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All you had to tell me was that this documentary about Elvis Presley’s 1968 “Comeback Special” was directed by Jason Hehir (who helmed all 10 episodes of the 2020 docu-series The Last Dance), and I’d be there for it. Of course, the film is about much more than that and features a host of interviews from people who saw the performance firsthand. This includes Presley’s wife, Priscilla, his friends, and celebrity admirers from Bruce Springsteen to Conan O’Brien, all of whom watched the show live and were reminded with it that the Elvis whom they first discovered in the mid-1950s was still alive and well, despite a slew of crappy movies forced upon him by his manager.
Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley tracks Presley’s love of music back to his childhood, standing outside Black churches in Mississippi and listening to the singing. The film continues through his early years at Sun Records, singing country music and songs from Black artists; his joining forces with Col. Tom Parker; his early appearances on television (the Ed Sullivan Show being the most famous, but not the first); a couple years in the military; and his early courtship with Priscilla.
But it’s when he went to Hollywood that his popularity and record sales took a hit. The songs in those movies were subpar, and the movies themselves were, for the most part, even worse. By the time someone conceived of the NBC 1968 special, the British invasion was in full swing and Presley’s brand of music had been usurped by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and others. To them, Elvis was a hero but also a relic who played it safe with his song choices and never got political.
The film kicks into gear when it gets into the nuts and bolts of how the NBC show was pieced together, first as a series of terrible pre-recorded numbers with dancing, skits, and other nonsense. But it was the backstage jam sessions with his band members that someone caught wind of and said “That should be the centerpiece of the show.” And so it was, with Elvis looking fit, tan, clad in black leather, and like a statue with perfect cheekbones. Elvis hadn’t performed in front of audiences in seven years at that point, and after the success of the special, he starting playing live again, both on tour and a long-running Vegas residency.
The Return of the King filmmakers have access to behind-the-scenes footage of the special, rehearsal, outtakes, and we see an Elvis nervous, jittery, but eager to sit down, play music, and even crack a few jokes with the crowd. At the time, it was the Elvis everybody wanted to see, and the Elvis they needed to rediscover. The movie takes a look at what made the icon, but it also digs deep to find the ambition that drove him to succeed.
The special saved his career and cemented his legacy, but it also featured some killer performances, and that’s what matters most. His life was chaos at the time, but for a few short hours, he simplified things and played like he did as a newcomer. There’s probably a bit too much prologue in this documentary, but it’s a solid, mostly necessary buildup used to make a point about where Elvis was in his life in that exact moment. And wisely, director Hehir just lets the music flow for long stretches once Elvis gets in his groove; you can’t help but smile and know that his oft-tortured man was happy that night.
The film is now streaming on Netflix.
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