When a Plaza Classic Film Festival regular wrote an impassioned letter requesting more Elvis films in the festival, we couldn’t resist. This was the first and best of his suggestions. Protean director Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) moved the story, based on a Harold Robbins novel, from NYC to New Orleans, changed the main character from a boxer to a singer, surrounded his young star with a solid supporting cast, and shot it in black-and-white to give it a film noir feel. Teen idol Presley plays troubled teenager Danny Fisher (a role originally intended for James Dean), who works two jobs to support his sister and father, still shaken over the loss of his wife. Danny falls in with the wrong crowd but finds salvation in music. And there’s some really good music in the film, including the rousing No. 1 hit Hard Headed Woman. — Doug Pullen
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