Elvis all over the United States, but he would never let him out of North America, leaving Canada as the only other nation to host The King in his long career. The new Elvis film is not based on her book, nor did Luhrmann read it, by his account (although he says researchers presented him with notes from that and many other key Presley-related books). THE ELVIS movie biopic stars Tom Hanks as The King's manager Colonel Tom Parker, who the actor has described as both a 'genius' and a 'scoundrel'. The single record was done with the Jordanaires and with D.J. Snow had a big ego and resented the fact that Elvis quickly became the draw on his shows, not Snow. He was a fabulous singer, fabulous performer, and very special and hes very hot, again, still. Its the blues! Privately, Parker referred to Elviss family as shit and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. Elvis Presley had his own struggles, particularly in his later years, as his lavish spending, addiction issues, divorce, and declining health took a toll on The King. "The blues singers that we knew, Elvis knew them also," says Stoller. '", Luhrmann's instinct was right. Sadly, Elvis was too much the star that he could not take lesser parts to learn and develop as an actor. We told the music publishers, who were our contact with the Colonel, about this exciting opportunity not only for us, but for Elvis, who wanted to be Marlon Brando or James Dean. Colonel Tom Parker absolutely did diabolical things. Because I made Elvis Presley. And Cornell Gunter was either the female role or some other such role. He says, "I said he should sing this kind of thing." Hanks explained that he was days away from shooting the film in March when he contracted COVID-19. He had a matter-of-fact method of speaking and didn't suffer fools lightly. Fontana. I called Jerry the next morning and said, Hey, he wants a song. So we wrote him a ballad and made a demo of it on Sunday, and I brought it in to him on Monday. Are the liberties worth it for creating an artistic picture? And then I said, Well, we did also a few songs that we didnt write. They finally decided that we were producers. Jimmie later went to Graceland in 1958 to talk to him about how he had given up drinking and doing pills on the road and had turned his life over to Jesus. Then after that, you just have to have this faith in your own individual process and the power of the script. Didnt he ask to become the manager of Leiber and Stoller, too and, as the story goes, he presented you with a completely blank contract? He wanted Elvis to go not to Special Services, where the army was happy to put him, but to serve his time as any other soldier. That potential is what interests him. In fact, Colonel didnt even have to go down to the casino. The timeline well, what timeline? Randy Newman was brought in and did an exquisite chart fabulous and we produced it out here. "One reason is because the Elvis story has become a trope. Less cash to Elvis, claimed the producer, would allow the use of a great script to get Presleys film career back on the right track. About Elvis' Movies In 1964 Interview. So we developed some protective mechanisms. Was there a late 50s concert riot in which Elvis deliberately disobeyed Parkers orders not to move around or wiggle on stage? My guess is that, if Elvis had been Black, he wouldnt have been as interested, because it would have been harder to take him to a larger audience, especially in the segregated South, which was Parkers stronghold from his days on the carnival circuit. While director Baz Luhrmann's take on the complex dynamic between Elvis and the Colonel goes far behind the black-and-white shades of good and evil, what makes it even more compelling is that the grotesque figure of Tom Parker is played by, arguably, the most beloved actor of the last 40 years, Tom Hanks. I dont like the choice of all the songs. I got to really appreciate Elvis. ", "Why include the Colonel in all of this?" And I called, I think, Jack Viertel, because we had been working on a totally different kind of project a ballet musical which never got finished and I said, Listen, I dont like it. Check the list of the 10 top box office stars Elvis is right there. 2023 Billboard Media, LLC. Then we didnt see her at all for the next five or six years until she was presented with a demo that we had done of Is That All There Is? She said the song was written for her, that it was based on her life which it wasnt, but she said it was her life story. Im working on another show right now, and I cant divulge the name of it, because the producers, when theyre ready, will want to do that. The Tom Hanks Tom Parker portrayal was certainly a different type of role for the actor, who is known for taking on characters like the sunny Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Still, Elvis is right on enough counts literally or spiritually that its worth trying to separate fact from fiction in the movies narrative of Elvis Presley (played by Austin Butler) and his nearly career-long manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). And I thought, wow, thats the most money Ill ever see at one time! It has been my thought that Elvis was afraid that his success would evaporate, and therefore it was business, a formula that worked. I hope its a big hit. In the end, they'd become dependent on one another and were in too deep to even know how to start over. Check the list of the 10 top box office stars Elvis is right there. To what extent Parker was guilty of such sins against Elvis, Im not qualified to say. Did Parker really do everything in his power to make sure Elvis didnt fulfill his wish of touring internationally? Having been a staple in The King's life for so long, he was well known to Elvis' ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, who humored his appearances at such venues, regarding him as a family friend despite their clashes over the estate. They had a piano player, Duddly Brooks, on the session. Its a wild story. Eddy Arnold, whom Parker had built into a household name, had fired him as his manager over failing to honor their exclusive contract, though Parker continued to book him. Hanks and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, had dinner with their friend Priscilla Presley in the hopes of getting a better take on the man he was playing. I played on one of the songs from those sessions (Treat Me Nice), but I wasnt that good of a player. Procols Ninth was the name of the album. You could never have predicted the longevity of Smokey Joes Caf, surely. And maybe its a given that a director who puts hip-hop and hard rock on his period-film soundtracks, as Baz Luhrmann does, might favor effect over total verisimilitude. Theres about three different uses of Hound Dog, including the original Big Mama Thornton version, and of course theres some Jailhouse Rock in there. And by the 418th time you've listened to it, you know every pause, every word, every lyric, and you have an emotional connection, an image for every one of those songs, every one of the emotional beats that's on the record. Then we worked with her seven years later after she was no longer at Capitol [on the critically hailed, little heard A&M concept album Mirrors). One was a 1956 radio interview that basically contains Parker's master plan for Presley's career. He said, Well, I gotta do a session with her, so you better get Jerry and come over to my place and listen to it, because Im gonna need some songs. So we went over, and she knocked us out. ", Another guy says he has a script which would cinch an Oscar for Elvis and wouldnt we do it for less money. He claimed that at least 50% of his share went right back into the business of promoting Elvis office expenses, advertising and exploitation, etc. Elvis cut, said Parker, goes straight to the Memphis accountants., "Look you got a product, you sell it. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. "The Colonel is like Falstaff with a chainsaw. Watch what Tom Hanks had to say in the player above, or you can read our conversation below. Mike Stoller plays the pianist in the film Jailhouse Rock with Elvis Presley. My favorite rap was Grandmaster Flash on The Message, which goes back a whole bunch of years; thats the only one that I was really taken with. We were in the studio with her for Im a Woman [later in 62], and it worked out great. I think it was presented to the guys who run Leiber and Stoller stuff, and they had already done it and were gonna put it in the movie. I was a fan while my friends and peers were not. What is it like for you when you are getting ready to step on set for say a big emotional scene on a Monday, can you explain to me, is it weeks in advance you're thinking about that big scene? So it gets complicated, and it probably will never get done. But the first take was great. The pattern that Parker would traditionally follow was affordability and profit over quality, which would eventually help to torpedo Elvis' career for a time. But in 1964 both men seemed content with the steady and dependable flow of money provided them by the Hollywood studios. During the interview, Hanks talked about the way Parker was a promoter and not a manager, why Elvis never fired him, and how he prepares for a really emotional scene. Thats really what he was looking for all along. "Playing Elvis is like playing Jesus, and it doesn't really matter who plays Pontius Pilate because if you have a good Jesus, you got it," Hanks says. Is it true, as portrayed, that Parker was consistently trying to pressure Elvis to tone down his sex appeal? She could be difficult. During the interview, Hanks talked about the way Parker was a promoter and not a manager, why Elvis never fired him, and how he prepares for a really emotional scene. HANKS: It's a beast, but you are aware of when that scene is coming. ", Hanks immersed himself in research about who the Colonel really was. We did some that were not quite so successful. Not a singer-songwriter, Elvis' rep suffered because to do both became prerequisite after the Beatles. In fact, in my book I included a chapter entitled, The Parker Propaganda Machine. It outlines how Parker promoted, marketed, and booked Elvis in ways that undeniably made possible Presleys meteoric rise in show business. Leiber died in 2011 but, creeping up on 90, Stoller remains active still showing up to collect the few accolades he hasnt already received, like the Icon award BMI bestowed upon him at its annual ceremony in May, and also working on a stage musical he doesnt want to say much about at the moment. Because what you get from that is a suit of armor. Scene is from the set of the Presley movie, Love Me Tender.. And he continued to go see Black performers, such as Jackie Wilson, throughout his life. What about Presleys entrance into the Army? We did Procol Harum [in 1975]. So who knows, maybe someday well just decide to release the album of a show that didnt happen. COLLIDER: I want to start with congratulations on the movie. And he pretty much disappeared after we started talking and telling him what to do or suggesting this and that; he just took off. '", This notion of making Elvis and the Colonel foils to each other was what made Hanks feel like Luhrmann's Elvis would be a fresh take on the story. Dean Reed was an incredibly handsome guy. You were business guys as well as writer-producers, and you were not nave enough to have the wool pulled off your eyes, even if you were still in your early 20s. In 1969, she was an employee of the International Hotel when Elvis made his record-breaking performances there. Loanne Parker, wife of Colonel Tom Parker, passed away earlier this week.Loanne had a strong connection to Las Vegas, Nevada - even though she was from southern Ohio - and she had an even stronger connection to Elvis. "Elvis is like playing Jesus, and it doesn't really matter who plays Pontius Pilate," says Hanks. And then I guess it, obviously, became something else. "Without that, it would be hard to reflect Elvis against it. The kid who plays Elvis, Austin Butler, is a knockout as an actor, a dancer and a singer, and I have a feeling hell be nominated for sure for best actor. The Colonel, who was neither a colonel nor named Tom Parker, was born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in the Netherlands and came to the U.S. without documentation at the age of 20. No, Luhrmann has really framed this through a present-day lens. After a lifetime of earning well over $100 million managing Elvis, The Colonel's estate was barely worth $1 million upon his death. Did Parker really install Elvis dad, Vernon, as business manager to make sure he, the Colonel, could really run all things? All I can say is that he must like losing money. That was amazing because you still see the twinkle in his eyes. In the memoir you worked on with Jerry and David Ritz some years back, Ritz quotes you as saying: Variety called it a loser. I am curious though, I like throwing a curve ball at the beginning, something, hopefully you haven't been asked. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. And when I got to New York and stepped off the gang plank, Jerry ran up to me I hadnt seen him in almost four months and said, Mike, we got a smash hit! I said, Youre kidding. He said, Hound Dog. I said [incredulously], Big Mama Thornton? He said, No, some white kid named Elvis Presley. And thats how I heard about Elvis. Because Shakespearean villains are never just a bad guy. No. He didnt care what color he was. The Colonel was well-known as a strong promoter that frequently leaned into exploitation. Yeah, thats true. But there was never a Christmas sweater or a fairy-tale Christmas set. After the divorce, Elvis and Priscilla had little shared experience other than arranging Lisa Maries visits. "Because I don't know what Colonel Tom Parker looks like. Unfortunately, Jerry and I didnt complete a show we were working on about Oscar Wilde, and its kind of sitting in our back pockets. Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy, and director Rob Marshall share the tale behind making their underwater musical with a groundbreaking Disney princess. They were hot with Grand Funk Railroad and a variety of things, but that was not what they were looking for in 1969. You know, it was Big Mama Thornton married to D.W. Washburn with a son named Charlie Brown that kind of inane shoehorning of things. Snow eventually led Parker to Elvis Presley. What he didn't do later on in the 60's and to a degree in the 70's was go to this wickedly, incredibly singular talent, worthy of altering the zeitgeist in the mid-1950s. That's what makes him so delicious.". Yes, it was manager Colonel Tom Parker who had his reasons for finally cutting Leiber and Stoller out of Presley's creative camp after 1963, none of them good. What can I say? But he also did extraordinarily genius things. He was astonished to discover Parker was a poorly dressed, slovenly PR hack, rather than the authoritarian, ram-rod image the word "Colonel" summons. That interview gets at the heart of what both Hanks and Luhrmann wanted to say about the Colonel and the give-and-take between manager and artist. Anything can happen during those first three days. Elvis loved it because it was typical of blues, of rhythm and blues songs of that period, or even an earlier period. There may be no one better to go to who can provide the truth on both Presley and the Colonel, in tandem, than the latters biographer, Alanna Nash. He was the American that we all knew." Tom Hanks and Elvis Butler come to an understanding on a ferris wheel in Elvis film, Elvis (Austin Butler) and his parents sign contracts and pose for pictures with Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) in a scene from Elvis, Willie Nelsons 90th Birthday Is Smoking, With Snoop Dogg, George Strait and Neil Young Among the Party Favorites at the Hollywood Bowl, How Wynonna Judds Judds Final Tour Resulted in a Celebratory, All-Star Concert Special and a Doc That Deals With Grief, Billy Strings and Willie Nelson Commit to Going California Sober in Duet Released for Willies Birthday, The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley, Jock Zonfrillo, MasterChef Australia Judge, Dies at 46, Only Murders in the Building Season 3 Premiere Date Revealed by Steve Martin and Martin Short at Comedy Show (EXCLUSIVE), Matthew Lawrence: 'My Agency Fired Me' After I Refused to Take My Clothes Off for an Award-Winning Director, Netflixs Saudi Arabian Psychological Thriller The Matchmaker Tackles Controversial Subject of Temporary Marriages, Says, Super Mario Bros. Movie Officially Smashes $1 Billion Globally, Bill Hader Is Open to Playing Stefon Again, One Year After Saying He Might Retire the Character Due to Being Seen as a Stereotype, The Morning Show Renewed for Season 4 on Apple TV+ Ahead of Season 3 Debut, The Late Late Show With James Corden Series Finale Scores 1.43 Million Viewers, That Old Jack Black Magic: As the Villain of 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie,' the Actor Gives His Peachiest Performance in Years, COVER STORY | How a Sex Scandal, Big Egos and Putin Led to Jeff Shells Sudden, No Payout Exit From NBCU, Ryan Goslings Greta Gerwig Barbie Tee and Margot Robbies Pink Two Piece Embrace Barbiecore, The Brilliance of Harry Belafonte in 12 Songs, Bob Odenkirk Joins The Bear Season 2 (EXCLUSIVE), Is This 'Beau Is Afraid' Character a De-Aged Joaquin Phoenix? You had your first R&B No. But Baz wanted to make him seem more other. Or as Baz told me in an interview, I thought it was very important that Tom present the audience with a strangeness, a sort of What is going on with this guy?. That urge to write for the theater never went away, if youre doing it now. Hanks recalls. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. I mean, he took him away from Sam Phillips, which was not nice, but proved to be an amazing boon to his career and popularity. The Masked Lookalike Explained. But the most fun we ever had in the studio working was with the Coasters. [Laughs.] "The promotion. Tom Hank's Col Tom Parker accent . So we hit it off and we had a great relationship. Yes. He began negotiating it all with the Pentagon in 1956. If not the term producer really coming into usage in music? The second take was perfect. Elvis had just as many white influences and announced as early as seventh grade that he was going to sing at the Grand Ole Opry. We had no contract and we were not compensated, but it turned out OK. We found that a lot of the blues singers that we knew, he knew them also, which was a surprise to us. Parker saw his job as an elevated version of the carnival barker, the person who ensured Elvis was always in people's hearts and minds. "I had the luxury of essentially recreating somebody who no one really knew. Elvis seemed to evoke a love or hate response in anyone I knew. In Parker's version of his life story, he had run away from home to join a circus, where he worked with elephants and horses. I mean like ridiculously handsome guy who also happened to be a third-rate singer and a second-rate actor who just happened to become very, very, very, very famous for a record in Chile. Colonel knew what Elvis was doing and going to do. Smokey Joes Caf, a revue using 39 of your songs, ran for 2,036 performances on Broadway starting in 1995. ", For Butler, doing the heavy lifting as Presley, he saw the casting of Hanks as a stroke of brilliance in complicating the Colonel's villainy. Luhrmann hasnt really given him his due by a long shot. He was a very disciplined man, but also a guy who you might want to check your wallet to make sure you still have all those fives and 10s. The actual Parker diedJan. 21, 1997, at the age of 87. It was never told to him. Well, it became a different song. If Hollywood has an everyman, it's Hanks, the affable All-American Guy cut from the same cloth as stars like Gary Cooper, James Stewart, and Henry Fonda. [Stoller adds that the rabbit lyric might have been added by a lounge act Presley was believed to have seen and liked covering the song in Vegas prior to his taking it on.]. Yeah, where the different voices was kind of commedia dellarte. The Colonel promoted Elviss first big tour with Hank Snow. But that gets telescoped in the movie. In addition, he revealed. His performance alone is reason to see the film. So we wrote Jailhouse Rock, and then we wrote the others. "You hear the Colonel literally lay out the foundation for how he was going to make Elvis immortal over the course of the next 30 years," marvels Hanks. Is the portrayal of the 68 comeback special accurate, with Parker trying desperately to keep it a Christmas special, and resisting the rock n roll throwback elements that everyone loved, because he was kowtowing to a deeply upset TV network? What idea?" I mean, even the 1968 comeback special, he said, "Hey, great. "And the Colonel says, 'Because of me. He took really great care of us. In making him such an antagonist, they have robbed him of his many accomplishments with his client. And so things resumed as they had been. I thought you guys did such a great job. "If Elvis represents the soul and the new in America the possibility in America, the rags and riches in America, all those positive, very American things the Colonel represents the sell," he says. Austin Butler on Elvis and Why it Took Months After Filming to Find Himself Again, The Best Epic Movies of All Time, According to the AFI, The 25 Best Thrillers of All Time, Ranked, The Legend Behind the Jerry Lewis Holocaust Clown Movie Youll Never See. He was given the honorary title of "Colonel" in the Louisiana State Militia from Governor Jimmie Davis as thanks for the work he did on his political campaign. Despite the court controversy, Parker continued to appear at Elvis-themed events, from anniversaries to special events, etc. For example, in discussing how he didnt ever want to get taken advantage of, hed say, I dont want to end up with cider in my ear. And he had an underling fix up a cookhouse, a so-called carnival kitchen, by throwing an oilcloth over the conference room table in his office on the MGM lot. And we finally were called in, and Jean Aberbach, in his Viennese accent, said, Vell, ze Colonel said, if you ever dare try to interfere in the career of Elvis Presley, you will never work anywhere again New York, London, Hollywood nowhere. And I dont think we ever wrote anything more for him. Capitol didnt want to release it, because it didnt have a back beat. Visit Billboard Pro for music business news, Kenny Loggins Talks Danger Zone Return For Top Gun: Maverick, Jim Carrey Says Will Smith Should Have Been Arrested for Chris Rock Oscars Slap, Pam & Tommy Director Lake Bell Explores Personal, Cathartic Episode Four. Check him out. Elvis Information Network, May-June 2022). We had a few run-ins with the Colonel. And director Baz Luhrmann has teased how fans . But what you're describing there is literally something that happens on movies. He did not know how to say no to someone who had already made all of his dreams come true. When Elvis returned home from the Army, The Colonel focused on more films, TV appearances, and albums, saturating the airwaves with Elvis. Anything else to say about the Parker characterization? You always preferred Big Mamas version, right? Then she was hired on as Elvis' tour secretary and traveled . The first three days of the movies are chaos. That was in our minds (during the initial writing). Reportedly, Hanks was approached by movie director Baz Luhrmann, and after a short conversation, the actor was hooked. They hurl a litany of accusations at Presleys former manager he took too much of Elvis money, he mismanaged Elvis movie career, he pressured Elvis to work when he was in poor health, he even tried to capitalize on Elvis name after he died. "It's possible to be driven mad by it," the actor says. But he has since recovered and apparently completed his work on the picture, Hanks told Colbert. But we do remember Elvis and are remembering him more universally than we have since his 1977 death, thanks to Baz Luhrmanns new Elvis biopic. He had toured with carnivals, worked with elephants and. Carl Gardner was the rube or the straight man. However, as he always does, Hanks shone as Tom Parker in Elvis, and the Colonel proved to the world that he could play a complex villain. Read Next: Pink Performs Acoustic Set for No Kid Hungry, Talks Why Her Upcoming Arena Tour Will Feel Intimate. No one is probably expecting that; any practiced watcher of biopics knows virtually any example will take deep liberties with the facts for dramatic purposes. Stand by Me is never going away. I would say it was in his spiritual DNA, as he grew up with Black playmates and heard that music all around him. Why AI Has Some Viewers Asking Which Film Actors Are Real. Oh, sure. "But he had no other client than Elvis Presley, and he lacked the imagination to see just how truly a greater social force Elvis could have been.". Elvis would invite B.B. And the movies I mean, naturally I liked Jailhouse Rock, but I dont think it was a great movie. Gaining or losing weight, taking on accents, and experimenting in a variety of genres that pushed his limits as an actor, Hanks has built a career out of challenging roles. Those guys complaining some of them are not working too good. Me Im happy being able to buy the groceries., As for the reports of declining returns on Elvis movies, Parker didnt believe them. When it was just written lyrics on a piece of paper, she started to croon it. Other than the tremendous pains Baz has taken to make this story seem woke, the liberties are essentially fair except to Parker. Hanks said he was taken aback by her reaction. Hanks has gone dark before during his legendary and long career, but by and large, he's Forrest Gump, Joe Fox, Captain Miller, Chuck Noland, and of course, Woody the toy cowboy. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member (class of 1987) told us about everything from why he never much liked Presleys version of Hound Dog Big Mama Thornton was a hard act to follow to how he realized a Broadway musical rooted in the duos songs, Smokey Joes Cafe, could be a smash if they just dispensed with a storyline and script. The purpose here is not to recap the relationship between Parker and Presley. Luhrmann describes another story in the aftermath of Presley's death where the Colonel immediately called RCA and instructed them to produce more records, knowing demand would skyrocket. You and Jerry started producing more things that you didnt write, including some rock albums of the 70s that people dont associate with you because they arent the old-school Leiber-Stoller sound like Stealers Wheel and Stuck in the Middle With You.. First of all, when Colonel Parker enlisted in the U.S. Army, he declared himself a Dutch citizen, with parents born in Holland. Well, they were a lot of fun. But we used to have to say to him, This is Jerry, and Im Mike. "We ended up talking for well over an hour," Hanks recalls. The past, present and future are all shook up like a 50s milkshake and served with a thousand straws! continues Hanks. All Rights Reserved. We can get Singer sewing machines as long as you sing a song about Christmas, that's all we need. The other five nominations were for technical (Editing, Sound, Cinematography) and design (Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling).