The ultimate site about the king of the analogue age
On November 1, 1972 "Elvis On Tour" was released. Once again there are no figures regarding the rental fees available, but it is said that it took just three days to recoup the production costs. Besides the commercial success "Elvis On Tour" also won a Golden Globe!
Even though the movie was successful in the domestic market, MGM didn't give it a worldwide release. The German fans had to wait until April 25, 1985 until they got to see it on television.
After taking the fans to Vegas, MGM now presented Elvis' life during a concert tour accoss America.
Pierre Adridge und Robert Abel (producers and directors),Robert E. Thomas (camera), Ken Zemke und Martin Scorsese (editors).
If "That's The Way It Is" hadn't been successful MGM wouldn't have considered a second project of this kind and certainly they wouldn't have offered to pay $150,000 more than for the first documentary. But for Elvis and his manager $650,000 were not enough, they insisted on a full million and threatened to leave the project if their demand wasn't met. So the studio gave in and spent 62.5% of the budget on the king! By using the factor of 15 we can translate the figure into the present: Today Elvis would have gotten 15 million USD for almost no extra work!
I wrote "almost" because MGM wanted to film a recording session and a rehearsal. Because Elvis didn't rehearse before a concert tour and had no intension to be disturbed while recording, he simulated a session on March 30, 1972 and simply re-recorded some of the stuff he had put on tape the days before. On March 31st a rehearsal session was staged, on April 5th another, shorter one. After the filming was over Elvis also sat down with the producers and Jerry Schilling to answer questions and tell some anecdotes. All the other scenes showed the king doing things he was doing anyway. He was filmed entering and leaving planes, cars and concert venues and of course he was filmed on stage. The cameras cought the shows in Hampton Roads (April 9th), Richmond (April 10th), Greensboro (April 14th) and San Antonio (April 18th). MGM also wanted to montage scenes from tv appearances of the 1950s and movies of the 1960s to show, how far Elvis had come since his early days. Colonel Parker strongly advised against it, fearing his client could give the impression of a has-been. But the producers decided not to listen to the advice of their "technical advisor" and Elvis also thought it was a good idea. That was the end of the discussion.
Back in 1972 no soundtrack was released because RCA Victor, Colonel Parker and Elvis thought a recording of one of the concerts held at New York's Madison Square Garden would sell better. However, in late 2022 all recorded concerts and rehearsals were released digitally by Sony Music Entertainment/RCA Records. In early 2023 the material was also presented on six cds in a boxed set, which also included a blu ray with the movie and a booklet. As usual a tap on the cover leads to the review.
The hd version of "Elvis On Tour" hit the market in August 2010. Thirteen years later Sony included the same version in their 50th anniversary boxed set. For a short review tap on the cover.
It's interesting to accompany Elvis and get some impressions of his interesting, but also hectic life on tour. The film is better paced than the previous one, but the king looks a bit out of shape. His face is pale and chubby, but he appears to be in fine spirits and sings very well.
Movie Poster (C) MGM,, Blu Ray Cover (C) Warner Brother, Book Cover (C) JAT Productions, Record Cover (C) Sony Music Entertainment/RCA Records.