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LOVING YOU - Trivia


 

  • Loving You premiered in Memphis on July 9, 1957, at the Strand Theater. Elvis, his parents, and Anita Wood attended a midnight showing. The film opened nationally on July 30, double-billed in many areas with the Van Johnson film, Action of the Tiger. Four days earlier, Loving You was sneak-previewed at the Alhambra Theater in Sacramento, California. All movie-goers were given a photo of Elvis.

 

  • Production on Loving You began on January 21, 1957, and was completed on March 8. Except for the Jessup's farm scenes, the film was shot entirely on the Paramount lot.

 

  • Loving You was based on the story A Call from Mitch Miller, by Mary Agnes Thompson, which appeared in the June 1956 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. The lead character in the story was Lonesome Harris, who sang with Tex Warner and his Red River Ramblers. His girlfriend was Susan Harris, and the setting was Oaklahoma. On July 30, 1956, Hal B. Wallis bought the rights to Miss Thompson's story as a vehicle for Elvis.

 

  • The original title for Loving You was The Lonesome Cowboy. The title was changed to Running Wild in the fall of 1956. As a matter of fact, on Elvis's last appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Sullivan referred to Elvis going to Hollywood to make his latest film, Running Wild. Another title for the film briefly considered was Something for the Girls.

 

  • While filming Loving You, Elvis and his parents stayed at the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel.

 

  • Actress Dolores Hart made her film début in Loving You. After making only ten films, she retired from acting in 1963 to become a nun. Today, Hart (real name: Dolores Hicks) is know as Mother Dolores at the Convent of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut. Her last film was Come Fly With Me (1963). In 1959 Photoplay magazine published Hart's article "What It's Like to Kiss Elvis."

 

  • Joe Gray was Elvis's stand-in on the set of Loving You.

 

  • Elvis first met actress Yvonne Lime on the set of Loving You. The two dated for a time in 1957.

 

  • Like Elvis, actress Lizabeth Scott was signed to a Paramount contract after a screen test for producer Hal Wallis. She was called "The Threat" by studio publicity agents. Loving You was Lizabeth Scott's last film, except for a 1972 British release, Pulp.

 

  • Wendell Corey was elected to the Santa Monica, California, City Council in 1965. He was defeated in the 1966 Republican primary race for the House of Representatives. Like Elvis and Lizabeth Scott, Corey was signed by Hal Wallis to a movie contract. He made his début in Desert Fury (1947), which also starred Lizabeth Scott. Elvis had a cat named Wendell.

 

  • Loving You was Elvis's first colour film.

 

  • Making their screen débuts in Loving You were Scotty Moore, Bill Black, D.J. Fontana, Vernon Presley, Gladys Presley and the Jordanaires.

 

  • Art director Hal Pereira won an Oscar for The Rose Tattoo (1955). After 26 years in the film business, he retired. His last film was 1968's Will Penny.

 

  • Director-writer Hal Kanter was the executive producer of the hit CBS sitcom All in the Family.

 

  • Loving You reached #7 on Variety's weekly list of top-grossing films.

 

  • In July 1959, Loving You was re-released as a double feature with King Creole in selected theaters.

 

  • Jim Tallman - politician running for governor for whom Glenda Markle worked as a publicity agent. Tex Warner's band played at rallies for Tallman. To finance Tallman's campaign, Tallman's Terrific Tonic was sold to those in the audiences.

 

  • At the beginning of the film, Tallman was campaigning in the city of Delville.

 

  • Highway Beverage - Delville beverage distributor for which Deke Rivers worked. He earned $18 a week plus tips. In his last week he earned $26.

 

  • Art Hawkins - bandleader who was breaking all records in Chicago at the State Lake Theater. Tex Warner was jealous of Hawkins because Warner had created the band's sound and written all of its arrangements.

 

  • Tex Warner's band was known as the Rough Ridin' Ramblers. Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and D.J. Fontana had bit roles in the film as members of the band.

 

  • The first town in which Deke Rivers sang professionally was Longhorn, where he sang (Let's Have a) Party. He sang there at the Community Fair Night.

 

  • Question: At what event did Deke Rivers sing in the town of Harolsville? Answer: the Lions Club Barbecue.

 

  • Baker - one of the towns in which Deke Rivers performed. Baker (population: 1,234) was known as "The Small Town with a Big Welcome". Some of the other towns where he performed included Jordan Crossing, Indian Wells, Big Hill, Alkalai Wells, and Lone Star.

 

  • Question: how long had Glenda worked for Jim Tallman? Answer: two years.

 

  • Adams High School Hop - one of the events at which Deke Rivers and Tex Warner's Rough Ridin' Ramblers performed. After the event, Susan presented Deke with a guitar that Tex had bought for him. Tex announced that from that time on, Deke would appear on stage with the band and not just come out of the audience as he had before.

 

  • Montgomery Ward - Rodeo City Store where Deke bought a green shirt with Susan's assistance. Deke referred to the store as "Monkey Wards". A pre-movie star, Gregory Peck, modelled clothes for the 1940 Montgomery Ward catalog.

 

  • Skeeter's parakeet was named Matilda.

 

  • Question: who was the Delville lawyer who prepared Deke's contract for Glenda? Answer: Mike Harris.

 

  • Bill Black made his screen début in Loving You. His first screen line. "Hey, Deke. See the picture in the paper of the gals fighting over you?" His next line was, "Yeah. From what it says in here, Deke's just about..."

 

  • Carl Meade - booking agent for Tex Warner.

 

  • Question: what amount was punched by the cashier on the cash register at the end of Mean Woman Blues? Answer: $95,00.

 

  • Grand Theatre - Amarillo theater where Deke and Tex Warner performed. The 1957 Jerry Lewis movie The Sad Sack was being shown at the Grand Theatre.

 

  • Question: what did Wayne, the boy Deke fought in the Buckhorn Tavern, say he did for a living? Answer: he worked with his "old man in auto accessories."

 

  • Farmingdale - town near where the Jessup farm was located.

 

  • When asked by Susan what he and Deke were going to do during their vacation, Skeeter replied, "Maybe we'll see The Ten Commandments twice."

 

  • Elvis received his first movie kiss from Jana Lund (Daisy Bricker) during the dressing room scene at the Grand Theatre in Amarillo.

 

  • That's Kissin', Cousins - newspaper photo caption showing Deke Rivers being kissed by Daisy Bricker. The accompanying article was titled "Deke Rivers and Femme Fan Find Fun."

 

  • The rooster on the Jessup's farm was named Joseph.

 

  • Deke River's real name was Jimmy Tompkins. His early years were spent in an orphanage run by Miss Whipshaw. When the orphanage burned down eleven years before, Jimmy ran away and happened upon the Woodbine Cemetery near Allen City. In the cemetery he saw a tombstone that read: "R.I.P., Deke Rivers, 1878-1934. He was alone but for his friends who miss him." Jimmy Tomkins assumed the  name of Deke Rivers on that day.

 

  • KTED - Freegate, Texas, television station that provided the broadcast facilities for the national TV special that starred Deke Rivers. The telecast was aired from the Freegate Civic Center. The Jordanaires were seen in the telecast.

 

  • Gladys and Vernon Presley were extras in the audience at the Freegate TV broadcast. Gladys could be seen in the fourth row, aisle seat. Vernon was seated next to her.

 

  • The song Detour, which Dolores sang in Loving You, was  1951 hit for Patti Page. Detour (Mercury 5682) reached #12 on Billboard's pop chart.

 

  • It was before the shooting of Loving You started that Elvis did his medical check-up for the military service. He passed on the inspection with flying colours.

 

  • Hollywood was astonished with the "chaos" that Elvis caused in the studios. From 08:30 a.m. they started receiving phone calls for Elvis and, around 06:00 p.m. they had already received around 500 phone calls. Elvis's fans were different from all the others they had contacted with before and they had worked with countless mega stars.

 

  • Elvis worked from 07:00 a.m. till 07:00 p.m. - 12 consecutive hours. Even so, when he exited the studios, he stopped by the gates to talk with his fans. Sometimes he spent more than 2 hours with them, in spite of being tired from working.

 

  • Elvis received around 2,000 letters per day during the shooting of Loving You. One female fan confessed she had sent him 128 letters. Many of these letters were handed over to him and Elvis spent a couple of daily hours answering to letters and signing photographs.

 

  • Elvis had to spend 2 weeks at the photo studio in Hollywood to satisfy the number of photo requests which flooded the newspapers and magazines.

 

  • Dolores Hart was the 18 years old young woman chosen among the more than 100 candidates who hoped to fill the love interest part in Elvis' movie. Shirley McLaine was one of them. It was Dolores' fist movie and she was quite aprehensive for having to work with such important professionals as Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey. But Elvis took her aside and told her about his first experience on his first movie and her fears dissipated. They remained very good friends during the shooting.

 

  • Even though Elvis seemed to conquer every girl's feelings, like bees make honey, Robin Corey, Wendell Corey's (Tex in the movie) daughter didn't feel impressed with Elvis' image and didn't want to go to the studios to meet him when her father invited her. However, when she set her mind to it, it didn't take long for Elvis to make her change her mind. He gave her much attention and she felt the most special girl in the world. Besides showing Robin around the studio, Elvis still found the time to sing Loving You to her. Robin, who had suffered from reumathic fever when she was a child, had become quite litte for not growing too much after she recovered from the illness. Elvis's friendship helped her overcoming her shyness in meeting new people. Elvis spent a lot of time at Corey's house and became a kind of oldest brother to Robin. "He was a very honest and sensitive person," Robin said, "And, I don't know, but when I was close to him, I felt stronger."

 

  • While he was shooting the movie, Elvis sufferend an almost fatal accident when a very heavy roof of lights fell on the ground, just a few centimeters from where had had been seconds before! If he hadn't moved away, his movie career and his life could well had been much shorter.

 

  • But Elvis indeed suffered an accident. For the fight sequence in the movie, the Director felt he had to hire a professional boxer to train Elvis and Ken Becker, so the scene would look real. Only they exaggerated. After the fight was over, Ken had a bleeding mouth and Elvis a broken finger.

 

  • Gladys Presley was already quite ill by the time this movie was shot. It is said that Elvis never again was able to see this movie after his mother's death.

 

  • This Elvis' movie had good reviews and became known as "The Elvis Presley Story" since it was similar to his career and is the only movie in which we can see Elvis being Elvis.

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