In this article we take a look at the big premiere of Elvis’ first movie at the Paramount Theatre in New York. No expenses were spared in order to launch Elvis’ moviecareer and further deepen his already meteoric rise to fame in late 1956. He seemed to be all over the place at the same time (either in the flesh or in a cardboard version). And Elvis had now also arived in Hollywood.
Due to the clever marketing schemes by Presley’s management, Elvis ruled the media. And not just on the eastcoast!
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001 Paramount October 28
October 28, 1956
On this day a HUGE Elvis cut-out on top of Paramount‘s marquee was unveiled.
On the photo to the right we can see that the cut-out is about to be covered up.
The movie would not premiere until 2,5 weeks later. So in the weeks that followed, this cardboard Elvis Presley would take control of Times Square.
002 Paramount October 28 (Marvin Israel) 003 Paramount October 28 (Marvin Israel)
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Here we have some pictures of the unveiling of the not so mysterious ‘mystery-man’.
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009 Paramount October 28 (Marvin Israel)
Apart from the signs mentioning local Elvis Fan Clubs, all other signs were clearly not a product of homemade creativity but merely the result of the very clever marketing scheme thought out by one Tom Parker.
008 Paramount October 28 (Marvin Israel)
28 October new
New York October 28th 1956 04 New York October 28th 1956 05
New York October 28th 1956 06 New York October 28th 1956 07
004 Paramount October 28 (Marvin Israel) 005 Paramount October 28 (Marvin Israel)
New York October 28th 1956 02
On the marquee we can see that The Girl He Left Behind was playing at the Paramount in the week the cut-out was unveiled.
It starred Natalie Wood, and even though it’s all a coincidence it’s interesting to note that Elvis dated her for a while, that both Natalie and Elvis are linked to RCA Victor, that Elvis was asked to play the role of Tony in West Side Story (opposite Natalie in 1961), and that Elvis gave one of his most memorable answers during the March 1960 Graceland press conference when he referred to Priscilla as “The girl he left behind“.
006 Paramount October 28
New York October 28th 1956 01
007 Paramount October 28 (Josep - John Lindsay)
This photo is interesting for a couple of reasons.
First of all, it was taken by someone who was inside the Paramount Theatre at that moment of the unveiling of the Elvis cut-out.
But we can also see good old Sgt. Bilko across the street on the Camel billboard, as a silent witness to Elvis Presley’s first ever movie Premiere!
Bilko
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On the same day Elvis performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. The same fans, with the same signs, wearing the same EPE hats, lined up outside Studio 50 while Elvis was rehearsing. Way to go Colonel!
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Studio 50 (Josep)
In the pic below we can spot the same group of girls as in the photo directly above the color pic to the right.
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Elvis Presley Fan Holding Elvis Scarf
And here the same girl in the white t-shirt (picture below) pops up yet again.
Fans Standing in Line
November, 1956 Adlai Stevenson
Early November, 1956
This is probably the only image available that shows us how the Paramount looked like between October 28 (the unveiling) and November 15 (the premiere).
The people on the foreground (and also on the other side of the street) were there for a political reason, and that sign (aimed at democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson) was not provided by The Colonel.
The reference to Love Me Tender on the front of the marquee (“STARTS THURS. NOV. 15 AT NY PARAMOUNT”) is gone and the marquee is back to how it will remain until the day of the premiere.
This photo hands us a real nice overview of Times Square, and we can see how large the cut-out actually is.
newspaper ad November 13, 1956
November 13, 14 and 15, 1956
In the days prior to the big premiere, these ads appeared in New York’s newspapers.
To the right the ad of tuesday the 13th.
Below to the left we have the one for wednesday the 14th. And next to that we see the ad from the day of the premiere (thursday the 15th).
newspaper ad November 14, 1956 newspaper ad November 15, 1956
Love Me Tender - USA premiere New York 5
November 15, 1956
Love Me Tender premiered on this day at the Paramount.
We can see that the names on the marquee have changed, Elvis is now 3rd billed (“and introducing …”) after Richard Egan and Debra Paget. But all the focus is stull fully on the boy from Tupelo.
Elvis Presley; Fans
Love Me Tender - USA premiere New York 4
So far (and to my knowledge) only two color images have ever surfaced from the day of the Premiere on Times Square.
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Love Me Tender - USA premiere New York 7 Love Me Tender - USA premiere New York 6
November 15 color