Elvis Presley Love Me Tender Standee (20th Century Fox, 1956). ...

Description

Elvis Presley Love Me Tender Standee (20th Century Fox, 1956). A six foot tall heavy die-cut cardboard display showing Presley in a singing and guitar playing pose from the film; an inset near the bottom reads: "Elvis Presley as he appears in his first motion picture Love Me Tender from 20th Century-Fox in CinemaScope". The film was originally slated to be called The Reno Brothers but was changed to the title of the song that had already achieved over a million advance sales. Elvis was third-billed behind Richard Egan and Debra Paget in this Civil War-era drama, but would be top-billed on all of his remaining 32 films. Reportedly at the Memphis advance screening, Elvis's beloved mother Gladys cried at the death of his Clint Reno character at the end of the film. This led to Presley insisting that none of his future characters would die onscreen.
These standees were made in limited numbers to be placed in the lobbies of movie theaters showing the singer's first motion picture, released in November 1956. If one of these survived the hordes of screaming girls walking by it, then it would be shipped to the next theater for another run. It's understandable that not many of them actually survived; only a handful of these are known extant. This one is intact, folded at the center as issued, with general wear around, some minor soiling, and tears at his right elbow and leg. Still, an imposing and impressive item for display in your collection and one of the rarest of all pieces of Elvis movie memorabilia. Don't miss this one.

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