Movie: Jailhouse Rock HD-DVD is a slight story about Elvis Presley as the bad boy, an image he largely stayed away from later in his career, with the man as Vince Everett. Vince is a construction worker that lives for the moment, showing a heated temper when he feels he is being crossed, resulting in him being sent to prison for manslaughter when he beats a man to death over a petty matter in a barroom brawl. In jail, Vince sees the darker side of humanity where no one gives you anything for free; forcing him to learn the rules quickly or become another victim. His cellmate, "Hunk" Houghton (Mickey Shaughnessy), being something of a minor league musician back when he was on the outside, stirs the young man to try singing as a possible career; seeing early on the potential of his new partner. Teaching him the basics of showmanship and how to play a guitar, Hunk eventually propels Vince into the limelight via a televised jail concert, making a deal with him to be partners once they are out in the real world. Needless to say, when Hunk increases his chances of getting him to sign by withholding bags of fan mail from Vince, it provides yet another means to harden the young man as he sets out in the world.

Not knowing squat about how to make it on his own, Vince encounters a number of slimy entertainment industry types that are just as ruthless as anyone in prison, merely better at sugarcoating all they do when they twist the blade to cheat and steal from people. Hooking up with lovely promoter Peggy Van Alden (Judy Tyler in her last role before dying in a car crash), Vince sets out to become a star on his own terms; refusing to play ball as he is taken advantage of time and again. The pair form their own company and as his success grows, so does his ego; the pair clearly caring about each other but unwilling to set aside their respective roles which causes them both a lot of melodramatic anguish. Hunk rejoins the now successful Vince and the rest of the movie meanders a lot as clips are displayed of Vince's lavish new lifestyle with just a bit of tragedy at the end to get Vince to rejoin the human race and find out how much he cares about Peggy.

Okay, in critical terms, Jailhouse Rock is a lightweight piece of fluff like the rest of Elvis' movies, perhaps even more so as his ability to act was so two dimensional but the saving grace of the show was more about the music and energy he projected. This was his third feature and while his limitations in acting were evident, the ability to inspire through the raw and emotional nature of his character was undeniable. Not the wholesome lover that Elvis usually portrayed, Vince seethed with anger at the drop of the proverbial hat; showing his incarceration was justified as he went too far in teaching a lesson to a drunk. Once in prison, Vince becomes the student, finding out the harsh lessons of life by shoveling coal and getting whipped for rioting (both giving director Richard Thorpe a chance to show off a shirtless Elvis) but also the finer workings of economics that would serve most people well to pick up and study.

Rock & Roll was new at the time and as it picked up momentum, the creators had to be careful at how far they pressed the screenplay and what took place on screen lest they find their investment to be lost to the censors that ruled in the late fifties (which were busting to come free of the McCarthy hearings and oppression of the times). As a means of expression, Elvis' music pushed the envelop more than a little bit with the titular song winding up in a great dance sequence that some claim was the birth of the modern music video. The bonus feature on the making of the scene one of the highlights of this edition, it was funny to see how Elvis was given the stage to work his magic on, not knowing enough about how to dance that his limits were catered to really well (and successfully) thanks to the choreographer.

Elvis got to sing five other songs too, from the tender Young and Beautiful to Don't Leave Me Now, Treat Me Nice (perhaps the inspiration decades later for the Pat Benatar song Treat Me Right), the pining of I Want To Be Free, and energetic Baby I Don't Care sequence. Each of the songs showed a progression of sorts that explored his range as a musician more than the movie displayed any acting abilities; the slight screenplay never going anywhere and the disjointed scenes appearing as much like a progression of Elvis climbing down into Dante's Inferno than anything else. In all though, for the kind of movie Elvis made throughout his career, Jailhouse Rock typified the angst he sold to fans and worked as a morality play more than anything else. I know fans will love this upgraded version but the general public will probably want to Rent It first since the flaws were so readily apparent, the movie serving as much as another time capsule of pop culture than anything else.

Picture: Jailhouse Rock HD-DVD was presented in the same 2.40:1 ratio widescreen it was shot in 50 years ago by Director Richard Thorpe using the Panavision process on 35mm. The movie is a classic example of black & white photography and I recall how weird it looked when some idiots tried colorizing it years ago; the contrasts used to echo the moods of Elvis as much as tell a subtler version of what the dialogue could only pretend to do. The minor instances of aliasing were hardly noticed and other flaws, that were apparently inherent in the original film stock, were cleaned up very nicely for this remastered version. I last saw this movie on the original DVD release (in standard definition) and the results are astounding at the difference between them but make no mistake about it, this was shot on the cheap fifty years ago so it was never going to be the best example of HD restoration. There were issues with lip synching and visuals that were blurry too but these were matters that have been discussed for decades as part of the original movie so the enhanced HD format did bring them out a bit more though I doubt most people will care given the nature of the movie itself.

Sound: The primary tracks were the two 5.1 tracks provided; a Dolby TrueHD track and a Dolby Digital+ set of tracks, each offering a surround experience that might not have been nearly as aggressive as modern day films but certainly an interesting enhancement of the aural elements this time. As expected, there were also a number of monaural audio choices provided here, including the usual original English track, the French, and the Spanish versions too; subtitles in each language offered up for those who care. Unlike some people, I'm not a purist when it comes to scrubbing the soundtracks and enhancing them with surround sound (as long as it's done properly and the original tracks are provided as an option). The bass was deeper (though still on the weak side) and the separation seemed to take advantage of the enhancements on the music numbers only, but each did this without distorting the audio and without sounding "fake" as weaker attempts have done in the recent past. I certainly wasn't expecting as big a boost as these tracks provided on such an older release and while neither qualifies as reference grade compared to some of the newest titles coming out, it did improve on the audio quality of the original monaural track on my home theatre.

Extras: There was the re-released trailer for the movie (had there been other trailers, none were mentioned) and a short feature on the making of the Jailhouse Rock dance sequence. It wasn't as comprehensive as the one from Viva Las Vegas but it did supplement the information provided in the audio commentary track by noted author and Elvis Presley expert Steve Pond. I was surprised that some of the original people involved were still alive to add their two bits (fifty years is a long time when you factor in their age when the movie was being made) though the commentary was once again the jewel of the extras section due to the preparation and depth of knowledge supplied by Steve.

Final Thoughts: Jailhouse Rock HD-DVD is sometimes referred to as "Presley's best film" but I think it was only so in terms of the rawness of his energetic character rather than taken as a whole. Personal tastes aside, the story of a hothead convict that reclaims his life and becomes a musical sensation while stepping all over people has been done better since but will always serve as a classic Elvis flick in terms of how it forwarded his later efforts. It might be best to describe as a revamped Blackboard Jungle meets White Heat with a dash of Streets of Fire tossed in for good measure but the technical upgrades alone are worth giving this one a look for fans and casually interested folks alike.