The ultimate site about the king of the analogue age
In November 1970, a year after the release of "Change Of Habit", the next film starring Elvis Presley hit the cinemas. But this time it was a documentary called "That's The Way It Is". Once again I couldn't find any figures regarding the domestic rental fees, but a 22nd place in Variety's movie chart indicates that it did better business than some of the king's feature films of the previous years.
Another indicator is the release in other countries. Even though the German fans had to wait a while, it finally premiered on August 20, 1971.
The camera crew accompanied Elvis during rehearsals for his upcoming Vegas stint and also covered the first six shows.
Herbert F. Solow (producer), Dennis Sanders (director), Lucien Ballard (camera), Henry Berman (editor).
MGM certainly hadn't lost any money with Elvis, but without doubt the revenues of his final movies were not worth the effort. After two very successful stints in Vegas the management thought it was a good idea to cover the third one with a documentary and offered $500,000 to the king. I am pretty sure that Colonel Parker regarded the project a promotional film for future concerts of his client and thought it was quite funny, that he hadn't to pay for the advertising, but being paid for his approval to have MGM do the job. Elvis also must have been happy, because he got half a million just for being filmed while doing things he had to do anyway. By using the factor of 15 his fee would have been 7.5 million USD today.
In July and early August a camera team covered the rehearsals at the MGM Studios in Los Angeles and at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. The king and his musicians were asked to wear the same clothes as long as they stayed in one place, so Henry Berman could edit the footage. During the live performances, however, Elvis was free to wear different jumpsuits. MGM also filmed interviews with fans, employees of the hotel and some celebs that visited the opening show.
Over thirty years after the release, in 2001, a remake was produced. It featured previously unreleased performances and backstage footage and was edited in a modern way to apply to a younger audience. Even though I am anything but young (I was born in 1976), I like the remake better. It's more a documentary than a promo movie and it's paced better than the original film.
Back in 1970 RCA Victor released two singles and an album, combined the records sold 7.5 million units. A tap on the cover leads to the review.
The Special Edition of "That's The Way It Is" got its hd release in 2014. For a short review just tap on the cover.
The original movie isn't paced well and the interviews are somewhat distracting. But nevertheless it's pure joy to see Elvis at the peak of his powers and get a little look behind the curtains.
Movie Poster (C) MGM,, Blu Ray Cover (C) Warner Brother, Book Cover (C) JAT Productions, Record Cover (C) Sony Music Entertainment/RCA Records.