It's quite unusual to see anything fresh on Elvis Presley but when you see a well respected authority figure such as Alannah Nash involved, you know it's going to be worth watching. If you are a long-time fan, be prepared for some pretty unsavoury truths. What I particularly enjoyed about this was the fact that you get to hear everything from the female perspective and, hearing what these ladies have to say, the myth that was so carefully cultivated by 'Colonel Tom Parker' to protect his cash cow is well and truly shattered. In fact, once you take all the evidence into account, you cannot fail to reach an inescapable conclusion about Elvis's demise. Well worth watching.
5 Reviews
Review From a Former Fan
hsw-5926311 May 2024
Warning: Spoilers
This is basically a documentary version of the Alanna Nash book Baby Let's Play House, but not as detailed. It is interesting to see these women speak in a documentary, since they have mainly been read about in books.
One of the problems I have with Alanna Nash is her constant use of psychobabble as a means of explaining Elvis' behavior. To me, the psychology just didn't make much sense. For example, there was a part where she said something along the lines that Elvis was forever interested in 14 year olds because he was rejected by a 14 year old girl and was affected by this. Somehow that explains why he was drawn to them even as he got older. I literally said "b***s***!" out loud when she said that. There is also emphasis from her and other "scholars" that Elvis had a traumatic childhood and his close relationship with his mother caused him to never forge a long lasting relationship with one woman. To me, Elvis did not experience an unusually abusive and traumatic upbringing. Even if he did, it does not condone any of his bad behaviors. Some people may have had an unideal childhood or had close relationships with their mothers, but many do not go on to have an unhealthy interest in young teenagers.
One notable interview in the documentary is the one with Reeca Smith. The Reeca Smith story is disturbing, no matter how you dress it up. She claims that she and Elvis had a relationship when she was 14 and he was 39. Now some people may say she's lying. I personally find her credible. I've known about her for years, but this is the first time I have seen her speak on camera. The first mention of Reeca was in the Revelations of the Memphis Mafia book, except her name was misspelled as "Rise". Interestingly, she is rarely mentioned in the Elvis fan world. They either don't know about her, don't believe her story, or they blindly pass her off as somebody who had no serious relationship with Elvis. The make-out sessions that she claims occurred between them, shows that Elvis had a romantic interest in her. It is almost kind of amusing how Reeca seems to think that she's doing Elvis a favor by talking about her relationship with Elvis by saying that he bought her things and was kind to her. All she's doing is confirming that Elvis had an unhealthy interest in young teenage girls even into his late 30's. Defenders will say that "oh, well he never went past kissing her so it's all good." Come on! Their relationship was weird and inappropriate. If it was your daughter, you would not be passing it off as "sweet". I don't know if her parents knew about the kissing at the time, but they at least had the sense to put their foot down when Elvis wanted to fly her to a recording session. Reeca might have been an outlier as far as Elvis pursuing young teenage girls after his marriage. Nevertheless, it's one too many and makes you wonder if there could have been others.
I have seen complaints that some women were excluded from the documentary. Let's be honest, if every woman/girl Elvis dated was included this documentary, it would be at least 20 hours long. Lol. To be fair though, a 10-part series probably would have been a better option. All in all, an interesting watch. Warning: If you are a fan, be prepared for some unsavory revelations.
One of the problems I have with Alanna Nash is her constant use of psychobabble as a means of explaining Elvis' behavior. To me, the psychology just didn't make much sense. For example, there was a part where she said something along the lines that Elvis was forever interested in 14 year olds because he was rejected by a 14 year old girl and was affected by this. Somehow that explains why he was drawn to them even as he got older. I literally said "b***s***!" out loud when she said that. There is also emphasis from her and other "scholars" that Elvis had a traumatic childhood and his close relationship with his mother caused him to never forge a long lasting relationship with one woman. To me, Elvis did not experience an unusually abusive and traumatic upbringing. Even if he did, it does not condone any of his bad behaviors. Some people may have had an unideal childhood or had close relationships with their mothers, but many do not go on to have an unhealthy interest in young teenagers.
One notable interview in the documentary is the one with Reeca Smith. The Reeca Smith story is disturbing, no matter how you dress it up. She claims that she and Elvis had a relationship when she was 14 and he was 39. Now some people may say she's lying. I personally find her credible. I've known about her for years, but this is the first time I have seen her speak on camera. The first mention of Reeca was in the Revelations of the Memphis Mafia book, except her name was misspelled as "Rise". Interestingly, she is rarely mentioned in the Elvis fan world. They either don't know about her, don't believe her story, or they blindly pass her off as somebody who had no serious relationship with Elvis. The make-out sessions that she claims occurred between them, shows that Elvis had a romantic interest in her. It is almost kind of amusing how Reeca seems to think that she's doing Elvis a favor by talking about her relationship with Elvis by saying that he bought her things and was kind to her. All she's doing is confirming that Elvis had an unhealthy interest in young teenage girls even into his late 30's. Defenders will say that "oh, well he never went past kissing her so it's all good." Come on! Their relationship was weird and inappropriate. If it was your daughter, you would not be passing it off as "sweet". I don't know if her parents knew about the kissing at the time, but they at least had the sense to put their foot down when Elvis wanted to fly her to a recording session. Reeca might have been an outlier as far as Elvis pursuing young teenage girls after his marriage. Nevertheless, it's one too many and makes you wonder if there could have been others.
I have seen complaints that some women were excluded from the documentary. Let's be honest, if every woman/girl Elvis dated was included this documentary, it would be at least 20 hours long. Lol. To be fair though, a 10-part series probably would have been a better option. All in all, an interesting watch. Warning: If you are a fan, be prepared for some unsavory revelations.
Simply amazing stories revealing the Elvis social circle
rodkb-6275916 May 2023
I just saw this three-part documentary series on Prime today at its premier and am astounded by the story of Elvis Presley. We come to learn through people he loved and who loved him the raw human drama of his childlike personality and the loneliness he could not escape except in death. His love for his mother was his love for all women and vice versa. The devotion of his loved ones lives on, as we can clearly see by the unfolding of their stories in this film. This is a dive into the genuine Elvis Presley and not just the story of his career as historical facts. I was truly humbled by this documentary and the bigger than life reality of all the love, beyond normal boundries, his circle had for him.
NO DOCUMENTARY HAS COME THIS CLOSE...
kaywheel25 November 2023
First ever, in depth unveiling of the haunting tapestry of tragedy that was the life of Elvis Presley. The truth is paramount in this spellbinding, yet troubling production. Yes, the Emperor had on clothes--even spangles; but alas, his feet were of disintegrating clay. No documentary to date has ever come this close to unraveling the complexities and mysteries of the tangled web of the Presley Phenomenon. The first hand stories told by women who were involved in his life --including long time girl friend Linda Thompson who lived in Graceland several years and Ginger Alden, who discovered his body--are illuminating. The detail and thoroughness of the testimonies of these women along with a number of young teens who had encounters with Elvis of the questionable kind are genuine, authentic and alarming. It is a gutsy stunner. Some of the now grown women seemed to offer excuses for Elvis behavior--almost an endorsement of his actions with the attitude of "If it makes Elvis happy; anything goes"! Most of the girls said, "yes" to Elvis, but a few said, "no" -- one savvy teen walked out of his hotel room with Elvis running after her.
I wasn't a big fan of this documentary
Kaykiwis7 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I wasn't a big fan of this documentary. I don't condone any inappropriate behavior with teenage girls, but this documentary seemed to have an agenda. It left out a lot of the women Elvis did have confirmed relationships/affairs with who were of legal age or closer in age to him. June Juanico for example was an important part of Elvis's early years and she wasn't discussed at all. What about all the actresses Elvis had relationships with from his movies? I don't remember any of them being discussed other than Ann Margret. One of the reviews I saw praising this documentary on Amazon compared Elvis to the likes of Jeffrey Epstein and Alanna Nash, who I'm no big fan of either, compared Elvis to R. Kelly in this documentary. That's what I meant about this documentary having an agenda. Meanwhile Currie Grant willingly bragged about sleeping with a 14 year old Priscilla in exchange for her meeting Elvis when he was a married man and yet he's treated with kid gloves here.
In 1974 Elvis met a young black woman named Maggie Smith, bought her a car, and hired her to work at Graceland when she told Elvis she was looking for work. According to his cook Nancy Rooks they had a romance. I find it telling Maggie is never talked about in the media but some of the other stories featured in this documentary were promoted. Meh.
Edit: Here's a quote from the director of the documentary: "Elvis wasn't a groomer. He wasn't abusive. The relationships had very little to do with sex. There was not a lot of sex full stop. It wasn't a cult and no one was forced into anything". Barbara Shearer went on to state how all of the women she interviewed are "still in love" with Elvis, with them all admitting that they would "do what they did again"." It's worth noting the director initially interviewed 50 women and only like 17 of them or so made it into this documentary. Frances Forbes whose interview did make it in said on Facebook that she thought it was a terrible documentary that made Elvis look so bad when that was not the case and that she's sorry she agreed to be in it. Barbara Hearn also had a negative experience with the filmmakers when she was interviewed for this documentary. Elvis' cousin Billy Smith and his wife Jo Smith also addressed and refuted some of the claims made about Elvis in this documentary on their YouTube channel with their daughter Danielle.
In 1974 Elvis met a young black woman named Maggie Smith, bought her a car, and hired her to work at Graceland when she told Elvis she was looking for work. According to his cook Nancy Rooks they had a romance. I find it telling Maggie is never talked about in the media but some of the other stories featured in this documentary were promoted. Meh.
Edit: Here's a quote from the director of the documentary: "Elvis wasn't a groomer. He wasn't abusive. The relationships had very little to do with sex. There was not a lot of sex full stop. It wasn't a cult and no one was forced into anything". Barbara Shearer went on to state how all of the women she interviewed are "still in love" with Elvis, with them all admitting that they would "do what they did again"." It's worth noting the director initially interviewed 50 women and only like 17 of them or so made it into this documentary. Frances Forbes whose interview did make it in said on Facebook that she thought it was a terrible documentary that made Elvis look so bad when that was not the case and that she's sorry she agreed to be in it. Barbara Hearn also had a negative experience with the filmmakers when she was interviewed for this documentary. Elvis' cousin Billy Smith and his wife Jo Smith also addressed and refuted some of the claims made about Elvis in this documentary on their YouTube channel with their daughter Danielle.
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