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Officially recognised by Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc

 

 

Kid Galahad

(United Artists, 1962)

 

Elvis left the Florida location of Follow That Dream behind to travel next to Idyllwild, California, in late 1961 for his 10th movie - the boxing drama Kid Galahad. As with that previous film, this movie was produced by the Mirisch Corporation for United Artists Studios. This provided Elvis with a good opportunity for a highly physical role. Co-stars in this film included Gig Young, Lola Albright, Charles Bronson (with whom it was reported Elvis did not get along) and, returning from Blue Hawaii, Joan Blackman. Two actors, Edward Asner and Robert Emhardt, portraying a crime investigator and a cook respectively, would both appear some years later in roles in Elvis's final scripted film - Change of Habit. Kid Galahad was based on the 1930's novel of the same name by Francis Wallace, and had been filmed on two previous occasions. The first version - with the same title - was a 1937 film with Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. The second attempt to transfer the story to the screen was entitled The Wagons Roll at Night (1941) and featured Humphrey Bogart once again. Appointed as director on this third version was Phil Karlson, who had directed some low-key but important films such as Kansas City Confidential (1952) and The Phenix City Story (1955). Karlson also directed Dean Martin in the Matt Helm spy-spoof films The Silencers (1966) and The Wrecking Crew (1969). Producer on the film was David Weisbart, serving here on his fourth and final Elvis feature film in that capacity.

Training Elvis in the art of boxing was undertaken by former boxer Mushy Callahan, who had instructed many other Hollywood figures in his time - Erroll Flynn among them. Another interesting man involved with the production was Jimmy Lennon, a real-life boxing announcer from the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, featured giving announcements to two of Elvis's fights in the film. Nearly twenty years later, Jimmy Lennon would again be featured introducing two of the fights in Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning boxing drama Raging Bull (1980) starring Robert De Niro.

Like King Creole and Follow That Dream before it, Kid Galahad locked Elvis into the world of gangsterism - although Follow That Dream was of course very much played for laughs. The violent, fight-rigging central criminals in the plot of Kid Galahad seemed quite real, and came across as menacing figures. Much of the story focused on Elvis's motor mechanic-turned-boxer character's gradual involvement with these dangerous people and how it affected his life and the lives of those around him.

Albert Hand, founder of the UK's long-running Elvis Monthly, and head of the Official British Fan Club at that time, met with Elvis while he was filming on location in Idyllwild. He presented Elvis with three books of comments from Elvis Monthly readers. Photos of the meeting and a full report were later included in the Elvis Monthly magazine.

Although essentially a drama, the film did feature six songs on the soundtrack - all of them released together on one extended-play album. There was no single release from the film. One song, A Whistling Tune, had in fact been written for inclusion in Follow That Dream, but was dropped from that movie. Several months later it was then re-recorded at the Kid Galahad sessions in Hollywood and featured in that film instead.

This information was produced by the Elvis Presley Film Society in November 2003
© 2003 Elvis Presley Film Society