Quentin Tarantino is an expert on what’s cool, and he thought one of Elvis Presley’s movies was incredibly cool. Notably, two iconic movie stars appeared onscreen with Elvis in the film. The tune also features the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s cover of a hit song.
Quentin Tarantino felt 1 Elvis Presley movie inspired the ’68 Comeback Special’
In his 2022 book Cinema Speculation, Tarantino discussed his love of films about carnivals. “While movies have had no problem depicting life with a traveling circus ([Charlie] Chaplin’s The Circus, The Greatest Show on Earth, Circus World, Toby Tyler, Big Top Pee-wee), carnival stories have been further and farther between,” he said.
“Growing up, my favorite carnival film was Elvis’ superior vehicle, Roustabout,” Tarantino continued. “In that era of ‘Elvis Presley movies’ (Elvis movies weren’t real movies, they were ‘Elvis Presley movies’) it was a pretty entertaining little picture chock-full of cool elements, Elvis entering the movie on a motorcycle — dressed head to toe in black leather (in what looks like the same outfit he’ll later make iconic in the ’68 Comeback Special), a strong Big Valley era Barbara Stanwyck as his co-lead, a one-line bit at the beginning by Raquel Welch, the best soundtrack of any of Elvis’ color films, including a rarity for the King on film — Elvis singing a cover of somebody else’s hit, The Coasters’ ‘Little Egypt,’ and the only film where Elvis gets to demonstrate his Ed Parker-taught karate moves.”
Quentin Tarantino named some of the other carnival movies he enjoys
Tarantino said there are two carnival-themed films that are classics: Freaks and Nightmare Alley. The former is a horror film about a freak show, while the latter is a film noir. The director said that even though Nightmare Alley is acclaimed, it deserves even more love.
Tarantino also praised Carnival Rock, which was directed by B-movie maestro Roger Corman. He’s particularly fond of the film’s card game scene. He also praised The Funhouse by Tobe Hooper, director of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In Tarantino’s opinion, The Funhouse only got better with age. He felt that movie had a certain depth and sophistication he missed upon his first viewing.
A song was removed from Elvis Presley’s ‘Roustabout’ for 1 offensive line
Roustabout might not be a classic, but it produced a hit soundtrack. The album Roustabout reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a week. It’s one of the rare Elvis soundtracks to reach that milestone. Roustabout spent a total of 27 weeks on the chart. None of the tunes from the record reached the Billboard Hot 100.
Subsequently, a tune written for the album called “I’m a Roustabout” appeared on the album Elvis: 2nd to None. According to the liner notes for Elvis: 2nd to None, “I’m a Roustabout” was nixed from the Roustabout soundtrack because the song featured the lyric “stick it in his ear.” That line was considered too vulgar. What a different time it was!
Tarantino doesn’t think the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll made real cinema — but he has a soft spot for Roustabout.
