Fairly decent vehicle for Elvis Presley casts him as a young construction worker who gets thrown in jail after accidentally killing a man in a bar room brawl. While in prison he befriends an older convict who used to be a country singer (Mickey Shaugnessy), and Elvis learns to play the guitar and sing. Once Presley's rather short jail term has been carried out he returns to society with a dream of continuing his singing career and becoming a rich and famous star. He has the good fortune of teaming up with a spunky female record promoter (23-year-old Judy Tyler, who tragically died in an auto accident only days after completing this film) but success turns him into a snob as he steps on people's toes while climbing the ladder of success. Presley is in his absolute prime here and isn't bad in this film, though his character turns out to be a confounding mixture of likable country boy and despicable arrogant jerk. Elvis does get to perform the raunchy "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care," but most of the songs here are pleasant but rather lightweight. This unfortunately extends to the rather watered-down version of the normally bouncy "Treat Me Nice" single and even tarnishes the classic title powerhouse, "Jailhouse Rock". When the latter hit is performed during an entertaining and well-choreographed dance sequence, the movie version of the song contains backup singers adding embarrassing lines like: "go-go-go!" and "lay it on me, Daddy-O!". **1/2 out of ****
Review of Jailhouse Rock
