Elvis

Elvis Presley's rise from 1945 to 1969: a poor childhood, Memphis, the stage, the army and the return in Vegas. This is a television film. John Carpenter directed, and it was his first collaboration with Kurt Russell, who plays Elvis. The singing is not Russell but the country singer Ronnie McDowell. Carpenter described the scale himself: 150 locations, shot over 30 days. It aired on ABC on 11 February 1979 against heavy competition: Gone with the Wind on CBS and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on NBC. Elvis took a 27.3 rating against 24.3 and 22.5, and was the sixth most-watched programme of that week. Russell was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special. The film also took Emmy nominations for makeup and cinematography and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Made for Television. A condensed version was released in cinemas across Europe and Australia. Who it is for: viewers curious about Carpenter outside his genre and people who listen to Elvis. Who it is not for: anyone expecting the original voice on the songs. The singing belongs to someone else.