Allan Arkush’s not-available-on-DVD 1997 feature!
Without being boring, the facts are these: in 1997, Allan Arkush made a TV movie — aptly titled Elvis Meets Nixon – about the time Elvis Presley met Richard Nixon. It’s a comedy. TFH favorite Kevin McCarthy pops up uncredited as Deep Throat. And, as far as I know, the film’s not currently available for viewing in anywhere, unless you happen to have a cable package that includes Showtime Beyond.
Rick Peters is Elvis Presley and Bob Gunton is Richard Nixon in this true story that’s stranger than fiction. For a few days in 1970, the King stole away from his high-profile life for a clandestine meeting with the president and one of history’s oddest photo opportunities. A comic gem from director Allan Arkush.
There’s a version of this story currently kicking around Hollywood with Eric Bana attached to star, but why not catch the sure-to-be-funnier and more original take on it by watching Allan Arkush’s film? It plays Thursday, January 12th; Tuesday, January 17th; Friday, January 20th; and Wednesday, January 25th. Check the listings and set your DVRs. (The film plays in the morning.)
Here are a couple Elvis flicks we’ve run on the site.
Don Coscarelli – also no stranger to movies about Elvis — on King Creole
Allison Anders on Jailhouse Rock
[Special thanks for the heads up to @bobfreelander over on The Twitter, whose blog "Rupert Pupkin Speaks..." has been running a killer series of top 2011 personal cinematic discoveries, including his own.]
