Most everybody knows this quote: "The police filmed a show one time in Florida because of the P.G.A, Y.M.C.A., or somebody. They thought that I was...something. They said, `Man, he`s got to be crazy`. So they, the police, came out and filmed the show. I couldn`t move. I had to stand still. The only thing I could move was my little finger like that. `You ain`t nothing but a hound dog crying all the time`, y`know, for the whole show."...
And now that actual footage is for sale as an Elvis collector is set to cash in on this never-before seen footage. Auctioneers have estimated the value at £10,000 or 16,000.00 $US. Bills Ellis, 67, from Rhyl, North Wales paid the modest sum of £2.50 in today's monetary terms for the showreel, purchasing the unique souvenir alongside some of his favourite Elvis records in 1961.
And now the rare footage thought to date back to the 1950s is expected to fetch the handsome four-figure sum at an auction next month. The footage is believed to have been captured by the Chicago police department who were investigating complaints about Elvis' lewd movements on stage.
Bill who has admitted he's open to offers, revealed he was amazed to see the global icon wearing his famous gold lame suit when he watched the film. And having subsequently watched the footage, the self-confessed fanatic was able to date it between 1957 and 1958 - with the jacket later becoming one of Elvis' trademarks.
Ahead of the auction, Ellis expects fans and collectors of rock memorabilia to pay a vast sum for the reel. 'The film shows Elvis from the waist up and it looks like he's singing Baby, Let's Play House. 'It is silent and was obviously taken by an amateur some distance from the stage. 'One theory is that it was made by Chicago police at a time when the authorities were checking on Elvis' supposedly lewd performances.'
Back in 1997, auctioneers put the item up for sale with a reserve price of £15,000. It was listed among 331 items of Elvis memorabilia to mark the 20th anniversary of his death. However, but despite a live satellite link-up with the Hard Rock Cafe in Berlin, the bidding fell short of that figure but is now expected to fetch the handsome sum when it returns to auction.
I think Elvis said "P.T.A." which stands for "Parent Teacher's Association." It makes sense in the context. "P.G.A." stands for "Play Golf America."
i hope EPE or FTD will buy this ... or they're crazy!
Why would the Chicago police be filming a show in Florida, why wouldnt it be Miami police, or at least somewhere in Fla.???
I suspect this film is the one we all know only too well - that filmed in Chicago (1957) by the police there. I used to have it on reel myself at one time. If it is the same then it is on YouTube in 2 parts.
This is what happens when a reporter who knows nothing about Elvis meets up with a 'fan' who doesn't have a clue. The fact that he says he narrows it down to 1957 - 1958 speaks volumes about his basic Elvis knowledge. How many shows did Elvis do it 1958? None. This is obviously the 'Gold Suit Film' that the UK fan club were selling in the '60s. It was shot in Chicago in 1957 and is in the collections of many fans. It's also on several DVDs, like 'Hot Shots And Cool Clips Volume 1'. The fact that this guy thinks the Super 8mm reel of film he has is worth a four-figure sum is laughable. Crazy fool.
Brian and Harvey are correct, this is merely a copy of the gold suit film that was widely sold on 8mm throughout the sixties and has been available on many forms of media ever since. The trouble with stories like this are that the owners and auction houses do little or no research to find out the origin of such items. The news media take the stories at face value and the hype continues.
For a while, I used to go through online auction listings taking issue with Elvis items that were not what they claimed to be, such as an autographed picture sleeve single of "My Way" (think carefully about that one!). One such item was a copy of the very first Elvis bootleg LP, "Please Release Me". The seller claimed that it was a one-off, the only copy in existance and something that must have come from Elvis' own collection. I took issue with all of that and told the seller what he was actually selling. He did send a very nice reply and changed his listing to what the record actually was. He said that he was no expert and had consulted somebody he thought to be a credible source of information. This person was a UK fan club leader, somebody who ought to have known better.