"Jailhouse Rock"

Movie Details

* Filming commenched at the MGM Studios in Culver City, California, on May 13, 1957, and lasted until June 14.

* During production, Elvis swallowed a tooth cap and had to be rushed to the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles.

* "Jailhouse Rock" premiered in Memphis on October 17, 1957, and opened nationally on November 8th. 

Elvis co-starred with Judy Tyler in the film “Jailhouse Rock” and he was a friend of her new bridgeroom, Greg Lafayette.  Shortly before their movie was released. they died in a car accident in Wyoming on July 3, 1957,  Elvis learned of her death. He was shattered and said he “sensed” something beyond this tragedy and was proved right when, almost exactly a year later, his mother died.   Elvis was devastated.

* Elvis was responsible for originating the legendary "Jailhouse Rock" dance routine.

Jailhouse Rock Theatrical Trailer

Jailhouse Rock (Color)

* The prison number on Vince's jacket changes from 6239 to 6240.

* In the outdoor pool scene for "Baby I Don't Care" scotty Moore wears sunglasses in the long shots, but no glasses in the medium shots.

* "Jailhouse Rock" reached N0.3 and No.14 in Variety's  weekly and annual top-grossing films respectively.

Synopsis; Vince Everett is a truck driver who stops in for a quick beer at a local club, he gets into a fight over a woman an accidentally kills one of the guys. Vince is sentenced to prison for manslaughter. His prison cellmate is Hunk Houghton, a former western cowboy singer. He let Vince play his guitar and sees a lot of raw talent. Some television producers get the idea to broadcast a live talent show from prison and they choose Vince as one of the inmates who will perform. He gets more attention than all the other acts. Sacks of fan mail arrive for Vince. Hunk persuades the post office department off the prison to keep the fan mail a secret. He let Vince sign a contract which states that when he'll leave prison, they will become a team act and share the profits equally. When Vince gets out of jail before Hunk he is shocked when he gets all the mail that was kept away from him. Vince meets Peggy, who is an upcoming talent scout for a major label. She talks him into making a demo, which they pitch to her boss. Her boss steals the tune and let another singer, who's already on the payroll, record the song. Peggy quits her job and she and Vince start their own record company. Vince's career is about to go over the top, and Vince treats people very mean. One day, Hunk comes in determined to start a fight with Vince. Vince doesn't want to fight but Hunk delivers a deadly punch to his throat. The doctors say he may never sing again unless he's willing to undergo surgery. After the operation, Vince is afraid to try ouit his voice. Everyone leaves the room until they hear Vince singing "Young and Beautiful" to Peggy. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Several scenes and shots illustrate the similarities between the performing styles of Elvis and Vince and help audiences make the connection. Espescially, the scene in which Vince spends time in a recording studio searching for a singing style. Listening to himself croon “Don’t Leave Me Now,” he realizes that he lacks a personal style. After rocking the tune just a bit, Vince discovers how “to make the song fit for him.” The scene echoes Elvis’ own efforts to work through a personal style at Sun Records way back in the summer of 1954, which was an oft-repeated tale in Elvis’ publicity. To make the connection between Vince and Elvis even stronger, the nusicians used in the scene were Elvis’ own backup band, Scotty Moore, Bill Black and D.J. Fontana.

The final scene represents a typical Hollywood happy ending. An accident involving damaged vocal chords makes Vince realize how fortunate he is to have loving friends and a successful career. The defiant, arrogant rock ‘n’ roller is transformed into a humble, penitent young man in the final few moments of the film.