Released March 13th 1969

National General

Directed by Charles Marquis Warren

Elvis Presley, Ina Balin, Barbara Werle, Lynn Kellogg
Victor French, Solomon Sturges

Jess North, a reformed outlaw is wrongly accused of the theft of a cannon. Elvis sports a beard and performs some half-way decent action stunts in this non-musical dramatic offering. The acting is, in places, pretty fair and would probably have been even better had the film not been yet another 'rush' job. Interesting and unique.

Songs: Charro! - Title Theme

Released September 3rd 1969

MGM

Directed by Peter Tewkesbury

Elvis Presley, Sheree North, Marlyn Mason, Nicole Jaffe
Edward Andrews, John Carradine, Vincent Price
Joyce Van Patten, Anissa Jones, Frank Welker

Walter Hale ( Elvis ) is the manager of the Chautauqua, a travelling medicine show which gets involved in a small-town murder incident. Walter helps to track down the murderer, tricking them into revealing their identity when he advertises that he is going to announce the killer's name at one of his shows. The trouble with girls is that there aren't very many.

Songs: Swing Low Sweet Chariot / The Whiffenpoof Song / Violet / Clean Up Your Own Backyard / Sign Of The Zodiac / The Darktown Strutter's Ball / Susan Brown / Toot Toot Tootsie

Released November 10th 1969

Universal

Directed by William Graham

Elvis Presley, Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara McNair, Jane Eliot
Leora Dana, Doro Merande, Regis Toomey

Elvis plays Dr. John Carpenter who is assisted by three plain-clothes ( uninhabited? ) nuns in his attempts to bring good works to the ghettoes. A very contemporary film at the time which, presumably, was trying to put some kind of message across. The message I got was that Mary still looks cute no matter what sort of role she is playing. This film and Charro! looked like genuine attempts to move towards movies with a far better dramatic content. The reason for their comparative lack of success at the box must remain purely subjective, either in the fact that they really failed to do so or that people really wanted to see Elvis singing more than acting.

Songs: Change Of Habit / Rubberneckin' / Have A Happy / Let Us Pray