On September 12, 1960, Elvis Presley walked into a special screening of G.I. Blues with his co-star Juliet Prowse.
For Elvis, it was more than just another movie preview.
This was his first film after completing two years of military service, and Hollywood was about to find out whether audiences still wanted Elvis Presley on the big screen. Photos from the evening show Elvis and Prowse arriving together for the screening.
Only six months earlier, Elvis had returned home from the Army.
Producer Hal Wallis and Colonel Tom Parker quickly turned his real military experience into the basis for G.I. Blues, casting Elvis as Tulsa MacLean, an American soldier stationed in West Germany.
The movie mixed romance, comedy and plenty of music, with Juliet Prowse playing nightclub dancer Lili.
Early audience reaction was exactly what Paramount had hoped for.
A previous sneak preview in Dallas reportedly produced an extremely enthusiastic response, while accounts of the September 12 screening also describe the reaction as highly positive.
The message was becoming clear:
Elvis had been away for two years, but audiences had not forgotten him.
Elvis Presley – “G.I. Blues”
Interestingly, Elvis himself was not nearly as enthusiastic about the movie as audiences were.
His official music site notes that he had been proud of the more dramatic King Creole before entering the Army, but felt disappointed by the lighter storyline and some of the songs selected for G.I. Blues.
Commercially, however, Hal Wallis had little reason to worry.
When G.I. Blues opened nationally later that year, it climbed to No. 2 on Variety’s weekly box-office chart and finished as the 14th highest-grossing film of 1960, earning approximately $4.3 million in U.S. and Canadian rentals.
The soundtrack became an even bigger success.
Released in September 1960, the G.I. Blues album reached No. 1 and became one of the most successful albums of Elvis’s career.
That success would have consequences.
Hollywood now had proof that audiences would enthusiastically pay to see Elvis in light musical comedies filled with songs, romance and colorful locations.
The formula would be repeated again and again throughout the 1960s.
For Elvis, that eventually became frustrating because he wanted stronger dramatic roles.
But on September 12, 1960, the immediate question was much simpler.
Had two years in the Army damaged Elvis Presley’s popularity?
The reaction inside that screening room suggested exactly the opposite. Elvis was back, and Hollywood quickly realized his name could still fill theaters.