Elvis: Return to Tupelo

Although Elvis Presley is most closely associated with Memphis, TN—where his career took off at Sun Records and he lived at Graceland—director Michael Rose's Elvis: Return to Tupelo reminds viewers that the King was born and raised in Tupelo, MS. In his dusky drawl, narrator Kris Kristofferson opens this documentary profile with a mention of Presley's spectacular 1956 homecoming concert, before backtracking to 1935, the year of Elvis' birth, to trace his early life, combining images of Tupelo past and present with comments from biographers, journalists, historians, family friends, and former sweethearts, as well as Presley's reminiscences to broadcaster Wink Martindale. Noting the impact of place on Presley, author Elaine Dundy explains that “you can hear the soil in Elvis as you can hear the cement in Frank Sinatra.” The documentary spends a fair amount of time on Elvis' supportive parents, Gladys and Vernon Presley, who encouraged their son as he sang in churches and at state fairs, learned how to play the guitar, and found inspiration in the country and blues music popular in the South (early favorites include “Old Shep” and “God Bless My Daddy”). In 1949, the Presleys moved to Memphis in search of higher-paying work, while Elvis went to high school and eventually met Sun Records' Sam Phillips, after which everything changed. Although this Biography channel-aired documentary doesn't make note of it, Presley went on to record three of narrator Kristofferson's songs. DVD extras include a wide range of featurettes, extended interviews, and newsreel footage (including Elvis' army induction and marriage to Priscilla), as well as Drew Pearson's Washington Merry-Go-Round program linking Presley's rise to fame with his sexual “vulgarity.” Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)