#Hal Kanter

[burninlovebutler]

// synchronicities pt. 13

So I kinda made a post similar to this [here] about their similarities when they’re described by fans but when I saw this Elvis quote from his director, it immediately reminded me of a quote I saw about Austin on set a while ago.

To me this is one of the biggest “synchronicities” they have - their humbleness, kindness, patience, etc. There are so many stories & quotes for both of them proving this. While their personalities are obviously quite different, I find it interesting that they are often described so similarly in their interactions with others.

“Not cocky at all.”

Elvis with fans on set of Loving You (1957)

"On set, Elvis was not cocky at all. Once he was told what to do, he did it, and did it very well. He was very playful between setups (but) he came on set knowing his lines.

If anyone had a suggestion, he would always entertain it. He was a delight to work with - very intuitive and prompt. He showed up. That's a big step in anybody's movie career - just showing up on time"

-Director Hal Kanter

"Without a shred of arrogance."

Austin with Donal Logue & Miranda Cosgrove on set of Intruders (2015)

“There was an old guitar in the room we shot this pic in. I tuned it up and started messing around and Austin complimented my rudimentary skills.

Later that day, when everyone was at lunch, I walked in the house and heard someone tearing it up on the guitar. I climbed the stairs, peeked my head in the door, and saw it was Austin.

That private moment told me so much about the young man. He is deeply talented, without a shred of arrogance.

Earlier, he didn't say anything about his skill on the guitar or seek to step in and show us all what he could do. He waited until the house was empty, found a corner, and made it sing.

Gracious, soft spoken, and insanely talented, Austin is proof (stealing a Tim Minear quote) that ‘God does indeed give with both hands’.”

-Costar, Donal Logue

[oldshowbiz]

1999.

Hal Kanter spends over 20 minutes introducing this panel featuring Albert Brooks, Harry Shearer, Janeane Garofalo, James L. Brooks, David Zucker, and Norm Macdonald.

[hooked-on-elvis]

"HOT DOG"

"THE DAY ELVIS BLEW HIS TOP!"

Elvis' photo shoot for "Loving You" (Paramount 1957)

Elvis Presley: Loving You album, released in June 1957

Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for Elvis' second movie score, "Hot Dog" was recorded at the Paramount Scoring Stage on mid-January 1957. According to Ernst Jorgensen in "Elvis Presley: A Life In Music", the song "lasted all of a minute and twelve seconds but took seventeen takes to record".

Recording it must have been tiring, but the hard work with this track wasn't over at the end of the recording session. It would follow to the filming of the movie (from January 21 to March 8, 1957).

(1) Elvis' during filming of "Loving You" (Early 1957). (2) Page from article for the Silver Screen magazine (1957)

HERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF HOW IT WAS FILMING THE COUNTRY FAIR SEQUENCE FOR "LOVING YOU" — THE "HOT DOG" PERFORMANCE — ACCORDING TO A 1957 MAGAZINE ARTICLE:

THE DAY ELVIS BLEW HIS TOP! When he's restrained by strict demand of movie-making, Elvis has got to explode somewhere, somehow - and explode he did! By Viola Swisher "Hot Dog!" That's how the lyrics go. Singing them, Elvis Presley spun into a forward lunge, one arm out-thrust, eyes afire. Hypnotized... hypnotizing. Hot dog? What did the words matter? Elvis exploded them as if some overwhelming earth force had hit him right in the heart. He hunched over to hug the sensation to himself. He swayed with the eternal rhythm of nature. Elvis was blazing through the action of his pre-recorded song "Hot Dog," featured in a country fair sequence of "Loving You," his new Hal Wallis picture for Paramount. Director [and co-writer] Hal Kanter called for a full rehearsal using about fifty extras bouncing and juggling to Presley's music at the fair. "All right" shouted an assistant. "Places, everybody." "Let's try it," Kanter nodded to the star. "Well, here's where I get censored," quietly commented Elvis in his understated, off-screen manner. But only a few alert ears caught the remark. He gave an experimental leg-quiver and looked at the director for an okay. Kanter shook his head in a pantomimed "no". What followed was a running series of dilutions, deletions and compromises for Elvis. Charles O'Curran, a top-rated dance director staging the routine, tried to make up some "typical Elvis Presley" action for the number. Only he kept getting nowhere. The more he struggled to gear the Presley-style to Hollywood's cameras, the more static and inhibited Elvis became. Things grew just a litle bit tense. Head lowered, the singer rolled his velvety eyes upward to level off at Charlie. Not a word exchanges. None was needed. Elvis remained quiet and courteous. No throwing his weight around. No acting big-big. Only his eyes making the polite plea: "Don't tell me how to do my stuff." Presley and O'Curran tried over and over again to get together on the routine. Elvis was aware of what he wanted, yet because it wasn't natural for him he couldn't get with it.

Excerpt from article on the Silver Screen magazine (1957 issue) , pg. 45.

More was written in this article about the filming of "Loving You", possibly something more about how the filming of the scene went on until the final result but I, unfortunately, haven't found the following pages online. I guess the most important story was told by this excerpt anyways. They got the scene. We know they did. I wonder tho how Charles O'Curran had imagined the number. What we see Elvis doing onscreen while singing "Hot Dog" is more Elvis acting like himself or something like Charles wanted him to look like?

Pictures of the outfit Elvis wore to perform "Hot Dog" and, below, the King performing the song in scene featured in his second movie, "Loving You" (1957).

Scene from movie "Loving You" (Paramount Pictures 1957), starring Elvis Presley, Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey. Directed by Hal Kanter. Screenplay by Herbert Baker and Hal Kanter. Story by Mary Agnes Thompson. Produced by Hal B. Wallis.

"HOT DOG" — LYRICS

Hot dog, you say you're really coming back Hot dog, I'm waiting at the railway track Hot dog, you say you're coming home for good Hot dog, I'm going to keep knocking on wood And baby, I can hardly wait I'm gonna meet you at the gate, hot dog I fell in love with you and then you went away But now you're coming home to stay Hot dog, soon everything will be all right Hot dog, we're gonna have a ball tonight I've got a pocketful of dimes It's gonna be just like old times, hot dog You went away and every day was misery But now you're coming back to me Hot dog, my heart is gonna go insane Hot dog, when you come walking off the train Oh how lonely I have been But when that Santa Fe pulls in Hot dog, baby, baby, hot dog

Lyrics by Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FURTHER INFO - WHAT DOES 'HOT DOG' MEAN?

I'm not American, and that's why I don't get slangs in English right away (and that's also why you'll find typos in my writing, sorry 'bout that). So, until this very moment, I never understood why the song was entitled "Hot Dog". I found it so silly... I thought about the food, not gonna lie, but I just googled the word and, in slang, it seems 'hot dog' can mean someone who's dangerous, a daredevil or something. So, the poetic persona in the song is calling out the lady for leaving him for a while. I guess that's it. Probably many already got it from the start (and if I got it wrong, please, correct me) but this note is here just in case someone needs an explanation. Oh, I also found an article about the meanings of "hot dog" as a slang, over the years. It's really interesting. Like I say, Elvis is always directly or indirectly teaching me something. Read more about the meanings for 'hot dog' here: today.com/food/hot-dog-meanings.

--

UPDATE - May 22, 2024: @thetaoofzoe and @lookingforrainbows helped us with this one. THANK YOU SO MUCH, BABIES. ♥ According to dear @thetaoofzoe, "I'm under the impression that 'hot dog' here means he's expressing delight or excitement about the girl coming back. Like a 'yay! I'm so excited'" and then I read @lookingforrainbows with: "hot dog in this case might mean ‘I’m so excited’. It was a saying in the 50s to mean something like ‘wow! that’s awesome’" -- There you go, friends! Solved!

[lllsaslll]

"On set, Elvis was not cocky at all. Once he was told what to do, he did it, and did it very well. He was very playful between set-ups (but) he came on set knowing his lines. If anyone had a suggestion, he would always entertain it. He was a delight to work with - very intuitive and prompt. He showed up. That's a big step in anybody's movie career - just showing up on time"

-Director Hal Kanter

[citizenscreen]

Elvis Presley and Dolores Hart on set of LOVING YOU (1957), co-written and directed by Hal Kanter.

[thatbanditqueen]

Favorite Brooding Young E ?

Talking with Hal Kanter, the writer/director of Loving You, from Alanna Nash's Baby Let's Play House.

Elvis had a question for him. Was his character, Deke Rivers, required to smile much in the movie?

“What do you mean, do you have to smile?”

“Well, I’ve been watching a lot of movies. People like Jimmy Dean and Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando. Good actors. They hardly ever smile. And the women love ’em, because they don’t smile.”

Elvis brought the director up short. That had never occurred to him, but Elvis was right.

“He said, ‘When I smile, I want it to be an event.’ And I said, ‘Very well put.’ ”

I don't know, I mean, I kind of get it. Smiling is for losers, looking angry and pensive is hot.

These are just a few of my favorites of Elvis posing in his signature too cool for school stance, what are yours? Reblog and share!

Tagging a few peeps but anyone can participate!

@whositmcwhatsit @be-my-ally @ellie-24 @vintageshanny @powerofelvis @missmaywemeetagain @from-memphis-with-love @loving-elvis @doll-elvis @amydarcimarie @kingdomforapony @lookingforrainbows @richardslady121 @c-rosenn @deke-rivers-1957 @everythingelvispresley

[byneddiedingo]

Shirley MacLaine, Jerry Lewis, Dorothy Malone, Dean Martin in Artists and Models (Frank Tashlin, 1955)

Cast: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Shirley MacLaine, Dorothy Malone, Eddie Mayehoff, Eva Gabor, Anita Ekberg, George Winslow, Jack Elam. Screenplay: Herbert Baker, Hal Kanter, Frank Tashlin, Don McGuire, based on a play by Michael Davidson and Norman Lessing. Cinematography: Daniel L. Fapp. Art direction: Tambi Larsen, Hal Pereira. Film editing: Warren Low. Music: Walter Scharf; songs: Jack Brooks, Harry Warren. 

[travsd]

A History of Hal Williams

A History of Hal Williams

There is a rumor, started by producer Hal Kanter, that at the start of his career black actor Hal Williams (b.1938) was fired from an episode of The Jimmy Stewart Show by its star because he was uncomfortable with the idea of his screen character being lectured to by a person of color. I quoted this in a talk I gave a few months ago, which I half regret, because to this day, Kanter’s one remark…

[clickyourradio]

A song originally recorded by Doris Day, which was the theme from the 1963 movie Move Over, Darling, starring Doris Day, James Garner and Polly Bergen, was released as a single the same year. The song was written by Doris Day's son, Terry Melcher, along with Hal Kanter and Joe Lubin. In 1983, Tracey Ullman released a version of the song as a single and on the album 'You Broke My Heart in 17 Places'.

[wahwealth]

Elvis Presley | Lizabeth Scott | Loving You (1957) | Full length Musical Drama

Loving You is a 1957 American musical drama film directed by Hal Kanter and starring Elvis Presley, Lizabeth Scott, and Wendell Corey. The film was Presley's first major starring role, following his debut in a supporting role in the 1956 film Love Me Tender. The film follows a delivery man who is discovered by a music publicist and a country–western musician who wants to promote the talented newcomer. Never Miss An Upload, Join the channel.

[joshuamyra]

Loving You is a 1957 American musical drama film directed by Hal Kanter and starring Elvis Presley, Lizabeth Scott, and Wendell Corey. The film was Presley's first major starring role, following his debut in a supporting role in the 1956 film Love Me Tender.

Great collectors item, at a great price!!!!

[oldshowbiz]

The Jimmy Stewart Show (1971) with special guest star Vincent Price

[adscinema]

Blue Hawaii - Norman Taurog (1961)

Poster

[20th-century-man]

Diana Dors / publicity photo for Hal Kanter’s I Married a Woman (1958)

[gatutor]

Dolores Hart-Elvis Presley "Loving you" 1957, de Hal Kanter.

[sala66]

Loving You, de Hal Kanter, 1957