By Erin Free
In this regular column, we drag forgotten made-for-TV movies out of the vault and into the light. This week: the 1981 biographical drama Elvis And The Beauty Queen, starring Don Johnson, Stephanie Zimbalist and Ann Dusenberry.
With Baz Luhrmann’s energised, beautifully constructed big screen music flick EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert in cinemas this week, it’s the perfect time to take a look at The King’s rather checkered telemovie history. Though Elvis appeared in a huge number of feature films, he never starred in a telemovie (though he did front some pretty damn extraordinary TV joints in The 68 Comeback Special and Aloha From Hawaii), but he has certainly been the subject of a few.
First, there was John Carpenter’s excellent Elvis (1979) with a blazing Kurt Russell in the title role, which opened the door for several more telemovies in the decades since: 1988’s Elvis And Me (based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir, and starring Dale Midkiff and Susan Walters), 1993’s Elvis And The Colonel (Rob Yougblood and Beau Bridges star in this effort about Elvis and his manipulative manager), 1997’s Elvis Meets Nixon (Rick Peters and Bob Gunton headline this comedy drama about the notorious meeting between Presley and US President Richard Nixon, also examined in the 2016 feature Elvis & Nixon), and 2005’s Elvis: The Early Years (with Brit actor Jonathan Rhys Myers a revelation in the title role).
In these, and a few other long-form TV series, Elvis has been played with varying degrees of alacrity and charm, but without doubt one of the most curious and oddly compelling approximations of The King comes in the 1981 telemovie Elvis And The Beauty Queen. This telemovie (which was first broadcast on major US network NBC) centres on Presley’s late-stage relationship with Linda Thompson, a beauty pageant winner who would eventually go on to become an actress and songwriter after Elvis’s death, as well as the wife of Olympic champion and future Mr. Kardashian, Bruce Jenner (now, of course, Kaitlyn Jenner), and later music producer David Foster.
In Elvis And The Beauty Queen, The King is played by the one and only Don Johnson, a few years before his big break on the iconic cop show Miami Vice, which made its debut in 1984, and became one of the key series of the decade. In the history of actors-playing-Elvis-on-screen, none (even the bad ones) have made less of an effort than Don Johnson to capture the style and mannerisms of The King. Though he’s entertaining in the role, and easily holds the audience’s attention, the charismatic Don Johnson pretty much looks and sounds like Sonny Crockett dressed up as Elvis for a Halloween party. There’s no sincere commitment to capture The King’s voice and southern accent, nor his graceful physicality. The magnetic and gravel-voiced Don Johnson has never really been one to “disappear” into a role, and he especially doesn’t do it in Elvis And The Beauty Queen.
Johnson’s opposite number in Elvis And The Beauty Queen is the delightful Stephanie Zimbalist, best known for starring opposite Pierce Brosnan on TV’s Remington Steele. Stunningly beautiful, Zimbalist is all snappy youthful energy as Linda Thompson, a good Southern girl (and plainly stated virgin) with an old head on her shoulders who also happens to be Miss Tennessee. When she meets Elvis (who is close to finalising his divorce with Priscilla) through a mutual friend at one of The King’s late-night martial arts movie screenings, Linda is slowly drawn into Presley’s starry, frequently bizarre orbit.
Against the wishes of her conservative parents, Linda moves in with Elvis at Graceland, where she is consummately charmed but eventually exposed to Presley’s debilitating drug abuse, curious eating habits, and irritating relationship with his crew of sycophants; in one memorable scene, Linda is nearly shot when Elvis and his buddies start goofing around with guns. It’s a far from flattering depiction of The King, but it’s no bucket-job either; Presley plays around on Linda but clearly loves her, and is surprisingly gentlemanly when it comes to her tightly-held virginity. There’s a genuine chemistry between Johnson and Zimbalist too, which certainly adds to the film’s appeal.
When it comes to “Elvis lore”, Elvis And The Beauty Queen is lukewarm at best. There are few Elvis associates depicted here, apart from The King’s father, Vernon (character actor John Crawford has little to do), and famed music producer and musician David Briggs (the appealing Rick Lenz), with whom an Elvis-deprived and despondent Linda enjoys a close relationship. The sequences of Elvis on stage (country singer Ronnie McDowell does the singing, despite Don Johnson’s later success as a pop star) lack atmosphere and energy, and the scenes of The King hanging around Graceland in his performance capes and jumpsuits are decidedly silly.
That said, there’s much to enjoy in Elvis And The Beauty Queen. Ann Dusenberry is great as Linda’s sassy best friend, and the relationship between Elvis and Linda is one infrequently canvassed in popular culture, so there’s a certain freshness to the telemovie despite its vintage. And in a nice touch, it’s directed with no-fuss economy but a real sensitivity by one-time dancer, eventual director and Unsung Auteur Gus Trikonis, who was one of the on-screen dancers on Elvis’s 68 Comeback Special and also directed the Elvis-related 1980 feature Touched By Love starring Diane Lane.
Though a little shabby and not exactly on-point when it comes to nailing the smaller details, Elvis And The Beauty Queen still works. Don Johnson is great fun despite his obvious lack of effort, while Stephanie Zimbalist’s full-force charm offensive is a joy to behold. Together, this unlikely duo puts the sparkly rhinestones on the slightly ill-fitting and ripped-around-the-edges jumpsuit that is Elvis And The Beauty Queen.
Availability: Elvis And The Beauty Queen is pretty easy to find online, and the clearest, best-sounding presentation (which is far from sharp but is certainly watchable) is a full TV broadcast recording (NBC’s “Big Sunday Event”), which comes complete with old TV ads of the early 1980s. Amusingly, many of these bang on about inflation, petrol prices, and the high cost of living. Wasn’t everything supposed to be better back in the day? Obviously not…
If you enjoyed this review, check out our other vintage telemovies Scandal In A Small Town, Victims For Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story, The Seduction Of Gina, Blue Murder, The Brotherhood Of Justice, The Wave, The California Kid, The Cracker Factory, Night Terror, Inmates: A Love Story, The Shadow Riders, CHiPs: Roller Disco, Dawn: Portrait Of A Teenage Runaway, Young Love, First Love, Escape From Bogen County, The Death Squad, Hit Lady, Brian’s Song, The Defiant Ones, A Cry For Help, Trilogy Of Terror, Policewoman Centerfold, Smash-Up On Interstate 5, Something Evil, Savage, A Step Out Of Line, The Boy In The Plastic Bubble, The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission, A Very Brady Christmas, The Gladiator, Elvis, The Rat Pack, Silent Victory: The Kitty O’Neil Story, Terror Among Us, The Hanged Man, Hardcase, Charlie’s Angels: Angels In Vegas, Vanishing Point, To Heal A Nation, Fugitive Among Us, To Kill A Cop, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Police Story: A Chance To Live, Murder On Flight 502, Moon Of The Wolf, The Secret Night Caller, Cotton Candy, And The Band Played On, Gargoyles, Death Car On The Freeway, Short Walk To Daylight, Trapped, Hotline, Killdozer, The Jericho Mile, Mongo’s Back In Town and Tribes.
