Elvis on Tour

Background

A follow-up to the 1970 release Elvis: That's the Way it Is, another musical documentary, this film followed Presley as he embarked on a 15-city tour of the United States in April 1972. Elvis on Tour also contains vintage footage of Presley's famous 1956 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and pre-tour rehearsal footage. It also includes footage of enthusiastic fan reactions scattered throughout the film.

Also included are portions of a forty-minute interview that Presley gave about his life and career before filming began. Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was unhappy with the inclusion of a scene which mocked Presley's acting career by showing screen kisses taken from a number of his previous films. According to the producers, it was a tongue-in-cheek dig at the repetitiveness of these films by changing the background "but the plot stays the same".

Among those working on this film were Martin Scorsese, who supervised montage sequences, and David Draper a former Mr. Universe. The film was directed by Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel.

Reception

The concert film reached #13 on the Variety National Box Office Survey. In general, documentaries were very rarely box office successes. However, despite costing upwards of $1.6 million to produce, most of which was Presley's $1 million fee, the film recouped its production costs after just three days in theaters.

As well as being a financial success, Elvis on Tour proved to also be a critical success by winning the 1972 Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary, making it the only Elvis film to win an award of any kind.

The 1997 VHS reissue was negatively criticized because of the lack of the multi-screen images that were present on all previously released VHS copies of the film.

Aftermath

Although Presley would be offered numerous film roles over the next few years (most notably the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born), he would make no more films in his lifetime. Footage from Elvis on Tour would later be reused in the 1981 Elvis documentary This Is Elvis.

Songs featured in the film

The working titles of the film were Sold Out and then Standing Room Only, and a soundtrack album was planned with this title, but never released. Due to the release of the album Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden shortly before filming, which featured many of the songs set to be in the film, Elvis on Tour was the only Presley film not accompanied by some form of official soundtrack release, either in the form of a full album or a single.

All of the following songs were performed by Elvis onstage unless otherwise noted:

Concerts filmed for Elvis on Tour

Other cities in the tour that were filmed on location (but not at the concerts) included Roanoke, Virginia; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Dayton, Ohio.

Outtakes

Many outtakes exist in the MGM vaults, including a live performance of "For The Good Times" from the Hampton Roads, VA April 9, 1972 show.

On CD and DVD

There was no soundtrack album released to accompany the movie, although some rehearsals and a complete show have been released by BMG.

As part of the 75th birthday celebrations of Elvis Presley, Warner Bros. released a remastered version of Elvis On Tour on DVD and Blu-ray on August 3, 2010. However, the "Johnny B. Goode" live recording over the opening credits was replaced with a live recording of "Don't Be Cruel" due to copyright issues. With this DVD release, all 33 Elvis Presley movies (1956-1972) are now available on the DVD market.