Press Release Warner Archive Collection Announcement: Harum Scarum (1965) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

COMING TO BLU-RAY FROM THE WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION JULY 30th!

1080p HD master from 4K Scan of the original negative

HARUM SCARUM (1965)
BD-50
COLOR
16x9 1.85:1
DTS HD MA 2.0
English SDH
Running time: 95 Minutes
NOT RATED
Special Features: TOM AND JERRY CARTOONS: "The Cat's Me-Ouch" (HD) and "Of Feline Bondage (HD) and the original theatrical trailer.
Cast: Elvis Presley, Mary Ann Mobley, Fran Jeffries
“Go East, Young Man“ sings showbiz star and martial arts wizard, Johnny Tyrone.
To hear is to obey. A clandestine group of called the Assassins kidnaps Johnny and whisks him to a remote Arabian realm isolated from the world for 2,000 years. Sheik meets desert chic when Elvis Presley plays Johnny and teams with former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley (Presley‘s Girl Happy co-star) in this tuneful frolic, partially shot on the original set built for Cecil B. DeMille’s 1927 epic King of Kings and directed by music movie musical veteran Gene Nelson. The kidnappers want Johnny to use his fighting finesse to kill a desert king. Johnny a hitman? No, he’s a hit, man, a top singer of songs like Kismet, Harum Holiday and nine more, all part of the jammin’, scamming, swashbuckling fun of Harum Scarum.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

Amazon.com

 

[CoolMovies]

One of the worst Elvis movies imo
A crying shame that things like Loving You isnt available on Bluray or
in HD as streaming.

 

[Justin Ray]

One of the worst Elvis movies imo
A crying shame that things like Loving You isnt available on Bluray or
in HD as streaming.

Warner Archive doesn't have the rights to release Loving You.

 

[CoolMovies]

Warner Archive doesn't have the rights to release Loving You.

I know that.
I wasnt suggesting that Warner should release it.

 

[John Hermes]

One of the worst Elvis movies imo
A crying shame that things like Loving You isnt available on Bluray or
in HD as streaming.

Yeah, not the best (Girl Happy would have been a better MGM choice) but the disc should look fantastic, as even the DVD was marvelous.

 

[Robert13]

Girl Happy or Speedway would be the best possible selections for the next Elvis BD announcement. I hope we get one of them before the year ends.

 

[LouA]

I’ll be buying this, hopefully on the way to collecting all of Elvis’s films on Blu-ray. Incidentally , I think the cover art work on these recent WBA releases is pretty classy.

 

[Broomy]

Girl Happy or Speedway would be the best possible selections for the next Elvis BD announcement. I hope we get one of them before the year ends.

On the WAC podcast George said more Elvis is coming so you might just get your wish.

 

[Nick*Z]

The latter half of Elvis' movie career was an utter derailment of his potential as a great star, exhibited in pictures like Jailhouse Rock, Loving You and Flaming Star. Such potential, totally squandered so Colonel Parker could make a buck.

I think WAC has confused classic with collectible. Yes, a certain percentage of people will buy anything Elvis, in much the same way you can find a certain percentage of the population to invest in Piero Manzoni's poop-paintings. Put bluntly, there's an audience for everything.

But WAC has such a genuine well-spring of goodies left unmined in 1080p at the expense of promoting more of something that, even in its own time was just considered disposable, and now, isn't even rated as highly as that.

Again, not saying there's no room for both. But when poop takes the place of genuine pop art, it's time for us all to give our heads and hearts a genuine shake, if only to acknowledge, there actually is a difference between good movies, great movies, bad movies, and movies that never should have been made in the first place.

 

[LouA]

On the WAC podcast George said more Elvis is coming so you might just get your wish.

Great news!

 

[DarkVader]

Darn it! I was hoping GIRL HAPPY would be next. I will wait patiently and keep the faith...SIGH

 

[John Hermes]

The latter half of Elvis' movie career was an utter derailment of his potential as a great star, exhibited in pictures like Jailhouse Rock, Loving You and Flaming Star. Such potential, totally squandered so Colonel Parker could make a buck.

I think WAC has confused classic with collectible. Yes, a certain percentage of people will buy anything Elvis, in much the same way you can find a certain percentage of the population to invest in Piero Manzoni's poop-paintings. Put bluntly, there's an audience for everything.

But WAC has such a genuine well-spring of goodies left unmined in 1080p at the expense of promoting more of something that, even in its own time was just considered disposable, and now, isn't even rated as highly as that.

Again, not saying there's no room for both. But when poop takes the place of genuine pop art, it's time for us all to give our heads and hearts a genuine shake, if only to acknowledge, there actually is a difference between good movies, great movies, bad movies, and movies that never should have been made in the first place.

The Elvis films are probably selling well. No one's a bigger Elvis fan than me, but he was a grown man and could have changed the course of his career if he really wanted to, Colonel or no Colonel.

 

[Nick*Z]

Can't underestimate Parker's influence. He negotiated Presley's merchandising and media appearances and kept an insidious watch over Presley's personal life, including Elvis' conscription, and marriage to Priscilla. Parker's push for Elvis to forego his aspirations to become a great dramatic star and pursue musicals films, was instrumental in virtually all of the mid-60's tie-ins that carried Presley's pop-appeal until his death in '77. But even after that, Parker managed Presley's estate, milking it for millions.

Yes, Elvis was a grown man. But he was also a product, pretty much preprocessed and marketed as a prized bull by Parker after the mid-50's. And just as the studio system was imploding, personal contracts between stars and agents were filling that gap with their own dictatorial style. Strong personalities didn't fall into this trap. But some very great talents did. Elvis was merely one of them.

 

[John Hermes]

Can't underestimate Parker's influence. He negotiated Presley's merchandising and media appearances and kept an insidious watch over Presley's personal life, including Elvis' conscription, and marriage to Priscilla. Parker's push for Elvis to forego his aspirations to become a great dramatic star and pursue musicals films, was instrumental in virtually all of the mid-60's tie-ins that carried Presley's pop-appeal until his death in '77. But even after that, Parker managed Presley's estate, milking it for millions.

Yes, Elvis was a grown man. But he was also a product, pretty much preprocessed and marketed as a prized bull by Parker after the mid-50's. And just as the studio system was imploding, personal contracts between stars and agents were filling that gap with their own dictatorial style. Strong personalities didn't fall into this trap. But some very great talents did. Elvis was merely one of th

Can't underestimate Parker's influence. He negotiated Presley's merchandising and media appearances and kept an insidious watch over Presley's personal life, including Elvis' conscription, and marriage to Priscilla. Parker's push for Elvis to forego his aspirations to become a great dramatic star and pursue musicals films, was instrumental in virtually all of the mid-60's tie-ins that carried Presley's pop-appeal until his death in '77. But even after that, Parker managed Presley's estate, milking it for millions.

Yes, Elvis was a grown man. But he was also a product, pretty much preprocessed and marketed as a prized bull by Parker after the mid-50's. And just as the studio system was imploding, personal contracts between stars and agents were filling that gap with their own dictatorial style. Strong personalities didn't fall into this trap. But some very great talents did. Elvis was merely one of them.

I doubt Elvis would have become the star he did without the Colonel as well. The same goes for Brian Wilson and his dad, Murray. Anyway, I hope Girl Happy, Speedway and new scans of the remaining Elvis Paramounts will come down the pike soon!

 

[Robert Harris]

Never saw him as much of an actor. I’ll agree that he was more of a homogenized product.

 

[Nick*Z]

When you view the earlier pictures, like Kid Creole, you have to admit there was potential there, left unmined once the Parker influence kicked into high gear and Elvis pics became little more than juke box catalogs and travelogues, designed as mere tie ins to sell more albums.

Could Elvis have been as good as James Dean? We'll never know. He was working on it when his career was derailed by Parker and a system that just saw him as a meal ticket, capable enough to ring registers and fatten their coffers.

I enjoy some of the latter Elvis efforts, not as great acting or even good picture making, but just as a lot of disposable fun to be had by all. Blue Hawaii is one of my all-time favorites. Ditto for Viva Las Vegas. But I draw the line at pics like It Happened at the Worlds Fair, Double Trouble and Harem Scarem. Horrendous fluff. Not even the songs are memorable.

 

[Robert13]

I'll chime in here... good actor, bad actor... at the end of the day, the point is "can you enjoy his movies without being focused on whether or not he gives an oscar-worthy performance?" I think some audiences have a very difficult time doing that. Personally (and this is just my own persona opinion), I always walk away from an Elvis movie feeling pretty damn great. I'm looking to escape into a fun-loving world of comedy, adventure and music. Many of Elvis' films were musical comedies and he was great doing comedy. The guy had a lot of charisma and whether you're a girl or a guy, you can't help liking him. The stories are what they are... I didn't care that they were done before or too similar. I was always happy watching Elvis in these roles. It's interesting to see where the chemistry worked better with his female co-stars too.
I do hope we see more of his movies on BD before the end of the year and beyond that. I would love a shelf-full of all of his movies (if only Paramount would get crackin' on what they hold).

 

[Robert13]

Darn it! I was hoping GIRL HAPPY would be next. I will wait patiently and keep the faith...SIGH

Maybe next, I hope. There are still a bunch of good ones left. Live a Little, Love a Little is also a fave of mine. It's just a fun movie showing Elvis on a more adult level than his previous films. And the dreamy musical sequence is just spectacular. I'd love to see that one in HD. I believe it's already been restored. So hopefully George already has it prepped for a release in the near future.

 

[LouA]

Maybe next, I hope. There are still a bunch of good ones left. Live a Little, Love a Little is also a fave of mine. It's just a fun movie showing Elvis on a more adult level than his previous films. And the dreamy musical sequence is just spectacular. I'd love to see that one in HD. I believe it's already been restored. So hopefully George already has it prepped for a release in the near future.

For some reason Elvis is under more intense scrutiny than most other entertainers. This is especially true of his “so called” fans. Many other entertainers made mediocre films, but people tend to not focus on them , citing their better efforts. Just the opposite with Elvis.