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sissylittlefeather · 1 year ago

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Time for a little brain break! I'll come back to How the Web Was Woven soon!

Lover Doll: A Danny Fisher Story

A/N: I know this is like the least creative name for a Danny Fisher (from King Creole) fic but whatever lol. This is a dirty (and borderline inappropriate oops) little thing I wrote just for the hell of it. Hopefully some of y'all enjoy it. I like to imagine this is where Danny gets his affection for older women 🤭

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI!, inappropriate relationship (BUT EVERYONE IS OF LEGAL AGE), kissing, cussing, fingering, oral sex (f & m receiving), p in v penetrative sex, unprotected sex, swallowing

Word count: ~2.5k

Unfamiliar with Danny? Here ya go:

You were nervous to start teaching in the beginning, but by your third year you'd settled into your position fairly well. At 25, you finally felt like you had enough years between you and your high school students to make your authority legitimate.

And then they transferred Danny Fisher into your class. Danny had struggled in school, so he hadn't graduated when he was supposed to. That meant he was 19 when he sauntered into your math class and sat at the back. His heavily-lidded eyes and flyaway hair were enough to make you swoon, but you tried to look away.

He ignores you for the most part, until you call him by name to answer a question. You're determined to treat him just like any other student, despite the way your stomach flip flops when you look at him.

"Aw, Miss, I don't-" Just then he glances up and makes eye contact with you. Your cheeks flush and he loses the second half of his sentence. A couple of seconds pass and you realize what's happening.

"Never mind, Danny. Anyone else know the answer?" Class continues like normal until the bell rings at the end. He's in your last class of the day, so you're prepared to drop into your chair once all the kids leave, but he stays behind.

"Miss, you got a second?"

"Sure, Danny. What do you need?" You ask, heart in your throat.

"I didn't know teachers could be so young."

"Oh. Well, yes, I suppose."

"And pretty." You feel the blush rise in your cheeks again.

"Did you have a question?" He seems to be searching for something he can ask.

"Can you help me with those equations from earlier?" He smiles and his dimple catches you completely off guard. Then, he sits down at a desk in the front of the room and opens his math textbook.

"Oh, sure, Danny." Without thinking, you lean over the desk to see which questions he's talking about. When you do, he can see down the front of your dress. He takes a quick peek and then looks away, clearing his throat. You realize what just happened and stand up as quickly as possible. Now it's his turn to blush. He stands up from the desk holding his book in front of his lap, you suspect in an effort to hide himself.

"I have to get to work. We'll have to look at the equations another time." He smiles again and hurries from your room. When the door closes behind him, you can't help but laugh.

******

You continue this way for a month, with him staying after school as often as possible for tutoring. But what starts as a mild flirtation gets stronger and stronger every time.

At one point he accidentally calls you "honey" when he gets frustrated with a question. He instantly apologizes, but you just laugh. Secretly, you love it and wish he would do it again.

You know it's wrong. He's your student. But he's also a grown man and your reaction to him is uncontrollable. You're used to 17-year-old boys who are basically big toddlers. Danny is only two years older than that, but he's worked more hours than you have. Nothing about him feels like a boy.

******

One day, you stand looking out the classroom window while he's at the blackboard. You're feeling particularly sorry for yourself and the situation you're in with him. The attraction is undeniable, but nothing will ever come of it. He notices that you seem sad today, so he puts the chalk down and walks up behind you. He stands close enough for you to feel his breath on your neck. You can tell by the way he stands there that he wants to touch you, to put his arms around your waist or his hands on your hips, but he doesn't. Not yet.

"You alright, Miss y/l/n?" You take a deep breath before answering him. You wish he would touch you.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just..." You turn to face him and he's even closer than you thought. You look up into his face. All he would have to do is lean down a few inches and his lips would be on yours.

"Can I..." His eyes flick down to your mouth. You're just about to tell him yes when he leans in just enough and presses his lips to yours gently. His hands shake a little, but he reaches out and puts them on your hips. He pulls back for a second, checking to make sure you don't want him to stop and then kisses you again, more passionately this time, sliding his hands back behind you and pulling your body in close to his. You break the kiss and pull back away from him.

"Danny, wait. This is wrong."

"Wrong? It doesn't feel wrong?"

"I'm your teacher." You look down at your feet.

"Hey." He tips your chin up with his hand and looks into your eyes. "Listen. You're a woman. I'm a man. This feels right to me. Does it feel right to you?"

"Yes." You nod. "But that doesn't mean it is."

"Y/n... can I call you by your name?" You nod again. "Y/n, you make me feel things I've never felt before. That can't be wrong."

"Oh, yes it can. Surely you know..." Then a thought occurs to you. You look at him with your head cocked to the side. Then, you walk backwards away from him and perch on the edge of your desk.

"Danny, you say I make you feel things you've never felt before. Have you ever been with a woman?" You try to look into his eyes but he avoids you. He looks down and tries to hide the fact that he's blushing.

"No." He answers with a tone of slight annoyance. Then he looks back up into your face. "But that doesn't mean I can't or won't. I want to. I want to be with you."

"Oh, Danny. I'm just not sure that's a good idea. I am your teacher-"

"Then teach me." He wraps himself around you again and kisses you deeply, his tongue sliding into your mouth. "Teach me, please." He whispers when he pulls back from the kiss.

Your eyes flick between his and you want nothing more than to say yes. Your body is screaming at you to kiss him again and rip his clothes off. You know it's wrong, but you're not sure if you care anymore. Can something that feels so right really be wrong?

Finally, you nod and he looks at you eagerly. His hands go to your hips and he pushes against you as he kisses you passionately. He kisses down your neck and reaches behind you to unzip your dress. He pulls the top of your dress down so that you're only in your bra from the waist up. You push his t-shirt up and over his head and off. His chest has the smallest patch of soft hair and you're reminded how young he is. But just when you're about to back out again, he pulls your hips away from the desk and lets your dress fall to the floor at your feet. Now you stand there in nothing but your bra and panties. He takes you in slowly and looks at you hungrily like he might devour you if he could.

You nervously glance at the classroom door. It's closed and you know that by now the building is empty. And then a thought occurs to you.

"Don't you have to be at work soon?"

"No." He responds firmly and dives into a deep kiss, his hands running up and down your body. They tremble slightly, but he hopes you ignore it as he slides them up to hold your breasts. You reach down and feel his hard cock pressing against his jeans. When you touch him, he backs out of the kiss and whimpers a bit.

"Danny, do you know what happens next?" You ask quietly as you stroke him. He grunts and nods.

"Yes, I do."

As if to show you that he does, he slips his fingers, still slightly trembling, under the waistband of your panties and pushes one finger into you. You moan softly as he adds a second finger and pumps them in and out of you slowly.

"Yes, don't stop." You whisper. He nods and keeps working his hand as you close your eyes and continue to stroke him through his pants. After a few more seconds, you use both hands to undo his zipper and push them down his legs. He steps out of them and you look at him in just his underwear with his hand in your panties. He might be 19 and a virgin, but his body is that of a man and it elicits a physical response from you that he can feel with his fingers. He smiles and kisses your shoulder gently.

You reach back and undo your bra, letting it drop to the floor. He stops moving his hand for a second as he takes in your naked breasts. You put your hand back on him and feel his cock twitch. He whimpers again.

"I want to kiss you, but not on your lips."

"Where, then?"

"Everywhere." He looks into your eyes almost pleadingly.

"Then kiss me, Danny." He kisses your mouth once before leaving a trail of hot kisses on your neck down to your chest. He runs his tongue in a circle around one nipple and ghosts his lips across your skin to the other one, pulling it into his mouth gently. But he doesn't stop there. He gets on his knees and kisses down your stomach, pulling his fingers out of you and dragging your panties down your legs. Then, he leans you back against the desk a little and spreads your legs, kissing your center. He leans his forehead against your lower stomach.

"I've never done this before. How do I... what do you...?"

"Just kiss me. With your tongue. Here." You put your finger on your clit and rub it in circles, so he will know what to do. He nods and leans forward again, pressing his mouth to you. He begins to move his tongue over and around your clit and you have to bite your lower lip to keep from crying out.

"Like this?"

"God, yes, don't stop!" He smiles and presses a finger into you again while he licks you. He pumps his finger in and out while he moves his tongue feverishly on your clit. You feel the coil of your orgasm tighten in your belly and he keeps on licking you. The coil snaps and you gasp.

"Yes! Yes! Oh, Danny, yes!" You moan as quietly as you can, while you come hard in his mouth. He feels your walls flutter and pulse around his fingers.

"W-w-was that good?" He looks up at you from his place between your legs and you almost melt.

"Yes!" He smiles and kisses your hip and then stands up, wiping his face with his hand. You push his underwear down and watch his cock bounce free. He closes his eyes and bites his bottom lip when you reach out and palm his dick, sliding his foreskin back.

"You're sure this is what you want, Danny?" His eyes pop open and he looks at you desperately.

"Honey, I've never wanted anything more." He lifts you by the hips and sets you on the desk. You pull his hips in between your legs and line him up with your entrance. He holds you and pushes into you slowly, grunting when he fills you fully. His cock is bigger than you expected and you moan at the sensation of him hitting the most sensitive place inside you. He pulls back and pushes into you again deeply. Then, he picks up the pace a little and starts to slam his hips into you passionately. Your breasts bounce with his rhythm and he leans down and kisses your chest again while he fucks into you.

"Yes, honey, goddamn, that feels good." He puts his hand on the side of your neck and runs his thumb over your lips. His hips pound into yours over and over, his cock sliding in and out of you rhythmically. He looks down at the place where you're connected and groans. The sight of himself moving in and out of you is enough to almost push him over the edge. But you're not finished with him yet.

"Oh, no honey, what're you doing?"

You push him backwards out of you and then around to the chair on the other side of the desk. He falls into the chair and you crawl on top of him, one leg on either side of him, and sink down onto his dick with your hands on his shoulders. "Oh." He moans breathlessly as you begin to bounce on him. His hands go to your breasts, squeezing them gently and teasing your nipples with his thumb and fingers.

"Do you like this, Danny?" You ask, your voice dripping with desire like the sweetest honey. He nods and whimpers, leaning forward to kiss your neck.

"Yes, I love it." He whispers as he nuzzles you just below your ear. You switch to rolling your hips, pushing him deeper and deeper inside you. He puts his hands on your hips while you ride him. "'M bout to come, doll."

You stand up off of him and he whines desperately.

"No..."

But then you get on your knees and put your mouth around his cock and he inhales sharply. You bounce your mouth on him vigorously and then pull all of him into you, letting him hit the back of your throat.

"Oh, fuck, y/n!" He cries out as he comes hard in your mouth and you swallow it down. You lick around the head of his cock one last time and then stand up. He pulls you down into his lap and cups your face in his hand.

"Honey, that was..." You smile and he kisses you softly. He presses his forehead to yours. "Thank you."

You sit there like that naked together for a while before you speak again.

"Danny, we can't tell anyone about this."

"I know. We can do it again sometime, though, right?"

"I don't know. We probably shouldn't have done it this time."

"Shhh." He holds your face again. "Yes, we should've. You mean more to me than just this. I think I'm fallin' for you." You feel the tears gather in your eyes.

"Oh, Danny..."

"I am. So stop sayin' it's wrong." You kiss him again and he holds you tightly. Finally, you stand up and start to gather your clothes, tears falling down your face silently.

"Why're you cryin', doll?" He stands up and you look into his eyes.

"Because I'm falling for you too." He wraps you in his arms again and you cry against his chest. You know that nothing can come from this, but right now, he's yours and you're his.

In this moment, nothing else matters.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taglist: wasn't sure on some of these, so sorry if I tag you and you didn't want to be tagged!

@ccab @elvisfatass @elvisalltheway101 @aliypop @18lkpeters @dkayfixates @ashtag6887 @your-nanas-house @deniseinmn @joshuntildawn13 @lookingforrainbows @60svintage @littlehoneyposts @epthedream69 @tacozebra051

#elvis presley fanfiction #elvis fanfic #elvis smut #elvis presley fic #danny fisher #Danny fisher fic #Danny fisher fanfiction #king creole #elvis presley smut #elvis fanfiction

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deke-rivers-1957 · 9 hours ago

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King Creole Review

There's a lot of history with this movie. Based on the Harold Robbins book A Stone for Danny Fisher, Hal Wallis bought the rights to make a movie with the intent on casting James Dean in 1955. However, with the death of James Dean in that same year, this movie was initially canceled. It wasn't until Hal heard of the successful off-Broadway version in 1957 that Elvis was considered for the lead role. Production was very troubled due to Elvis getting his draft notice a month before filming began. To avoid losing money that was already invested, Elvis had to get a 60 day deferment.

With Elvis officially able to film, the plot had to be retooled to fit Elvis' southern roots including changing the setting to New Orleans as well as making him a singer instead of a Jewish boxer. This movie has the luxury of being filmed in New Orleans' French Quarter with the Fisher family living right on the infamous Bourbon Street. Given the nature of the original story, famous director Micheal Curtiz was selected in addition to well experienced cast. Once filming was completed, Elvis was officially inducted into the army only two weeks later. Considered by fans as the most cinematic Elvis movie, does it deserve the title as the best Elvis movie or is this movie overrated and a complete rush job to cash in on Elvis astronomical rise to fame? Let's find out.

We are immediately greeted by pure New Orleans aesthetics with various black street vendors singing about their wares. I know it's not on the official soundtrack so I'm lumping it in with "Crawfish" as it marks the first time we ever get a duet in an Elvis movie. When I think about that song, I actually don't think about Elvis. I think about Kitty White and all of the vendors vocals. I was impressed that we emphasize the history of New Orleans by focusing on the French Quarter as that's the oldest neighborhood in the city. I couldn't think of a better way to start the film off.

Danny and his family are introduced and we're told that both Danny as well as his sister Mimi have to work. Ever since their mother died, Mr. Fisher couldn't keep a job to save his life. You can tell this is a dated movie because programs that would've at least slightly helped this family wouldn't exist until the 1960s. Heck food stamps wouldn't even exist until 1964. While there were programs meant for unemployment and dependent children, it's obvious that they don't qualify for that. Even if they did, the apartment they live in is all they can afford. It's a very bad place to be in so of course you understand why Danny wants to graduate and start working full time.

Before going to school, Danny works a couple hours at a nightclub as a bus boy. We see based on the sign outside as Danny walks in that it's interestingly enough called the Gilded Cage. The name as we'll find out is more than fitting. Some men are completely drunk and one of them wants to dance with a woman named Ronnie. The interaction makes you feel very uncomfortable because you know that while Danny can just keep his head down to avoid trouble, the situation was getting wildly out of hand. So to avoid having to listen to Ronnie getting beat, he decides to sing. It's incredible how right off the bat, this movie doesn't hesitate to build off the gritty nature Jailhouse Rock tried to develop.

"Steadfast, Loyal And True" feels like a moment of irony. Danny is being made fun of for going to school. Ironically it also represents Danny's innocence. It still doesn't stop the man from hitting Ronnie again and we see Danny directly get himself involved so the situation doesn't continue to escalate. He makes sure that Ronnie is safe on his way back to school. Yet when he does get in trouble for getting into a fight, the teacher decides to fail him. The principal goes along with it as if there was no other alternative and he has no authority to overrule her judgement since they didn't even hear Danny's side yet. Danny wouldn't have gotten into that fight, if he didn't get Ronnie out of there. And now he's being punished by a system that's meant to keep kids off the streets. Had Danny been allowed to graduate, none of this would've happened. But because it didn't, we are seeing Danny come to a point in life where he's questioning if doing the right thing is worth it anymore.

Deciding to quit school, Danny runs into Shark's gang. Shark gets mad because Danny punched his brother. We get introduced to his two lackeys, Sal and Dummy. Naturally there's a lot wrong with a man being called Dummy when he's very clearly mute (or at the very least has severe issues with speaking), but this is 1958. People with disabilities were treated poorly on a regular basis to the point of it being normalized. While Shark wants to get even for what Danny did to his brother, Danny doesn't mess around by immediately pinning Shark against the wall. Having a certain amount of respect, Shark offers to let Danny in with the gang about a possible job. Danny still wanting to have a good moral standing of course says no and heads home.

As soon as he gets home, everyone's disappointed to hear that he wouldn't graduate. Somehow Mr. Fisher makes an agreement with the principal that Danny can graduate after one semester if he can get the job at the pharmacy. That's right his dad's a pharmacist and you really start to question what on earth he did with his life if they fell on hard times that fast. I know that they lived in the French Quarter for 3 years because he went into a depressive state and couldn't work, but you seriously have to question on how someone can go to medical school to get a pharmaceutical degree and not have any kind of nest egg saved up. Even back in the 1950s, people in the medical field would've been comfortably well off. But regardless, I get why you have this since you need to have Danny make it very clear why he's so aggressive. Mr. Fisher has no backbone or self respect that even when he gets punched in the face, he didn't do anything about it.

To prove his point that he'll never end up spineless like his father, Danny decides to join Shark's gang. While he doesn't actually steal anything, he does sing "Lover Doll" to distract the crowd. I have no idea why the entire store gets distracted by this but it works. I also have no idea why a nickel and dime store would have anything expensive like watches or jewelry but at that point you just have to say "whatever". So to avoid suspicion, Danny hangs around the counter where he meets Nellie. For some reason, she says that she knew he was in on it, but doesn't do anything about it. I admit this whole scene is just weird but we have so much movie left that you kind of forget about this. I'm also just realizing that if Nellie is just now meeting Danny for the first time, yet we see that she's in walking distance from her house, she's older than Danny. The Fisher's lived in that apartment for 3 years and that school looks small enough where everybody knows everybody. For all we know she could be Mimi's age.

Meanwhile we get a very blatant case of ageism in the workforce. Mr. Fisher goes to the pharmacy for a job and if it wasn't for the head pharmacist's boss saying if he's qualified he should get the job, he wouldn't have gotten the job. Mr. Primont outright says that he wanted a younger man to Mr. Fisher's face. Throughout the movie we see that Mr. Primont only wants a younger man so he can train them to do it his way. It's pretty progressive to not pull any punches when showing this. They do not hesitate to make it clear that Mr. Fisher is being discriminated because of his age as opposed to a genuine display of incompetence. In fact, Mr. Primont's boss makes it a point to say that Mr. Fisher shouldn't be judged by his age or by the quality of his suit but his competence and that they've gone through a lot of younger pharmacists that couldn't cut it. So Mr. Primont begrudgingly hires him.

Later that night Danny runs into Ronnie again but also finally meets his boss, Maxie Fields. Maxie being the jealous type, thought she was cheating on him with Danny. She tries to make it clear that things were innocent as she heard him sing and Danny of course goes along with it. After all, any decent human being who already saw someone like Ronnie getting abused would do what it takes to make sure it doesn't happen again. Calling his bluff, Maxie wants Danny to sing right on stage. I genuinely think "Trouble" has one of the most natural build ups in an Elvis movie. It's a character defining song as you get the idea that Danny is singing it directly to Maxie. The black jazz musicians also showcases the sense of scale where people of color aren't just used as window dressing to fill in the shot. If Danny was asked to sing a capella or with the Blue Moon Boys cameoing as his back up band, it wouldn't work. It would feel like an Elvis song. But because we did get black jazz musicians to reflect the New Orleans setting, this is no longer an Elvis song but Danny's. And he makes his point loud and clear.

He gets introduced to Charlie LeGrand who owns the King Creole and offers Danny a job. In an act of foreshadowing, Maxie comes in and says that even if Danny leaves he'll always get what he wants. Knowing that Danny can sing, Maxie of course would want him too. Danny leaves the club as he doesn't want to make a rash decision and we see more of Shark's gang as well as a blatant case of ableism. Shark doesn't want to give Dummy (which I'm not calling him for the rest of this review) his equal share of the money made from their theft and that he should be thankful to be getting anything. But that's where we get Danny making the decision to step up and take the money out of Shark's hand so he can give it to the man. This is where Danny shines as a character since we see that even when he does something wrong, he still has some morality to him. While he did participate in the larceny, he also made sure that the money was distributed fairly even though he knew this would put him in Shark's bad graces. There will be times when he very easily could've made a bad moral decision if it benefited him, but instead tried to keep kind.

Danny picks up Nellie after work and we get another instance of him making a bad decision but still keep kind. When he takes her to the motel, he pays the man at the front desk to get a room. Obviously his intention was to bed her, but Nellie starts getting nervous. Once he sees that she while she does like him, she isn't ready for that type of relationship he backs off. Even though he just paid for the room and there's even images of a deleted shot of them in the room, they leave. This is when we see Danny realize that despite his reputation of being a hoodlum, he really doesn't act like one.

When Ronnie shows up, even when he kisses her, I don't take it as him actually being interested. He just thinks he is because he thinks this is the type of girl that he deserves. A good girl like Nellie would just be wishful thinking since he was only minutes if not seconds away from bringing her down with him. Of course, Danny still has his moments of morality as he's willing to stick up for his father. After checking in on him at the pharmacy, he sees Mr. Fisher getting berated by Mr. Primont. While he doesn't reveal that he's Mr. Fisher's son, he does stick up for him by saying that his father saved his life after getting a bad prescription. Sure it's a lie, but he needs Mr. Primont to see that even though Mr. Fisher isn't a young man, he's competent. All he needs to do now is to get a spine.

Once he talks with Mr. LeGrand, Danny invites him to dinner so he can try to convince Mr. Fisher to let Danny work. Then we get a weird scene where he expresses interest in Mimi. If we're assuming she's in her 20s that's fine, but Mr. LeGrand looks way older than 40. I know people back then didn't put that much thought in preventing wrinkles, but it visually looks weird to have this man want to date a woman young enough to be his daughter. I don't hate it though since if Danny makes his club a success and Mr. LeGrand marries Mimi, she'll be able to stop working. Since we don't know exactly what she does, we can assume that she's really only working so they don't starve as opposed to genuinely being interested in it.

Despite his father's wishes, Danny has his first show at the King Creole. But first we're treated to Forty Nina in Hollywood's tribute to Josephine Baker. It's so on the nose that not only is she French, but her song is literally called "Banana" and she has that same strip tease outfit with bananas on it. I highly recommend looking up Josephine's story as she did a lot more than just work as an erotic dancer. My personal favorite factoid was that she was a prominent black figure who aided the French Resistance during WWII. Anyway, Danny has his first performance at the King Creole. At first the crowd sits on their hands, but after "Dixieland Rock" it's hard not to get the club buzzing.

With Danny being a success, he tries to take things a little further with Nellie. He goes on a ferry ride with her so he can show her the old house his family used to live in. You really get the idea that this house is his motivation to work so hard. He wants to be a success so one day he can buy that house back. And this to me also confirms that whatever feelings he has for Ronnie aren't that serious. He never opens up to her about this the way he does with Nellie. If anything this is a tieback to the mindset people had where good girls are for serious relationships. Bad girls were for fooling around and with how they parallel Nellie and Ronnie it's obvious that both represent the two paths Danny can take. At his second show he sings "Young Dreams" and I love how it fits into what we've seen about Danny so far. The songs really add to the narrative as they reflect Danny's emotional state.

After getting an update on his father and seeing that nothing changed about Mr. Primont, he runs into Shark again. No harsh words this time, but a way to get Danny in with Maxie. Shark proposes that if Danny comes with him, he'll help Danny take care of Primont. This goes about as well as you think as Maxie turns Danny off with every sentence he utters. The way he has Ronnie show off her legs makes him feel uncomfortable and I get why. The objectification of her when she clearly hates it, is enough to make anyone feel gross. Even if he did have feelings for her, watching her do this knowing it's because Maxie is baiting him makes him feel sick inside. Leaving the apartment with no deal made, Danny sings "New Orleans" and I just love how with every song, the atmosphere around him seems to get darker. That indicates that while things might look good, we're actually being led to something more sinister.

That something sinister very quickly comes as Danny leaves ahead of his next show to call the plot off with Shark. As angry as he was with Mr. Primont, he knew that he couldn't go through with it. He realized that if this success lasts, he can get his father out of this trouble on his own. Things go from bad to worse when we see that instead of Mr. Primont, Mr. Fisher goes to take the money to the bank. Even though they saw that it was Mr. Fisher, they still go through with it. They were already in too deep to quit and knowing Maxie and Danny, this is exactly what they need to get Danny under his thumb. Danny meanwhile just runs away feeling guilty about it. Mimi sends Nellie to get Danny and bring him to the hospital where they find out there's a lot of pressure in his brain. To save his life, a specialized surgeon will have to be brought in and it's very expensive. I'm well aware that insurance exists and it would've covered a good portion of it since this was a life or death situation, but even then the bill for his eventual recovery would still be a lot more than what they can afford.

Enter the surgeon courtesy of Maxie Fields who is willing to pay for everything. Naturally Mr. Fisher lives and we get the most vulnerable acting in any Elvis movie. Danny reminds us all that he's only 19. While men were expected to be mature by then, from a modern perspective you get the idea that this is a boy. Danny age wise might be an adult, but experience wise and emotionally speaking he's still a boy. He very much does his best to act like an adult, but this was his breaking point. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually fainted because of how stressful it was to wait all those hours. Thankfully he's able to go to another show and sing "Hard Headed woman". It's amazing how light everything is now reflecting how Danny thinks everything will be ok. We're treated to the titular song, "King Creole" and Danny's on top of the world.

That is until Shark shows up. Knowing Danny's in debt to him, Maxie asks for him to be sent to the apartment. That's when we see the trap being laid up when Ronnie is shown in an attractive dress and Maxie's dead asleep. She even makes it clear that her job is to seduce Danny so Maxie can then present him with a bill for using her "services". Every scene with Ronnie is sad since it's obvious that she's being abused. This clearly isn't a situation where she can go to the police. She does fight back against Maxie, so fear isn't the reason behind her silence. Maxie wouldn't be doing this without fear of being punished if he genuinely thought the police would do anything.

Danny of course empathizes with her since she was once a singer like him and tries to give her some affection in spite of it being a trap. And of course, Maxie wakes up in time to see Danny. While Danny does evade the bill trap, Maxie succeeds in trapping him via blackmail. I mean if it was just "sign with me or I'll tell your dad about your involvement with the robbery" Danny himself made it clear that he doesn't care about it. However, Maxie ups the ante by saying "sign with me or Charlie's place'll be filled with stink bombs. Maybe even real bombs. Anything can be made into an accident after all". That's right we got a threat of terrorist attack if Danny doesn't sign. Even if it is a bluff, you don't mess around with innocent lives like that. The meme above summarizes my thoughts on the matter since no rational human being would be able to make a good decision in that situation either.

We return to the dark scenery as Danny makes his final appearance at the King Creole. "Don't Ask Me Why" indeed. I don't think Danny telling anyone now would be any good. All it would do is drag them all down. Can you imagine having to look your sister in the eye as she chews you out for betraying everyone? Insanity. And yet Danny does this because he doesn't want anyone else getting hurt.

This includes Nellie. He breaks things off with her but can't tell her why. You just feel bad because as much as it's a self sabotage, you can't really blame him for doing this. Things continue to get worse as his mute friend writes a note saying Mr. Fisher is talking with Maxie. While he doesn't know the situation, he at least tries to support Danny's career by pleading for Maxie to let him stay. He's worried that the loss of Danny would result in LeGrand's club closing. That would mean his daughter's future would be in danger too. After seeing Shark come in, Mr. Fisher says that he's going to go to the police. That's when Maxie let it slip that Danny was in on the robbery.

The outcome is when things officially get out of hand. The look on Mr. Fisher's face when he found out Danny would sink so low. He's so angry that he doesn't even say anything. He basically disowns Danny for this. With the agreement being broken, Danny has nothing to lose. He attacks Maxie with such a ferocity, that you think he could actually kill Maxie if he didn't get hit in the head with a chair. Interesting fact, that chair was real. It was simply made of balsa wood so it wouldn't be as painful. Walter Matthau who played Maxie once said in an interview that during a practice shot, Elvis actually vomited after being hit because he just had lunch. And when you hear the sound of him hitting Danny with the chair, it sounds so real that you forget you're watching a movie.

Danny of course recovers long enough to take out Maxie so he and Ronnie can escape. Maxie meanwhile, notifies Shark and his gang to attack Danny. Knowing that he's being followed, Danny tries to hide long enough for him to knock one of them out. Biding his time until Shark appears, the two scuffle with a knife. In a scene where you genuinely worry that Danny might die in this fight, the tension is through the roof. It gets so serious that while Danny does succeed in not dying but letting Shark stab himself in the chest by accident, the damage was done. Danny had been stabbed himself in the arm.

The cinematography of Danny trying to get back home is so beautiful. You know things are looking bad with how he stumbles just getting up the stairs. I was in total shock to see blood running down Danny's arm after Mr. Fisher turned him away. Based on the blood flow being that heavy that you see it already dripping down to his hand, you just know a major vein was severed. With the adrenaline waning, Danny starts to faint from blood loss. This is when you know if it wasn't clear earlier that this movie has teeth. It's not afraid to show someone die and also isn't afraid to show Danny almost die too. But this is when we get to see his fate turn around where as bad as things are, him choosing to be kind is being rewarded. Because we clearly saw that he wasn't completely uneducated, Danny's mute friend communicated to Ronnie that Danny was in trouble. If he didn't do that, Danny would've bled to death right in that alley because she wouldn't have known to look for him.

I don't fault Ronnie at all for not taking Danny to the hospital. While it was a big risk to not address his wounds as you have no idea how long Danny would last after passing out, going to the hospital would've made him an easy target for Maxie. Maxie already had one doctor in his back pocket, so he would've been untouchable and "made it look like an accident" when he would kill Danny. In Ronnie's mind, going to her hideaway was her best shot at saving him and giving them both enough time to recover. Danny was in no position to function so quickly after losing blood. We even get a cinematic shot that once they make it to her hiding place, he's sweating bullets and is so dizzy that he can't even see straight before passing out again.

After waking up, Danny realizes that Ronnie saved his life. They fool around for a while and at this point you just know that she's going to die. Every scene where she's talking about Maxie's abusive nature, you know that this story isn't going to end well. So I don't mind at all to have what feels like a moment of peace here because it serves a purpose. Ronnie and Danny would never get together even if she did live. She just wanted to know what it was like to have someone give her genuine affection. Even though Danny does feel conflicted, I don't think it's because he genuinely feels attracted to Ronnie. It's because he feels bad that she was in that situation and wants to comfort her.

Of course you have Maxie eventually find them. As confusing as that is, we just have to assume he had people follow her since it would've been very suspicious to have her disappear that long. She did say after that Danny was in and out of consciousness for the past 2 days. You know ahead of time that they couldn't just stay in that shack forever. Maxie with full intent on killing both of them brings a gun and starts to shoot at them. Danny's kindness is once again rewarded in a way as if his mute friend didn't warn him the best he could about Maxie, both him and Ronnie would've died. He even goes as far as to go up to Maxie to try wrestling the gun away. While he did try Ronnie gets shot in the process, but thanks to Danny's friend getting into the scuffle, Maxie fatally shoots himself by accident. Danny might have been saved but it was too late for Ronnie as she dies in his arms happy to know that at least for one brief moment she was loved again.

After Ronnie's tragic demise and Maxie's downfall, Danny is free to go back to the King Creole. Even though we don't know how much time passes, we don't need to for us to figure out that things have gotten better. Normally I would criticize something like that being resolved in a way that the audience doesn't get to see, but that isn't the case in this movie. Danny breaking things off with Nellie so he can keep her safe from Maxie is a justifiable action that she would easily understand. Her agreeing to wait for Danny to recover from the traumatic events shows that she's a level-headed woman. As for his father, Mr. Fisher almost had his son die. That's enough to erase anything that he didn't agree with. Unless he's inhumanly unreasonable, I don't think Danny explaining that if didn't sign with Maxie, actual acts of terrorism would've been committed would result in Mr. Fisher saying that he could've done anything different. Any normal human being would understand that this was a horrible situation that Danny had no way of preventing without completely throwing away his core values.

The bittersweet ending is very well balanced. Danny singing Ronnie's song "As Long As I Have You" makes for a nice tribute. I appreciate that the movie doesn't just time skip to Danny singing a musical number about how great everything is. It would be a severe case of emotional whiplash and would have gone against what the tone of the movie was. Danny went through a traumatic event most people can't even fathom happening. He should be allowed to grieve while also getting closure. Singing Ronnie's song on stage does both as it's making it so her song is heard and never forgotten. That being said, I wish we got to see what happened with Danny's mute friend. Knowing that he was only working for Maxie because he had nowhere else together really makes you wonder what will happen to him now that Maxie's gone. Either way, seeing Danny squint through the dark room as his father steps into the light is so beautiful. It shows that all was forgiven and his father finally approves of what Danny wants to do in life. Danny can finally have peace now that he has a support system who loves him.

This is the most emotionally complex Elvis movie I've seen that perfectly executed its vision. I have been waiting a full year since my Wild In The Country review to talk about why I didn't like Glenn's character arc. Danny is what Glenn tried to be. Danny is that troubled youth who makes bad decisions because there is no good decision to be made. There wasn't a single path Danny could take that didn't involve suffering. Even as far back as Danny sticking up for Ronnie wasn't an obvious choice to make. Sure not getting involved would've meant Danny wouldn't get into it with Maxie, it also would've meant that Ronnie would continue to be abused without ever getting a bone thrown to her. It wasn't until later on that he realized Maxie had an insane amount of power. Based on how Maxie operated, you already know that he's got the entire bureaucracy and law enforcement of New Orleans in his back pocket. Shark's gang being able to do as they please without a significant fear of getting caught under Maxie's command shows how Danny going to the authorities for help is completely off the table.

I know I had some complaints about some scenes not really making sense, but those are so easy to fix that I'm giving this movie my first 10/10. Those plot holes don't take away from the emotional impact of what we saw. The amount of songs felt natural as you can't have Danny working at night clubs without having him sing. The character interactions were perfect as you understand exactly what their motives are and have their actions reflect that. Shark looking like he's 35 doesn't matter either since the movie already introduced him as being an older brother of a boy Danny went to school with. Shark said he smokes and since we know smoking can cause premature wrinkling, I'll give him the benefit that he isn't more than 10 years older than Danny. I highly recommend watching it, but surprisingly to some as the last Elvis movie you watch for the first time. To me having it be first would give you an insanely high expectation for an Elvis movie. This movie best serves as leaving it for last as it perfectly captures why fans always talk about what could've been.

AN: Happy Birthday Elvis and RIP! Also shout out to @vintagepresley for writing a companion review of the book. I usually don't talk about the book when talking about the movie so it's nice to have the opinion of someone who read it. I can't wait for it to come out.

Tagging: @codalysssssworld, @presleysweetheart, @smokeymountainboy, @arrolyn1114, @peaceloveelvis,

@mercsandmonsters, @eapep, @atleastpleasetelephone, @without-him, @lucy114505,

@blighted-star, @rjmartin11, @elvisbdoll, @dragonkingsdaughter, @ifyouloveweedletsgosmoke,

@ilovequeen978, @fuzzymusic94, @halieghhh, @tacozebra051, @hooked-on-elvis,

@lola-1013, @father-of-2cats, @southcarolinawoman, @elvisflowerchild, @elviscinema,

@i-r-i-n-a-a, @jadeeloveselviss, @xanatenshi, and @thelonelyheart.

#king creole #danny fisher #elvis film review #1958 #tw abuse #tw alcohol #tw violence

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