Elvis '56 (1987)
*** (out of 4)
Levon Helm narrates this interesting documentary taking a look at the life of Elvis during 1956 as he became the biggest name in rock 'n roll. I doubt die-hard Elvis fans are going to learn anything new by watching this but I think they'll still enjoy seeing all the TV appearances, photos and radio interviews. Those who know the name Elvis but don't know how he rose to fame are the ones who will probably enjoy this the most. The documentary pretty much tracks every month of the year as we see Elvis being discovered, recording his first song, making various TV appearances, bombing in Las Vegas and starting his dream of becoming a serious actor. I thought this approach to the material was a pretty fun way to look at the year in his life and it's really amazing to see all of this material and see how many great songs he did in such a short period of time. It's also funny to watch this today and see the controversy of Elvis' shaking around and of course this leading to a rather embarrassing moment where he sang 'Hound Dog' to an actual dog. The best thing about the documentary is that we get to hear the majority of the songs in full and all the television appearances are nice as well.