“Love Me Tender” introduced Elvis Presley to Hollywood, but the real story behind his 1956 debut is even more fascinating than the film itself. Set during the Civil War, this Western musical nearly had a completely different lead – Elvis was third choice after two established actors passed. When he finally got the role, the young singer approached it with surprising dedication, memorizing the entire script rather than just his lines.
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The production became a cultural phenomenon before filming even wrapped. When Elvis performed the title song on The Ed Sullivan Show, RCA received so many advance orders that the single went gold before hitting stores. At the New York premiere, fans surrounded a 40-foot Elvis cutout, screaming so loudly during his scenes that much of his dialogue was inaudible.
But here’s what really makes this film special: that noticeable hair color change wasn’t a styling choice. After Elvis’s mother objected to her son’s character dying, producers added a final musical sequence – by which time Elvis had dyed his light brown hair black for his next project. This created one of cinema’s most charming continuity errors, preserved forever in this slice of rock ‘n’ roll history.
