Das ist Elvis (1981)

Das ist Elvis: Directed by Malcolm Leo, Andrew Solt. With David Scott, Paul Boensch III, Johnny Harra, Lawrence Koller. The life and career of Elvis Presley are chronicled in home movies, concert footage, and dramatizations. Subjects include early performances, army service, Ed Sullivan Show appearance, marriage, 1968 comeback, health decline and death.

“u0026quot;This is Elvisu0026quot; is one of the oddest u0026quot;documentariesu0026quot; Iu0026#39;ve ever seen. Using extensive archival footage, mixed with recreations shot to look like archival footage, the film looks at the rise of fall of Elvis.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe problem is that the recreation footage comes off as bad TV movie of the week, standing in stark contrast to the original, compelling material presented in the piece.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe success of u0026quot;This is Elvisu0026quot; was the impetus behind the current style of historical documentaries that attempt to recreate drama where no original footage exists to illustrate it. In that sense, u0026quot;This is Elvisu0026quot; looks a bit embarrassing at times, since it doesnu0026#39;t have the slickness of more contemporary u0026quot;docu-drama-documentariesu0026quot; in the genre.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat Iu0026#39;m waiting for is an Elvis documentary done with the taste and skillfullness of the u0026quot;Beatles: Anthologyu0026quot; mini-series aired on ABC.”