TCBCast 280: Elvis' Best Movie? The Lost Country (Wild in the Country Review, Part 1)

Ryan reports in on his recent trip to Graceland and Memphis, Bec gives her initial impressions of the new documentary "Reinventing Elvis: The '68 Comeback Special" (which releases today, August 15, on Paramount Plus in the US) and the gang begins to dig into the first part of 1961 drama "Wild in the Country," starring Elvis, Tuesday Weld, Hope Lange, Millie Perkins, John Ireland, Gary Lockwood and a highly publicized cameo by Olympic athlete and actor Rafer Johnson. Wildly underperforming at the box office compared to Paramount's G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii, Wild in the Country has quietly occupied an unusual spot in Elvis' filmography, but was there ever actually anything wrong with it, or did it just not pander to expectations of who and what Elvis should be in the early 60s? Bec also gave the obscure book that inspired the film, "The Lost Country" by J.R. Salamanca, a read, and together she and Justin (who previously read it in 2021) report in on some of the major differences in plot, character and overall structure. If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. If you are unable to support us via Patreon, but want to support us another way, please make sure to leave a positive review or mention our show to another like-minded music/movie history enthusiast.