Wild in the Country

Starring:Elvis Presley, Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, Millie Perkins, Rafer Johnson, John Ireland, Gary Lockwood, William Mims, Raymond Greenleaf, Christina Crawford, Robin Raymond, Mike Lally, Mark Bailey, Walter Baldwin, Jack Orrison, Harry Carter (II), Hans Moebus, Frankie Silver, Elisha Mott, Harry Shannon
Director: Philip Dunne
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

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Elvis plays a roughneck country boy, seething with hostility but gifted with literary talent. In the occasionally precious Clifford Odets script, this comes across as James Dean by way of a Thomas Wolfe novel--and not a bad shot at respectable acting by Elvis. His monologue about his dead mother, delivered to sympathetic shrink Hope Lange, is one of the most affecting things the King ever did in a movie. The songs are kept to a minimum, and Presley has some good, thrumming energy with the young Tuesday Weld (bad girl) and Millie Perkins (good girl), two uncommonly smart actresses. This is one of many Hollywood melodramas suggesting the angst brewing beneath the prosperity of the Eisenhower-Kennedy era, and it holds up decently, if not spectacularly. For Elvis fans, it's a poignant glimpse at a performer still in the young-buck stage of exciting possibilities. --Robert Horton

Description

Possibly the sexiest of all of The King's movies, this film finds Elvis playing a backwoods delinquent blessed with great literary talents with Millie Perkins as his childhood sweetheart. Co-starring Tuesday Weld.

Customer Reviews:

A singer who can act? Or an actor who can sing? You be the judge!!.......2006-03-21

Although I don't feel that this is one of Elvis' best efforts, there is still something about this movie that draws you to it!

A more serious role, than his usual musical performances, he comes across as still being a little raw, but I still enjoyed it, all the same.

There were fine supporting roles played by Millie Perkins as his girlfriend Betty Lee, Tuesday Weld as his cousin Noreen, and Hope Lange as his psychiatrist.

Tuesday Weld has come a long way since her debut, playing the teenage daughter of Danny Kaye ("Red Nichols") in The Five Pennies, and put in a very good performance.

Millie Perkins also delivered a sound performance. I enjoyed her role as much as I did in the movie The Diary of Anne Frank in which she portrayed "Anne Frank".

Hope Lange is always enjoyable to watch, and that is the case here again in this movie.

Although not ranked as high in my all time favourite Elvis movies, it is still worth the watch, and a good movie to have in your collection.

One of Elvis' Better Movies.......2006-01-02

This is one of the better films that Elvis made after being released from the army in 1960. The quality of the acting and the songs are both very good.

***Check out King Creole(1958) and Jailhouse Rock(1957)***

Wild in the Country.......2005-11-05

I really enjoyed watching this movie. I am a Elvis Presly fan.

Elvis' best SAFE dramatic role........2002-11-09

When I say "safe", I mean where Elvis does not killed in the end like in "Love Me Tender", and "Flaming Star." This something that's much better and I prefer a whole lot. Elvis has not one but three female costars: Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, and Millie Perkins. I don't know about you but he gives an equal amount of attention to every one of them except near the end when he focuses more on Hope Lange. I love the songs which are: "Wild In The Country", "I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell", "In My Way", and "Husky Dusky Day". My favorite line is when Elvis as Glenn Tyler says "This routine of yours could stagger a billygoat." That's one of his best lines. All Elvis fans should see this once in their lifetime. It's a must!

Wild In The Country.......2002-07-31

Wild In The Country would offer Elvis his last serious role in a film by a significant director (Philip Dunne). Elvis portrays Glenn Tyler, a southern boy from a rural, poverty-stricken background, who has just been released from juvenile hall. Central to the character of Glenn is that the brooding young man is at a crossroads in his life, and he must choose the path most suitable for him. His choices are represented by three women. Noreen (Tuesday Weld) is Glenn's cousin who urges him to stay with his own kind. Noreen offers passion and good times, but such a carefree existence allows little thought for the future. Betty Lee (Millie Perkins), who is Glenn's childhood sweetheart selflessly places Glenn's future above her own needs, urging him to leave town and attend college. She is prepared to lose him that he may have an education and a secure future. Hope Lange costars as Irene Sperry, the court-appointed psychiatrist assigned to Glenn's case, who recognizes in him the raw talent of a budding writer. She also encourages Glenn to attend college but causes scandal when she falls in love with him. Glenn ends up following Betty Lee's advice and asking her to wait for him.

With a strong supporting cast including a young Tuesday Weld who was only 17 years old during the film's production. She was one of the hottest and wildest starlets in Hollywood and already had romances with two of of her costars in the film - Elvis and Veteran Actor John Ireland.