The listing, VHS "LOVE ME TENDER" ELVI PRESLEY 'S FIRST MOVIE & IT WAS A BIG HIT! has ended.
Thursday, November 15th, 1956, was a rather interesting occasion; because, it was on this date that the educational system of New York City suffered a very unusual setback. It seems as though thousands of young teenage girls who had attended classes that very morning had suddenly vanished; like they had just disappeared off the face of the earth. Well, what the school authorities did not know that the young girls did know about was that they had snuck off to the historic Paramount movie theater in the heart of Times Square in New York to be among the first to actually witness a screening of Elvis Presley's very first feature film debut. A very large cardboard cut-out was seen placed atop of the theater's marquee, covered by a sheet of canvas. When the canvas was removed, the image revealed was that of Elvis Presley, smiling while strumming his guitar. Naturally, the girls all went crazy when this happened. This was an elaborate publicity scheme masterminded by Elvis' manager Col. Tom Parker. Originally released during the 1956 Thanksgiving holiday season, "Love Me Tender" quickly recovered its 1-and-a-half million dollar investment costs within less than three days in the cinemas. This was not only Elvis' screen debut; it was also the first and only time in his film career in which he recieved co-star billing. The movie was originally titled "The Reno Brothers". However, due to the rise in Elvis' overwhelming popularity, the studio decided to change the film's title. This was intended to capatalize on the film's title song, which eventually became another number one hit for Presley. The movie itself wound up becoming the second-highest grossing film of the year 1956,