King Creole (1958) on Netflix
Danny Fisher flunks out of school and quits his busboy job. His singing draws an offer from Charlie LeGrand's King Creole club, and crime boss Maxie Fields wants him too.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.0/107,201 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes96%
Trailer
Plot summary
Nineteen-year-old Danny Fisher works before and after class to support his father and sister Mimi; the family moved to the French Quarter after his mother died and the pharmacy where his father worked let him go. Danny rescues Ronnie from an abusive date, kisses her at school when classmates tease him and punches a boy, which sends him to the principal's office and the news that he will not graduate. He drops out and falls in with Shark's gang, singing in a five-and-dime to distract shoppers while they steal; Nellie, behind the snack bar, notices but says nothing. Invited to an empty hotel room, she cries and leaves. At The Blue Shade, Danny is made to sing for Maxie Fields, who owns the place, and Charlie LeGrand, owner of the King Creole club, offers him a job.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about King Creole (1958)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- To escape the crowds on location, Elvis Presley would climb onto the roof of a rented house and cross over to the roof of another; producer Hal Wallis rented the second house after an assistant noticed their backs adjoined. After a fan discovered the route, Presley stayed on the tenth floor of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
- At the May 1959 Mexican premiere at Mexico City's Américas Cinema, a riot broke out when, according to local newspapers, 600 teenagers broke in without paying: they occupied the balcony, destroyed seats and threw flaming papers and debris at the attendants, and some women were stripped of their clothing as they tried to leave.
- Hal Wallis bought the rights to A Stone for Danny Fisher in February 1955 for $25,000, intending to give the lead, a New York boxer, to James Dean or Ben Gazzara, and the project was canceled after Dean's death that year. Presley was suggested as a replacement in January 1957, when the character became a singer and the setting moved to New Orleans.
- A month before filming was due to start, Presley received his draft notice on December 20, 1957; he and Paramount asked the draft board to defer his enlistment so he could finish the film, arguing a delay would cost the pre-production money already invested, and he was granted 60 days on December 27.
- Director Michael Curtiz told a taken-aback Presley to lose fifteen pounds and shave his sideburns for the role of Danny Fisher, and Presley did both.
