New Elvis Presley Documentary Showcases His Frustrations With Hollywood
Although Elvis Presley died almost 50 years ago, the world is still infatuated with the star. Not only did a biopic on Elvis do very well, but there were also several successful documentaries and shows about the singer. Now, Netflix is releasing another documentary featuring some rare interviews in which Presley opens up about his frustrations with Hollywood.
Return of the King: The Fall & Rise of Elvis Presley focuses on his 1968 comeback special, which was credited with helping Elvis gain star power again. In the documentary, Elvis talks about his movie career and several onscreen flops.
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“Hollywood’s image of me was wrong and I knew it, and I couldn’t do anything about it,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do. I just felt I was obligated to [do] things I didn’t fully believe in. At a certain stage, I had no say so in it. I didn’t have final approval of the script, which means I couldn’t say, ‘This is not good for me,’ and so I became very discouraged. They couldn’t have paid me [enough] amount of money in the world to make me feel I had any satisfaction inside.”
His ex-wife Priscilla Presley also opened up about how Elvis felt at that time and recalls a specific example of his appearance in the 1967 musical Double Trouble. She watched as he performed the children’s song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” and said, “That, to me, is a crime. It is a crime. To put him in that situation [to] sing that song. It made him a laughingstock. And he knew it.”
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The documentary also features interviews from Elvis biopic creator Baz Luhrmann, Bruce Springsteen, Conan O’Brien and more. Return of the King: The Fall & Rise of Elvis Presley premieres on Netflix on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. Will you be watching?
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