Wild In The Country

(20th Century Fox, 1961)

Elvis's third film for the 20'h Century Fox Studio placed him in very dramatic territory with producer Jerry Wald's production of J.R. Salamanca's novel The Lost Country. Filming began in late 1960 with some of the location shooting taking place around the Napa Valley region of California and interiors shot at Fox Studios in Hollywood. This movie followed on from Elvis's recent work at 20th Century Fox on the equally dramatic Flaming Star. The screenplay was written by veteran playwright and screenwriter Clifford Odets (writer of the highly-acclaimed 1957 film Sweet Smell of Success), and was in fact a verv different storyline to the novel. Most of the characters had different names in the screenplay to those in the novel, although there is certainly recognition of who they were intended to represent. As with his previous film, Elvis was placed centre stage with several very competent actors such as Hope Lange, John Ireland, Millie Perkins and Tuesday Weld. Gary Lockwood played an unsavoury role as a rich kid tangled up in a bitter and dangerous relationship with Elvis's Glenn Tyler character. Two years later, Gary Lockwood again supported Elvis in MGM's It Happened At The World's Fair - this time around as his gambling obsessed buddy. The role of Lockwood's girlfriend was played by Christina Crawford, the daughter of film legend Joan Crawford. Elvis's long-time friend Red West played his layabout brother Hank Tyler in the movie.

Filming on the movie was not completed until mid January 1961, so Elvis actually celebrated his 26th birthday, in the company of co-stars, on the 20th Century Fox film set. Just prior to this, and again on the film set, he had posed for some promotional Christmas photographs alongside the portly Colonel Tom Parker dressed as Santa Claus. Visitors to the set during production included actress Juliet Prowse and singers Pat Boone and Johnny Mathis.

Wild in the Country was of course very dramatic material, full of explosive moments centred around a much more adult theme than later Elvis movies. It is very interesting that two different endings to the film were shot - one in which Hope Lange's suicide was successful, and the other being the ending actually chosen (where she survived). Preview audiences apparently felt the more upbeat conclusion worked better, although the suicide would have followed the novel's plot more closely. Several photographs exist of the alternative ending, with Elvis's Glenn Tyler boarding the train for his college training in the company of Millie Perkins and John Ireland, instead of the version as seen in the finished film with Hope Lange. No film of this alternative ending has as yet surfaced.

Although it was a stark drama, the film featured some songs, which, it can be said, did not detract too much from the main thrust of the story. The title song featured over the credits, and I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell along with In My Way slotted fairly effectively into the frame. A short, unaccompanied duet between Elvis and Hope Lange, entitled Husky Dusky Day also featured. The songs Lonely Man and Forget Me Never were recorded for inclusion in the film but were cut from the final print, although Lonely Man featured in part of the movie trailer. The song Wild in the Country was issued as a single release coupled with the song I Feel So Bad. Although there were enough songs recorded, it was decided not to issue an extended-play soundtrack album for some reason. The dramatic narure of the film may have been a factor in this decision, but as an overall project the film did not find the same box-office success as those in which Elvis was permitted to showcase his musical talents. It was a frustrating and unfortunate situation for Elvis.

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