Hail to the King! :: The Big E Turns 75 : Tickle Me (1965)

We open in sagebrush country, where we spy a Greyhound bus winding it's way down a lonely highway. Then, our ears pick up a soulful crooner, serenading these open-spaces, and find Lonnie Beale (Elvis Presley) riding the bus that eventually winds its way to Zuni Wells -- the last stop before you officially get to nowhere. After debarking, Lonnie takes up his meager possessions -- a suitcase, a saddle, and a guitar, and then moseys into the nearest watering hole, where the bartender is busily talking to a Deputy Sturtevant about how the Sheriff is out of town fishing and won't be back for two whole weeks. (And yes, this bit of seemingly trivial exposition should trip your foreshadow-meter alarm, meaning this will probably prove relevant later.) When Sturtevant leaves, Lonnie steps and asks the bartender the whereabouts of one Pete Bowman. Well, turns out this Bowman ran into some trouble with the law and skipped town awhile back, meaning Bowman's promised job as a ranch-hand is long gone. However, the bartender recognizes the champion bull-rider and bronco-buster, which is fine and dandy, but what Lonnie really needs a job until rodeo season starts. When the bartender eyes the guitar, Lonnie rolls his eyes, knowing full well what the implications are. Click here to read more...