ELVIS IN VEGAS, BBC2- review

Just finished watching this on BBC2 as part of Elvis Week. I had been looking forward to it a lot, but was also concerned that it would turn out to be another unbalanced hatchet-job like so many documentaries before it.

I was surprised that it was actually very sympathetic to Elvis, there was not one gratuitous image of him overweight just for sensations sake. I was impressed that it emphasised over and over again Elvis as a creative artist- something which is often overlooked by the general public.

In The Ghetto got a special mention as an important record and a good link was made to his own childhood.
Great to see interviews with Linda Thompson, Myrna Smith, Ronnie Tutt, Sam Thompson, Diamond Joe and others.

Even though it was called ELVIS IN VEGAS it actually played out more like a mini-biography. Of course alot of the footage was used out-of-context such as the Aloha clips being presented as Vegas and in fact no mention whatsoever was made of the Aloha Special triumph at all.

However I have to say that the Vegas years were covered slightly better in a previous UK documentary from about 8 years ago called MR ROCK AND ROLL- COL. TOM PARKER. At that time, more of the Hilton bosses were still alive to give their interviews and it delved more deeply into Elvis' contracts and his huge effect on the Vegas economy.

10 years or so ago the BBC made a documentary called THE BURGER AND THE KING. It seems we have come a long way since then.

Finally we get a sympathetic doc. with some actual footage of Elvis himself and dare I say it....some RESPECT?

I watched it.

Thought it was good but not great.

It could have been much better.

Anyway, for anyone who missed it, here it is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pqcg1/Elvis_in_Vegas/