The King!

The agony and occasional ecstasy of Elvis on-screen

It seems almost every appearance Elvis Presley ever made before a movie or TV camera is now available on video, including all 30 feature films. The problem is that for every astonishing live performance or incandescent movie moment, there's also a load of dreck that could only be appreciated by a French film critic. Still, the highlights of Presley's video oeuvre form a fascinating record of his talent, both as a singer and, surprisingly, as an actor. While almost everything Presley appeared in is interesting on some level, if only as an indication of how tragically his talent was squandered, here are the crucial tapes revealing Elvis as he ought to be remembered.

Loving You (1957)
Fictionalized version of The Elvis Presley Story, with the future King playing himself as a naive country boy who becomes a rock sensation under the tutelage of predatory Lizabeth Scott. The script, alas, is strictly from Squaresville, with lots of corn-pone condescension to its blue- collar hero. But the songs (mostly by Leiber and Stoller) are top drawer, and the production numbers are well staged. One truly amazing scene has Elvis lip-synching a jukebox version of ''Mean Woman Blues,'' then punching out a heckler in time to the music. Overall, with all its flaws, it's Presley's best film. A

Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Elvis — playing a thinly disguised version of himself again — is an ex-con who'll stop at nothing in a quest for music-business success. The picture is unconvincing on the dramatic level but has spectacular moments. The title number (Elvis choreographed it himself) is as good as its legend suggests. Even cooler is a poolside rendition of ''Baby I Don't Care,'' in which director Richard Thorpe anticipates MTV by about a quarter of a century and Presley displays enough charisma for a dozen movies. Best lines: She (after kiss): ''How dare you use such cheap tactics on me!'' He: ''That ain't tactics, honey, it's just the beast in me.'' A-

King Creole (1958)
A major director (Casablanca's Michael Curtiz), a good cast (Walter Matthau as the heavy), and a strong pulp story (featuring juvenile delinquency, Oedipal conflicts, and lots of Leiber-Stoller rock & roll songs) add up to the Elvis picture for people who hate Elvis pictures. And guess what? The kid really could act, although after this he had very few chances to prove it. A

Flaming Star (1960)
A grim, violent Western about racial prejudice, directed by Don Siegel (Dirty Harry) with his trademark panache. The script isn't half as good as it should be, but Elvis, surrounded by solid pros on all sides, gives a thoroughly convincing nonmusical performance. He might have given Steve McQueen or Clint Eastwood a run for their money if only Colonel Parker had let him try. Unlike anything else in the Presley canon. A

Wild in the Country (1961)
Elvis in Brando-land. With a script by heavyweight playwright Clifford Odets, this was clearly intended as a ''serious'' picure. And with Elvis just back from a stint with dramatic coach Lee Strasberg, parts of it do recall such Method acting monuments as The Fugitive Kind. But it's written with a tin ear for Southern patois, and in the end it feels like a glorified Sandra Dee-Troy Donahue vehicle. Still, Presley's long, nearly wordless love scene with Hope Lange is as well played as anything done at the Actors Studio. B

Viva Las Vegas (1964)
Elvis plays a race-car driver (for the first of three times) who comes to the world capital of show-biz kitsch for an encounter with the pneumatic Ann-Margret. Viva Las Vegas garnered respectful reviews when it was released, but viewed today it seems as dumb and formulaic as any other Presley vehicle of the '60s. Oh well, at least A-M is decorative. C+

Elvis: 1968 Comeback Special (1968)
Elvis returned from Hollywood purgatory and delivered a soul-cleansing ''Up yours!'' to the '60s in one of TV's most famous specials. The elaborate production numbers in the show's second half haven't aged terribly well, but the opening rockabilly jam session, with the energized star resplendent in black leather, stands among the finest music of the man's career. A-

Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii (1973)
A post-comeback live show originally seen via satellite by a worldwide audience of more than a billion (!) people. This is Elvis at the height of his Roi Soleil Las Vegas period, before the terminal rot set in but with a hint of the bloated self-parody still to come. This phase of his career is a matter of taste, but the voice remains compelling and El's band makes nice noises. B

This Is Elvis (1981)
As codirected by Andrew Solt, this is Elvis documentary as Greek tragedy, beginning with the singer's death, flashing back to staged recreations of his early years, cutting to the genuine article in full '50s-early '60s glory, and climaxing with the ghastly psychodrama of the singer's final drugged-out performances. Best scene: Elvis and a contemptuous Frank Sinatra stare across the generation gap while singing each other's signature songs. A+

— Steve Simels