Go to main content

Absent Friends: Elvis Presley

January 03, 2009 | Book

The "Absent Friends" is a book series which examines the films of movie stars that have passed on. The latest volume in this series is about Elvis Presley and will be available on January 8, Elvis birthday.

From the press-release:

"Absent Friends: Elvis Presley" looks at every film that Elvis Presley ever made and gives a trivia quiz at the back of the book to test your knowledge of the King of rock and roll.

Absent Friends also looks at over forty films about Elvis and that feature different actors that have played Elvis Presley.

  • Such as the John Rheys Meyerson bio-pic "Elvis".
  • Did you know that "Love Me Tender" wasn't Elvis first film? What was?
  • Who was Elvis favorite leading lady?
  • What actor that played Elvis Presley was in an Elvis movie?
  • Which leading lady did the media imply really married Elvis after a wedding scene in one of his films?
  • The answer to these questions and many more in "Absent Friends: Elvis Presley".

About KRG publishing

KRG publishing is a self publishing book company.

About the Author:

Kevin has turned his love for movies into the "Absent Friends" series of books, which looks at the film careers of movie icons that have passed on, such as Paul Newman and Charlton Hesston.
Kevin is also an avid Science Fiction fan and has written his first trivia book on Sci-Fi called "The Great Science Fiction Trivia Quiz Book". Kevin's most recent project is a movie script called "What Could Go Wrong?" which is based on his forthcoming novel "Memoirs of a Small Town DJ".

Kevin has been a radio announcer since he was fourteen years old when he started working at the local college radio station, from there he moved on to his hometown radio station of WHOU radio, Houlton, Maine. Kevin has been a DJ in Maine, Florida and California.
Kevin's most popular radio show was "Legends of Rock" which he produced and hosted during 2003 - 2007. This was a show that profiled classic rock stars. The show was broadcast on the "American Radio Network" and heard world wide on the web through KCLA-FM.com.

The book is now available through amazon and will be available in print later.

Source:Email
NONE000000 wrote on January 03, 2009
# Did you know that "Love Me Tender" wasn't Elvis first film? What was? uh.....yes it was. I mean, Ed Sullivan mistakenly said it was called Running Wild, and Elvis in an early interview thought it was going to be the Rainmaker, but it was Love Me Tender (or the Reno Brothers), right? The other questions (Ann Margret and Kurt Russell) are pretty simple, but that Love Me Tender one is odd. Anyone know what he guy might be talking about?
epexpress wrote on January 03, 2009
I'd like to know the answer to that myself???
samcra wrote on January 03, 2009
I'm sure you are right KingKreole. The original name for the movie was supposed to be 'The Reno Brothers'. They changed it to "love Me Tender' as it would be more appropriate for the young singing idol. I can't think of anything else they might be alluding to. He certaintly didn't make a "movie" prior to Love Me Tender.
okun69 wrote on January 03, 2009
Only other thing I think the Author might be on about could be the supposed appearance of Elvis in Bill Randle's oft rumoured "The Pied Piper of Cleveland: A Day in the Life of a Famous Disc Jockey" is an American musical documentary film produced in the fall of 1955.
Steve V wrote on January 04, 2009
i think okun69 is correct. The Pied Piper was really a film made about rock & roll stars and of course preceded Love Me Tender. Although never released, this is what the author prob means. And Ann-Marget was not Elvis' favorite leading lady. It was Shelley Fabares. This has been stated many times in various books.
benny scott wrote on January 04, 2009
okun69 and Steve V are right ! I wonder what happened with the " The Pied Piper ". Indeed never released, but where could it be ? Somewhere in a (private) locker ??? Always El.
NONE000000 wrote on January 04, 2009
I remember in Bill Randle's intro to Elvis on the Dorsey Bros Show: "This young fellow we saw for the first time while making a movie short, we think tonight that he's going to make television history for you..." So I guess it could indeed be that "movie short" he's referring to. I wonder how long the "short" was. And again, I guess it is the "Pied Piper" movie we're talking about. That movie has got to be kind of a holy grail at this point--professionally filmed footage, probably with sound, of Elvis Presley before his 1st television appearance. Hard to believe this has never been found in all these years.
samcra wrote on January 05, 2009
I think you guy's are right. “The Pied Piper of Cleveland” – movie starring Elvis Presley. The Pied Piper of Cleveland was the title of an American musical documentary film produced in the fall of 1955 documenting the career of disc jockey Bill Randle. The full title of the film is The Pied Piper of Cleveland: A Day in the Life of a Famous Disc Jockey. Arthur Cohen directed the film, which was produced by Bill Randle himself. Included in the film was live footage shot at several live shows at local high schools and auditoriums on and around October 20, 1955. Performers featured included Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and His Comets, Pat Boone, LaVern Baker, Roy Hamilton, Johnnie Ray and others. This was the first film Presley ever appeared in, and is the movie short referred to by Randle when he introduced Presley on his first national TV appearance. A plaque commemorating one of the filmed performances is located at Brooklyn High School in the Cleveland area, and was installed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The original forty-eight minute film was supposed to be cut down to a twenty minute "short" for national distribution, but never made it that far. As of 2005, 50 years after its was produced, the movie remains unreleased. There is some dispute over whether or not this film actually exists, although it was shown publicly, albeit only once in Cleveland, and excerpts were also aired on a Cleveland television station in 1956. Randle, before his death, sold the rights to the film to PolyGram, although it has been reported that Universal Studios has the negatives of the film in its vaults.
benny scott wrote on January 05, 2009
Hi Samcra, thanks a lot for the very interesting info! Let's hope the movie will be released in the near future, the sooner the better, because !'m already in the autumn of my life, but one can always dream ! Always El.