I am not a big fan of Elvis films. In fact, the only films of his I've seen up until now have been his worst ones, as I have a perverse love of dreck. However, I know "A Change of Habit" and "Spinout" are bad and it's not fair to base my opinion of Elvis films based on these! So, when what is supposed to be his best film, "Jailhouse Rock", came on TV I decided to give it a look.The film had a lot of good and a lot of bad....but mostly bad. On the positive side, the songs are great and when Elvis is singing, the film is at its best. Unfortunately, while folks back then might have enjoyed the plot, I thought it was dreadful. Instead of making Elvis likable, the guy he plays in "Jailhouse Rock" is brooding, rude and a real hot-head. Much of the time, he's inexplicably angry at the world-- yet the character wonders why the girl doesn't like him! If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn that Elvis' character was supposed to be suffering throughout the film with a very bad case of PMS!The bottom line is that the writing was the problem with this film. Whether or not Elvis was a good or bad actor is something the movie simply doesn't address as no musician could come off very well based on the lousy dialog and character he's given in this one.

No need to recap the plot.Seeing the movie again after so many years, I'm more impressed than in 1958. Of course, teens then were mainly watching Elvis as a singing idol, not much caring about the rest of the movie. But now, I'm impressed by his acting in what was only his third film outing. He's particularly good at being dislikable as the surly ex-con. That was something of a risk for a movie newcomer, and it's to his credit that he went ahead and did it. To lessen the risk, Paramount backed him up with a solid supporting cast, plus a good script that made into an involving story. Then too, Elvis has to go through a number of shifting moods, not the one- note requirements of his later formula films.I'm also impressed that the screenplay would reveal the dark side of record companies, knowing the audience would primarily be record buyers. I'm just sorry that Elvis signed that long-term deal with Hal Wallis after leaving the army. That contract, unfortunately, locked him into the dreary series of low-grade musicals that eventually sapped his talent and morale. Too bad he didn't fire the Colonel and buy out his contract. That way he could have expanded into more serious movie roles he wanted and was clearly capable of, as this film proves.Anyway, the movie can stand on its own as entertainment, Elvis or no, and also features what experts claim is his best on-screen musical number. So, if you're a younger viewer and wonder what shook up the placid 1950's, this is a movie to catch.

I just down loaded the color version of this movie and well WOW!! I WILL admit though I knew about the goofs in the movie like guitarist Scotty Moore and the sunglasses behind Elvis as hes singing (Your so square baby I don't care) but in the color version your cant see Scotty almost at all in the long shots, but hey I was more intrigued with the color than the goofs, AND I also seen where someone is planning to remake Jailhouse Rock! wow! not sure it can or even should be done! I do think they probably should have made a sequel to the original, perhaps when Elvis was older like in the mid 70s show where he and Peggy had a daughter, and Vince was having trouble adapting to the music world sort of like Hunk had after he got out of prison! buut im an Elvis fan so hey! Michael Smith

Compare the films Elvis made before he went in the Army with those he made afterward. In "Love Me Tender," "Loving You," "Jailhouse Rock" and "King Creole," Elvis was a whole lot closer to =Elvis= as he'd been in the era of the "Louisianna Hayride," "Stage Show," "The Milton Berle Show," "Your Hit Parade" and "The Steve Allen Show." The famous cell block dance skit may have been choreographed, but it's still closer to the Elvis of "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Hound Dog" -- and thus, to the Elvis that "changed the world" in '56 -- than to anything he did in front of a camera until the "comeback special" in 1968.I've heard a few people assert that Col. Tom went along with Elvis going in the Army to "clean him up" and "make him more controllable and palatable to the establishment." Anyone who's read James Dickerson's book on the relationship between The King and The Colonel may well agree.But in whatever event, "Jailhouse Rock" provides compelling evidence that the Elvis of 1968-1975 or so was no "invention." That Elvis was the logical development of the Elvis of 1955-1958... the one you can look at with your own eyes right here.