The filmmakers behind Elvis on Tour were Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel who established themselves with the groundbreaking, split-screen concert film, Mad Dogs and Englishmen (1971), a document of Joe Cocker's 1970 U.S. tour. (Adidge and Abel would also utilize their split screen technique for this documentary and Let the Good Times Roll (1973), a record of promoter Richard Nader's rock 'n roll revival show featuring Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and others). From the beginning, it was Adidge and Abel's intention to depict Elvis as a folk hero, one who embodied the essence of American roots music. And they were given complete access to the singer - backstage, in his dressing room, even inside his chartered jets and private limos. "I want to shoot you," Abel said (in Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick), "but the trade-off is, you've got to be open with me. If I feel like you're posing or doing something, I'll just turn the camera off. And then MGM will just be out of a lot of money." "I like your honesty," Elvis said. "When do we start?"
One of the dilemmas facing the filmmakers, however, was how to actually present Elvis to audiences. According to Abel, "I went into the rehearsals in a parochial sense, trying to get to know him, and the gospel part of it was a real insight. But I realized [after a while] with all of the musicians and bodyguards and sycophants around, that these guys had been around for seventeen years now telling the same stories and jokes, and what kind of a life is this? And do I film it? And if I film it, do I show it more than once to make a point?" (from Careless Love). Certainly, one of the most fascinating aspects of Elvis on Tour are the candid, behind-the-scenes moments: Elvis looking exhausted and lost in his own thoughts after a Florida concert; an awkward, strained encounter between "The King" and a Chamber of Commerce representative from Roanoke, Va. who presents Elvis with a flower-decorated guitar; Vernon, Elvis's father, looking completely overwhelmed by the pre-concert activity backstage; a funny impromptu moment during Elvis's performance of "For the Good Times," when Elvis responds to the lyric "How am I doing?" with the ad-lib "Well, I'm sweating a little bit, baby" instead of "Well, I guess I'm doing fine."
Elvis also agreed to a lengthy interview with the filmmakers that was to be used for those sections of the film that briefly encapsulated the singer's early career with photographs and film clips such as his appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Unfortunately, some of the most revealing material - Elvis reflecting on his Hollywood career (a missed opportunity in his opinion) or past resentments (having to dress in top hat and tails and sing to a dog on the Steve Allen show) - did not make it into the film since it would have undercut the filmmakers' mythic treatment of him. Nobody was the wiser though and fans were ecstatic at seeing the live concert footage with Elvis repeatedly striking poses with his cape, arms outstretched like some huge winged bird. Or jabbing the air with karate chops. Or kneeling down to kiss female fans at the edge of the stage while crooning "Love Me Tender."
As for the actual filming, biographer Peter Guralnick wrote "there were eleven cameras in a complicated setup, with sound cued by camera, and all the sound sources fused into a deck from which a temporary scratch track would be created. The cameras operated on a staggered schedule so that, with eleven-minute rolls of film, there would never be a complete shutdown, and with the lightweight state-of-the-art equipment (French Eclair cameras, NASA headsets, Swiss tape recorders to which Abel and Adidge had U.S. rights, and Wally Heider's mobile recording unit), they were able to move and shoot in a way that Denis Sanders had not even been able to contemplate with That's the Way It Is."
The songs featured in Elvis on Tour reflect Elvis' musical interests at the time as well as the current trends in American pop music. And they're a long way from the path blazing R&B and rock 'n roll numbers that took Elvis from obscurity to international fame. Whereas he was once seen as an innovator, some fans now saw him as merely an interpreter, performing mainstream pop that was beneath his talent or better left to lesser talents like Three Dog Night. "Never Been to Spain"? "Bridge Over Troubled Water"? "Memories"? Could these compare to the vitality and urgency of "That's All Right" or "Jailhouse Rock" or "Mystery Train"? Not in the opinion of those fans who prefer the music of Presley's pre-army period. Yet, Elvis on Tour is essential viewing for any genuine Elvis fan; his Las Vegas years and larger than life stage shows in the seventies are a key piece of the overall Elvis puzzle. His workaholic commitment to his fans - and the physical toll it took on him - are certainly on display here but so is his love of all kinds of music from gospel ("Bosom of Abraham") to folk ("An American Trilogy") to pop novelties ("Polk Salad Annie"). Not surprisingly, Elvis on Tour performed much better at the box office than his formula musical romances and went on to win a Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary of 1972. It also provided an early career credit for director Martin Scorsese who worked on the film as "montage supervisor." No one at the time, even Elvis, thought this documentary would be his swan song yet it was the last time Presley participated in a film.
Producer/Director: Robert Abel, Pierre Adidge
Screenplay: Robert Abel, Pierre Adidge
Cinematography: David Myers
Film Editing: Bert Lovitt, Martin Scorsese, Ken Zemke
Cast: Elvis Presley, James Burton, Glen D. Hardin, Charlie Hodge.
C-93m. Letterboxed.
by Jeff Stafford
