Strong and Moving!

just watch it!

Don't Believe the Hype

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

A well done post civil war western drama set in April 10, 1865 with the Reno Bros. Vance (Richard Egan), Brett (William Campbell) & Ray (James Drury) & Mike Gavin ( Neville Brand) etc. members of General Randall's cavalry brigade. They attack & defeat federal soldiers & by impersonating them they rob a payroll master as the train pulls in they receive the money & get away with $12,250.00 dollars they intend to turn over to General Randall but soon learn of a surrender & the disbanded cavalry brigade & that the war is over.They decide to keep it as they justify it as spoils of war & not knowing the war is over as they were just carrying out orders by General Randall as they feel they have a right to it. After they divide up the money they go their separate ways back home. Vance (Egan) plans to get married to his sweetheart Cathy (Debra Paget) who's been waiting 4 years but is surprised to find she's already married to his brother who stayed home Clint (Elvis Presley). As the family believed that Vance, Ray & Brett were killed in the war.This creates an awkward situation for the 3 as Vance decides to leave but is approached by Siringo & Major Kincaid played by Robert Middleton & Bruce Bennett as they intend to recover money that was stolen. The 3 brothers are arrested to be identified. Siringo makes a deal with Vance to return the stolen money in return for freedom but the deal is only good if all the money is recovered.This creates problems with the other comrades as Gavin (Brand) & the others want to keep their share. After they attack the train to help the Reno Bros. escape Vance forces Gavin & the others at gunpoint to give up the money intending to return the money to Siringo ( Middleton). Mike Gavin starts filling Clint's head with idea's that Vance's only intention is to run off with all the money & Cathy whom they were in love before & during the war. This leads to a confrontation with Clint & Cathy as he is filled with rage & jealousy.This leads to a showdown with Vance & Clint as Vance (Egan) tells Clint (Presley) he was only intending to return the money & has sent Ray to return the money to Siringo & would still clear out but Clint pressured by Gavin (Brand )& along with Gavin they both shoot Vance only wounding him. As Gavin & the others thinking Vance still has the money try to recover it Clint warns them to get away & as shots are fired Gavin kills Clint.The role of Clint Reno was offered to Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter & Cameron Mitchell before Elvis got it. This is a good debut for Elvis in a solid western drama with a good story & plot & some twists & surprises. Elvis sings 4 songs which are good but unnecessary but at least the music doesn't overshadow & dominate the movie & get in the way of the story. It has an excellent cast & it's one of Elvis' best acting as he does a good job in a supporting role. Worth watching.

If you want to avoid the low-quality movies that Elvis unfortunately made during the 1960's you can still watch this piece. That the "King" is not in the main role gives the film more credibility and you can really say that Love Me Tender is a good movie. With Elvis only as a troubadour works fine and the film remains a proper western too.Perhaps there has been better westerns too but the storyline in this one is enough interesting: a man returns from the American Civil War and finds his wife at home married to another man. With this marital mess and some other problems being solved Elvis drops in and offers some fresh music, or the music that was still fresh when the movie was being made. It is anyway relaxing to see the "King" in a most unspoiled context.

Love Me Tender is a supremely stupid movie, but one that has a certain appeal for nostalgists and lovers of drive-in level plotting and acting (not to mention Elvis fanatics who want to see him before he became a Viva Las Vegas cliché).There's no point in talking about the story itself--who would ever have thought the Post Bellum South looked so much like the hills where the TV show MASH was shot--and there is a whole rebel-whooping crowd of professional actors (except the ridiculous Debra Paget) who have to run blocker for the 22-year-old boy with a great, great voice and charisma, so why should you watch Love Me Tender the next time it shows on AMC?Cuz it's Elvis, singing the title song, the prettiest single piece of music he ever performed.

Why 20th Century Fox felt that starring him in a Western would be successful is merely academic… When Elvis broke into gyrations and song, audiences were electrified… The story—filmed in black-and-white CinemaScope— was about a bunch of Confederate soldiers who stole a Union Army payroll and then discover that, just five days ago, Lee had surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, ending the Civil War… Hiding the money, The Reno brothers (Richard Egan, William Campbell, and James Drury) decide to use it for themselves, and return home to the family farm and their kid brother Clint… Presley was cast as a Texas farm boy who marries his cavalry-man brother's sweetheart when news of his brother's death filters through… But the brother—played by Richard Egan isn't dead at all and incurs Presley's jealousy by resuming his friendship with his former sweetheart the beautiful Cathy Reno (Debra Paget)… The situation went from bad to worse… In his first motion picture, Elvis proved to be a rugged fighting man, a wonderful loving man and a terrific singing man… Hear him sing: "Let Me," "We're Gonna Move," "Poor Boy," and "Love Me Tender."