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Fox Prop Guitar
In April of 1956 Elvis signed with Hal Wallis and Paramount Pictures to make movies and for his first he was loaned out to 20th Century Fox to star in "The Reno Brothers." He started production on the post civil war story in August of 1956 after finishing his last tour of Florida and New Orleans and played the younger brother of three retuning Confederate soldiers, one of which who's girl he had married after falsely hearing about his death in battle.
Much to the Colonel's delight this
resulted in the first time Elvis would record without
them, something Elvis would rectify by his next film. Much to the
delight of his fans, he pretty
much performs the music scenes complete with the gyrations and movement
he'd been noted for in his live performances.
The title of the film was ultimately changed to the name of the
song to accommodate the Colonel's marketing plan. The song,
Love Me Tender, written by Darby but credited to his wife, had hit
the top of the charts a month before the movie was released.
Though the critics didn't care much for Elvis' debut performance any
more than his music and stage appearances, the fans didn't care and the
film recouped its total costs in the first two weeks when released in
November. To accompany himself in his musical numbers Fox's
property department provided him with a rather unique and as yet
unidentified guitar. The same guitar would be used again after
returning from the Army four years later in his next film with 20th
Century Fox.
The 1960 release of Flaming
Star was Elvis' sixth film and his second after returning from
the Army. The film also starred Steve
Forrest and Barbara
Eden, probably best known from I
Dream of Jeannie. A western set in the untamed Texas
frontier, Elvis has a dramatic role as the half-breed son of a white
rancher played by John
McIntire and a Native American mother played by Dolores
del Rio.
In
addition to the title song heard in the opening credits Elvis sings one
other song early in the film, A Cane and a High Starched Collar,
with which he accompanies himself with the same prop guitar from Love
Me Tender.
Since
we can't honestly say what kind of guitar Fox provided for the films at
this point, we can only speculate what it appears to be and why it might
not.
At
first glance, the movie prop guitar is strongly reminiscent of an early Grand
concert size Harmony H162,
or a Kay, minus the pickguard and with the finish roughed
up considerably to give it a weathered and beaten look. The H162 model
was manufactured under various brand names with different configurations
from around 1940 until 1971. Besides the obvious size and
shape, several features the prop guitar shares with the H162 is the single top binding, the pinless bridge and the number of fret markers.
The
neck and headstock are reminiscent of a Martin but the
C.F.
Martin Co. has confirmed that this guitar was not one of their
models. The H162 model replaced what Harmony called their "Master"
model which featured a headstock like the prop guitar but a fairly
distinct fretboard. Also, the markers on the prop's fretboard are larger and spaced closer than similar Harmonys. In fact, the positioning
of the fret markers on the prop guitar are unlike most other guitars.
Normally markers start at the 1st, 3rd or 5th fret and
continue to the 7th, 9th and 12th and on. Oddly, on this prop
guitar, they start at the 6th fret and continue to the 8th, 10th, 13th
and on. In all likelihood the fret markers were painted on incorrectly
by the prop dept. when they initially painted and distressed the guitar.
Some
other distinguishing features of the prop guitar not found on these
Harmony models are the several soundhole rings visible in the guitars
top. Also, at the bottom of the prop guitar where the two sides meet at
the end strap button is a thin strip of mahogany or rosewood like you
might find on a Martin but was not known to be on any of the Harmonys. On the Martins,
dreadnoughts at least, this piece is normally the same material as the
binding.
Flaming Star was the last time this guitar was used. Elvis's next film Wild In the Country, his last with 20th Century Fox, would have a more contemporary setting and although another heavily dramatic role, he would sing and use another guitar in it.
This
page added August 15, 2010 is part of the section The
Movie Guitars of Elvis Presley.
Special thanks to Lew
Skinner for his identification, assistance and motivation with this page. Musician
call sheet courtesy Ger Rijff. |
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All photos on this site (that we didn't borrow) unless otherwise indicated are the property of either Scotty Moore or James V. Roy and unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited. |
