(Michael Curtiz, US 1958, 116 min., 35mm)

Elvis Presley is a nightclub singer (who croons Hard-Headed Woman, among others) dragged into the criminal underworld. “Call this my guilty pleasure, if you must, but it’s the closest Elvis ever came to fulfilling his potential as a potent actor and rebellious threat, before the Army and manager Col. Tom Parker put him in a cage. The film also features an early appearance by Walter Matthau as a gangster, expert direction by Curtiz (Casablanca), and Presley’s greatest song score by far”—Jack Garner.