1. The Siege of Graceland
“It’s true that sequels are doing great business at the box office.” Colonel Parker is on the phone to Hal Wallis, his great friend and producer of many of Elvis’s movies. “I agree that maybe we should do a sequel to ‘GI Blues’. The fans loved that film. Just a minute, Hal. Bubba is waving a piece of paper at me.”
The Colonel tells his assistant if it is an invoice to put it in the pending tray, which, of course, as far as Bubba is concerned, is like saying ‘abandon hope all ye who enter here’.
Resuming his conversation with Hal Wallis, the Colonel says, “Now let me get this straight. Your idea is that Elvis goes back to Germany. But this time he is a General and he’s going to sort out the Russians and save Berlin. The working title will be Checkpoint Elvis. Yea, I like that. And can we get Juliet Prowse again who was in ‘GI Blues’? You say you’ll come back to me next week with a script. Hold on Hal, Bubba is jumping up and down and still waving that piece of paper. I’ll call you back.”
Colonel Parker sits back in his chair, wafts away the thick clouds of cheap cigar smoke, and invites Bubba to explain what is going on.
“Why, sir, it’s this letter from the US army and I must admit that I am mighty puzzled. It says Elvis is on something they call the Reserve List and he must report in the next seven days to somewhere called Camp Benedict Arnold. It’s in Tumbleweed, Mississippi.”
The Colonel goes for the full bluster and declares, “This is outrageous! That boy has served his time with Uncle Sam. Two whole years and he came back a hero. This whole thing is a big mistake!”
“A hero, Colonel, sir? I really didn’t know that,” comments Bubba innocently.
“Yes, they pinned a medal on his chest.”
“Would that be the Good Conduct Medal, sir? Because it is my belief that every soldier got one of those, providing they didn’t shoot the commanding officer.”
“Don’t quibble, Bubba,” says the Colonel. “This is all a terrible mistake. We’re going to ignore this and it will go away. Trust me.”
Elvis, the Colonel, Hal Wallis, and Steve Sholes, RCA’s top record producer, are going through the script of the ‘GI Blues’ movie sequel