RETURN OF THE KING: THE FALL AND RISE OF ELVIS PRESLEY

Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley

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Review by Mark Dujsik | November 12, 2024

Ostensibly about the television special that reignited Elvis Presley's career as a live performer, Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley quickly reveals that it doesn't have much to show of or say about that TV event. Director Jason Hehir begins stretching with his documentary almost immediately—and not just in terms of expanding its narrative to the point that it's not really about the thing it claims to be about.

The movie becomes little more than a biography of Presley's life and career up until the 1968 special, which has been dubbed the comeback of "the King" in retrospect. There's not much to know about this period of his life that hasn't been told in detail before this documentary, and Hehir certainly doesn't help the case that his account is unique by including filmmaker Baz Luhrmann among the odd collection of talking heads here.

Luhrmann, of course, made his own film about Presley, which was released only two years ago and gained a sizeable audience. That may make the filmmaker a suitable expert on the subject of Presley's career and cultural influence, to be sure. However, putting him next to Priscilla Presley, who was the King's wife for seven years until their divorce four years before his death, and Jerry Schilling, the musician's talent manager and one of his inner circle of best friends, makes one of just that trio feel out of place. It's not the ex-wife or the friend, obviously.

There are other experts, too, including musicians Bruce Springsteen, who's might be as close to a living successor to Presley's rock-and-roll fame as one could get, and Billy Corgan, who is also a rock singer. The late Robbie Robertson is another, and he feels like another appropriate choice, given that, unlike Corgan, he at least grew up alongside Presley's music, and then, there's Darlene Love, another professional contemporary of Presley. She was also one of the back-up singers for the TV special, so if anyone here might have some insight into the making of the program, it would be her.

She does provide some insightful thoughts, although most of them have to do with Presley's music and its often controversial relationship to Black culture, since he started by covering a lot of songs originated by Black artists. What does this have to do the television special? It doesn't have anything to do with it, really, and once it starts detailing Presley's life from the start, the documentary reveals that it doesn't have much to do with the special, either.

The standout among the collected talking heads is Conan O'Brien, and that's for two reasons. The first is that the comedian does have some clever, funny, and surprisingly poignant things to say about Presley, being a performer, and his own experience coming of age with the King's music. The second, obviously, is the one thought that instantly springs to mind when O'Brien first appears on screen: What is he doing here?

The whole movie is jarring, because of this eclectic collection of interview subjects and its narrative. The story begins with the build-up to the special, simply titled "Elvis" and arriving at a point when Presley hadn't performed in front of an audience for seven years. By then, his career was in a slump, while he was perceived almost as a joke of a has-been, since he spent almost a decade making movies of decreasing quality and profit. One of those had Presley sing "Old MacDonald," and it leads to one of the more inspired moments of the documentary, putting Priscilla and Schilling in a screening room showing that scene to commiserate over just how far the King had fallen.

Hehir more or less summarizes all of this in a brief prologue, so when the rest of the movie begins simply going through the biographical motions of Presley's life and career, it's confusing. Do we really need all of this context for a TV show? Do we really need to be told about one of the most famous singers in history again? What, actually, makes this movie unique among any other account of Presley's life and career? In order, the answers are not really, probably not, and not much, as it turns out.

Hearing pieces of the story directly from Priscilla and Schilling is likely the highlight here, as Presley's childhood, rise to fame, time in the Army, return to his singing career, and slow decline in popularity are presented with archival footage. In fact, about two-thirds of the documentary is devoted to the biography, leaving less than a half an hour of behind-the-scenes footage and stories of the rehearsals for "Elvis," as well as clips of its most memorable moments—often interrupted by one of the interviewees.

We understand why the special did become a comeback for Presley, but then again, one could witness that—and save about 40 minutes—simply by watching the special on its own. Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley may have moments of intriguing perspective, but as a whole, it's far from insightful.

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