Elvis' screen debut and he is not great... but the movie itself ain't too bad, except the huge error in geography -- this is a western portrayed with mountains and mountainous desert landscapes... but it takes place in Louisiana. Ummm, Mr. Director, ever been to Louisiana?! You could simply have looked in an encyclopedia at the time to see that Louisiana has NO terrain of the nature you chose to film around. NONE. Very bad. In any case, it sure was strange to see Elvis shaking' and twistin' in "1865." He had four songs and three were rockin' numbers, two with women swooning at him -- so out of place for this time period. His acting was stiff at times and so very plain. Really an amateur. But a decent western otherwise--The Kat Pirate Screener

As the US Civil War ends, three Confederate brothers and their gang rob a Union train. They split the money and return to Texas. Arriving home, they find little brother Elvis Presley (as Clinton "Clint" Reno) has grown up and married. Older brother Richard Egan (as Vance) is hit hard by the news, because pretty Debra Paget (as Cathy) was waiting to be his bride. As it turns out, the family was falsely informed of Mr. Egan's death. There are hurt feelings all around, occasionally tempered when Mr. Presley sings songs. While the three lovers work out their marriage problem, others are looking for the missing money...The first Presley film has the "rock 'n' roll" superstar taking over the screen. When he sings, the plot stops. In a couple of emotional scenes, he shows a little promise as a dramatic actor. Presley sings the multi-million selling classic "Love Me Tender" (which replaced "The Reno Brothers" as the film's title). Of the other soundtrack songs, "Poor Boy" led in airplay. The pleasant production receives a lift from Presley's participation, but his 1950s style appears anachronistic. Sad-eyed mother Mildred Dunnock (as Martha) does well, and Dick Sargent has a good bit announcing General Robert E. Lee's surrender. **** Love Me Tender (11/15/56) Robert D. Webb ~ Elvis Presley, Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Mildred Dunnock

Three brothers return to the South after the Civil War with a load of Yankee money that the winning side wants back; at the same time, one brother finds out his girl hasn't waited for him.Presley's first film isn't bad. The producers do a pretty good job of weaving Presley's stage act into the overall plot, no easy task given audience expectations. My only gripe here is the screeching girls, really out of place in a screenplay supposedly circa 1865. Presley, the actor, also does a decent job, first time out. Note how he really throws himself into the big emotional scene with Paget; he's clearly out to prove himself with the Hollywood crowd.What surprises me is how quickly the screenplay was revised, shot, and then released, over what I believe was a scant two-month period. Clearly the producers wanted to add Presley's skyrocketing allure to what was otherwise a routine horse opera. After all, they couldn't be sure how long his fame would last since R&R was only about a year old. As it turns out, they got a lot more for their programmer than they could have imagined.Anyway, as I recall from that time, there wasn't a dry feminine eye in the theatre at movie's end. So a lot of us boys went home and piled our pompadours a little higher. Ah, yes, those were the days. Thanks to a veteran cast, the horse opera itself is entertaining but nothing special.

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."