The ultimate site about the king of the analogue age
In March 1968 MGM released "Stay Away, Joe" and gained 1.5 million USD of rental fees on the domestic market, indicating a box office gross of 3 million USD. According to our factor of 15 this would have been 45 million USD today with 22.5 million for the studio. It was clear, therefore, that Elvis had turned into cashbox poison.
Again it was decided against a worldwide release. In Germany the movie was shown for the first time on September 28, 1989 on television. The station hired a company to dub the film and aired it under the name of "Harte Faeuste, Heisse Lieder", which means "Hard Fists, Hot Songs".
The native Joe Lightcloud (Elvis) lives in a reservation and joins a government programme for cattle breeding. But then there is a party and the drunk folks butcher the stock bull.
Douglas Laurence (producer), Peter Tewksbury (director), Michael A. Hoey (script, based on the novel "Stay Away, Joe" by Dan Cushman), Jack Marshall (music), Fred Koenekamp (camera), George W. Brooks (editor).
Elvis Presley (Joe Lightcloud), Burgess Meredith (Charlie Lightcloud), Joan Blondell (Glenda Callahan), Katy Jurado (Annie Lightcloud), Thomas Gomez (Großvater) und Henry Jones (Hy Slager). The German voice of Elvis was dubbed by Peter Kirchberger.
In 1965 Elvis had signed a three-picture-deal with MGM and even though "Double Trouble" was still to be released, in January 1967 the studio offered a contract of four more. Of course the management knew that "Frankie And Johnny" and "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" had not performed at the box office as expected, but these were products of United Artists respectively Paramount and MGM's own "Spinout" had done well. They must have been totally convinced that it was their competitor's fault, because they offered $850,000 per movie plus a profit share of 50% after deduction of the fee. It was the highest paid movie contract Elvis ever made! The management of MGM certainly kicked themselves in the butt when they realized their star had faded within a couple of months.
The first movie the king had made under the new contract was a musical comedy named "Speedway". Because this was exactly the kind of movie the public was obviously tired of, MGM postponed the release and issued the western themed comedy "Stay Away, Joe" first. The movie offered lesser songs, but more storyline. It had been filmed near the city of Sedona in Arizona and at the MGM Studios in Los Angeles between October 17th and November 29th, 1967.
In February 1968 RCA Victor released "Stay Away" on a single and sold a million copies. The other songs were spread on several budget albums issued by RCA's sub-label CAMDEN. Because Elvis wanted to keep the song "Dominic" in the vaults, it took as long as 1995 before it was released. In 2013 Follow That Dream Records compiled a proper soundtrack and also added several outtakes. A tap on the cover leads to the review.
In 2007, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the singer's demise, Warner released a boxed set called "The Hollywood Collection", which also included a digital version of "Stay Away, Joe". For a short review just tap on the cover.
Elvis looks great, obviously has fun and the songs are way better than the average movie tunes. Unfortunately the movie is boring as hell, 100% unfunny and portraits Native Americans as a bunch of dumb, lazy, scuffling drunks.
Movie Poster (C) MGM, DVD Cover (C) Warner Brothers, Record Covers (C) RCA Victor and Follow That Dream Records