Elvis Presley wanted Tony Curtis' role, could he have pulled it off ??
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Defiant Ones
gullwing592003 — 12 years ago(October 26, 2013 04:30 AM)
Elvis played serious demanding roles in King Creole & Flaming Star that showed promise of Elvis emerging as a serious respected actor so I wasn't too surprised that Elvis wanted to play Joker Jackson. Even for Tony Curtis this was a demanding change of role. Sidney Poitier was already known for these kind of roles & Noah Cullen was just another feather in his cap.
Can any of you see Elvis as a convict chained to Sidney Poitier ??
I know.let's try not to laugh too hard. -
marckymarc71 — 10 years ago(December 29, 2015 10:57 PM)
Disagree. Elvis could have been a good actor but Col. Parker never gave him the chance. He auditioned for, and won, the role of Jimmy in THE RAINMAKER, but Parker insisted he drop the role because it would hurt his image. He really only got one solid director/script in his entire careerDon Siegel's FLAMING STAR, and he was quite good.
Reminds me of John Waynejust an average actor, but put him with a director like Hawks or Ford and he became
very
good.
"Who's running this airline?!" -
Seth_Rogue_One — 9 years ago(October 15, 2016 03:45 AM)
Ah - no. I can understand why he was advised not to take the role. That it would have been beyond him, I have no doubts.
I think it was because they thought the movie would be too controversial, a white guy chosing a black friend over a white woman, Elvis himself wasn't racist but alot of his fans were especially during that time-period.
Death to mainstream cinema! -
he88 — 10 years ago(August 13, 2015 07:27 PM)
He could, but it would have been different for him to take the role because he was still a performer. In those days playing such a racially intensive role could have been troubling for someone performing around the country. Tony Curtis only had to deal with Hollywood. Much less adjustments after most any role. But I think Elvis could bring on the angry white guy feeling that the world never gives him a break. He did a few angry white guy roles