"Previously on Sun Records." "You have quite the effect on the little ladies." "Hank Snow's manager." "Colonel Tom Parker." "You'll meet all kinds of nice fellas, but they ain't all gonna have your best interests at heart." "You know, I hear stories about singers out on the road." "Kid's going to get more ass than a toilet seat." "Are you a virgin?" "Yes, sir." "No, sir." "Will this little band of gold soon be on your finger?" "I think he's back at it." "Hey." "That's not what it looks like." "Janie, you stay here, or I'll give you another black eye." "What do y'all want?" "We're lookin' for a Jerry Lee Lewis." "Jerry Lee, there's some fellas here to see you!" " Jerry Lee!" " Yes, Mama?" "You Jerry Lee Lewis?" "What of it?" "Get out here!" "What for?" "I don't know you." "You been foolin' with my sister?" "What's her name?" "My God, he don't know how many he diddled." "Son, you are in a heck of a mess." "Janie's got a young one coming, swears it's yours." "You get outta here, boy!" "You can't even keep it in your damn pants!" "Get out!" "Now, sir, I'll do the right thing by your sister, but first, there's a few things I have to clear up..." "She's in the car, you and her is getting hitched." " Tonight!" " All right." "Now, you see..." "I'm..." "You comin' with us or it's gonna get rough." "Don't Janie have to be in school tomorrow?" "We got a judge in Fayette ready to get it done." "Momma, I'll be back directly." "I love you, Elvis!" "Hey, I heard this Presley fella when I was overseas." "Pull up, Roy." "I'd lay it down for him in a heartbeat." "You?" "What makes you think I haven't?" "I bet him and Trixie do the do every night." " You sing better than that." " Maybe." "But I don't jig around." "That's what's getting 'em all frothed up." "Sam!" "The mortgage check bounced." "We're gonna lose the house!" "Well, there's gotta be a mistake, Becks." "All right..." "Well, we got a check coming tomorrow from United." "It's in the mail?" "Really?" "Look, Petey-boy swears he sent it." "And I've got El-Vi on a string of dates all across Arkansas." "That always pops sales." "Tell that to the bank..." "Sam!" " Becks!" " Hi, Becky." "Hey, Marion." "Sam." "The mortgage check bounced, Marion?" "Really?" "How could you let that happen?" "Basic math." "Happens every time you spend more than you bring in." "Sam, about me and Earle..." "I don't want to talk about it." " Well, we should." " It's fine!" "Self-pity doesn't become you, Sam." "Well, we can't go back now, can we, Marion?" "I saw what I saw." "And I saw you with your baby, Sam." "It tore my heart out." "Right then and there, I knew that would never be me." "Maybe I should leave Sun." "Marion..." "Sun may be circling the drain," "but I got a feelin'... we are on the edge of somethin'." "And we didn't come this far for you to quit." "There's no place for me in your life." "We started this together." "I don't see a future." "Of course you do." "And El-Vi... is the ticket to it." "Thank you." "Okay, they're here." "Go grab a drink." "That's them." "Come on." "Him?" "He's the one?" "I come in here with you to sign the next Hank Williams, next Eddy Arnold, not some greasy haired ass-wiggler." "Look, I don't let them to see you waiting on 'em." "Go on, get, get, get, get." "Right there." "So glad you could make it." "We're grateful to Mr. Phillips for taking a chance on Elvis." "But Mr. Phillips can't pull the strings to get Elvis on television..." "I can." "Well, what's the point if his records are only available around here?" "And he doesn't have any plans for an Elvis Presley LP." "There are no LPs on Sun because they don't have the money to get 'em pressed." "Television, LPs..." "It all sounds mighty exciting'." "Well, and mighty profitable." "You'll see plenty if Elvis signs with me," "I guarantee you." "Colonel, sir..." "If I were to leave Sun, would Mr. Phillips still make it out okay?" "Hank!" "Hey, that's Hank." " Hank, come on over." " Great to meet you, folks." " Pleasure." " I understand that the Colonel has promised you front row tickets to my show." " Thank you, sir." " My!" "Thank you!" "We love that Golden Rocket song, don't we, Vern?" "Shoot, we love 'em all." "You were sayin' about Mr. Phillips." "This document gives Hank and I the right to approach Mr. Phillips about getting Elvis off Sun." "We'll take over Elvis' management when Mr. Neal's term is up." "And I'll personally look out for your boy." "But Elvis is..." "Is so young, it seems like an awful lot awful fast." "I keep telling you, you got to quit coddlin' the boy." "He's got to grow up." "Son, this is your dream." "And Colonel Parker here is the one who's gonna make that happen." "You're right, Daddy." "Because Elvis is underage, we need your signature." "Hank has already pre-signed this agreement." "That's how much faith we have." " Yeah." " Yeah." "We, we get the feelin' you're both honorable men, and I trust you, I really do, to do what's best for our boy." "Mr. Presley, we know what it's like to be cheated." "That ain't our way." "Look, the ducks!" "You have to see this." "Take a moment." "Say, Hank, would you show them that, please?" "That's just a treat there, those ducks." "Isn't that the cutest thing!" "Gee, look at that." "My!" "Aren't they the sweetest?" "Aw, look." "Beautiful, aren't they?" "All right, let's get this deal done." "All righty." "So, to a long and profitable association." "Hear, hear!" "Who is that?" "James Dean landed right here on Summer Avenue." "It's Elvis." "Well, evening', gals." "You still talkin' to us now you're a star?" "Come on now." "But I do wanna talk to my sweetie, if y'all don't care." "What's troublin' you, babe?" "Well, remember I told you I was meetin' with Hank Snow and his manager?" "Sure." "How did it go?" "Daddy thinks it went swell." "He signed a deal with them to manage me." "Bob Neal's your manager." "I know." "But Daddy signed for Mr. Snow and the Colonel to shop around my deal with Sun, too." "Is Mr. Phillips okay with that?" "He don't know." "It's down to me to tell him." "You know, this weekend there's an All Night Gospel Singin'." "Why don't you come..." "I gotta play the Hayride then, you know that." "Bit-O-Honey?" "After this good word from the fine folks at Froggy's Bar-B-Que, we'll be right back with Memphis's own Elvis Presley." "Hey, I'm on R-E-C now." "You know, they swore they'd never play my records." "For all your smokin', roasting', brawling', ballin' and barbequing' needs..." "Whose is this?" "That's..." "It's Miss Marion's." "I gave her a ride... one time." "Really?" "What has happened to you, Elvis?" "When we first met, you were the sweetest, humblest guy." "I'm still me, babe." "Look, I just got this chance given to me, don't hardly no one get it." "God gave you this gift for a reason." "This is it, right here." "Tell me... those girls who come to see you after the show, do you go all the way with them?" "No, honey." "Of course not." ""For what I do is not the good I want to do."" ""No, the evil I do not want to do,"" ""this, I keep doing."" "Look, if I need a preacher, I'll go find me one!" "You have changed out of all recognition for this!" "And then you go and sell out Mr. Phillips, the man who gave you the one shot nobody else was ever going to!" "Marion?" "Could you hand me the Monarch pressing' bill," " top right drawer?" " In a minute." "Well, I need it now." "Every record in that last order was off center." "I appreciate the thought." "Either return it or give it to Becky." " Marion, it's..." " Look..." "I promised myself." "Not again." "Ma'am, could we see Mr. Sam C. Phillips?" "See me 'bout what?" "Well, Mr. Phillips, Carl Perkins." "This here's my brothers Jay B and Clay, and that there's our drummer, W.S." "Now, we play the same kinda jumped-up hillbilly deal as the Presley boy, so..." "So you thought you ought to be on Sun Records, too?" "Yes, ma'am." "We're playing at Red's Joint tonight." "Now, you could pay 50 cents and see us tonight or you could see us right now for free." "I guarantee it'll be worth your while." ""Free" works for Sam, isn't that right?" "Sure." "Come on." "All right, go get the gear." "This here's a song we wrote drivin' down from Jackson." "Memphis Recording Service." "One second, please." "Sam Phillips." "Colonel who?" "All right." "Somethin's up." "Doesn't feel right." "I gotta go." "Tell the fellas I'll meet 'em tonight." "Mr. Phillips?" "Colonel Parker." " Right this way." " Colonel." "You said Elvis and Bob Neal would be here." "Unavoidably detained." "And, business is best left to businessmen." "Wouldn't you agree?" "And what business are you in?" "There's only one thing standing between Elvis Presley and the success that he deserves, and that... is Sun Records." "Well, considering he hadn't sung in no place outside his bedroom when I found him, how do you figure?" "You got no national distribution and you're on hold with at least one pressing plant for non-payment." "Who told you that?" "Well, let's just say someone less well-disposed than the Colonel, would sue on the boy's behalf for unpaid royalties." "Then, if Sun went into bankruptcy," " his contract..." " But the fact is..." "I have a current contract with Elvis that has a long time to run." "Eighteen months, two weeks." "I have Elvis' word he'll renew." "I have Elvis' assent signed by his daddy to look for a better label." "Lemme see that." "With your assent," "I'll sell the boy's contract to a major label." "That money clears your debt." "Once he's a big star, word will get out it was Sun Records that discovered him." "They'll flock to you." "Then, you'll have the money to make Sun Records." "It's either that or you go bust, and you take Presley down with you." "Colonel..." "And if you're a colonel, then I'm the general's daughter." "You have my assent... to go to hell." "Take five was much better." " Excuse me." " Who're you?" "I'm Cash." "That's good." "We don't give credit." "I'm Roy's brother, J.R." "He said y'all had a band." "We can cackle a whole lot, but we ain't found no egg yet." "Y'all got any gigs lined up?" "Nah, we play at home till his wife kicks us out." "Hey, now." "We do church socials, that kinda deal." "Well, I sing a little." "I do most of the singing' around here." "Ain't sure we need nobody else." "You think you can do better than this?" "Lay it on us." "El-Vi sold us out." "I don't believe that." "Well, believe it." "What are you gonna do?" "Play along." "El-Vi!" " Boy, it's good to see ya!" " Hey, Mr. Phillips." "What do ya think?" "I'm thinking I'm sure glad I got you off impersonating Dean Martin." "Yeah, it's been a while, ain't it?" "So, listen, I was thinkin'." "Big ol' freestanding' sign." ""Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill," ""stars of Sun Records." What do ya think?" "How 'bout "Scotty and Bill, featuring Elvis"?" "Yeah, right." "Well, it..." "It sounds real good, Mr. Phillips." "Well, it's like baseball, son." "You build your franchise around your star player." "Like Casey Stengel built the Yankees around Mickey Mantle," "I'm gonna build Sun around you." "Son, the devil, he's always whispering' in your ear." "Sometimes he's in a bottle, sometimes he's a girl in a bar." "Sometimes he's a... silver-tongued, make-believe colonel." "Man-to-man now, El-Vi." "I ain't got nothin' to worry about here now, do I?" "No, sir." "Well, all right then." "What the hell are we standing' around for?" "Come on!" "Let's go and make ourselves a hit record!" "Can I get a beer here?" "You're late." "I'm selling Elvis." "There's a lot to consider, Sam." "You can't just make that decision..." "Wish I could afford to." "We're broke." "Can't pay the mortgage." "Listen, Columbia gave Mercury 20 grand for Frankie Laine." "But he'd had a whole lot of pop hits." "Marion, if Elvis leaves when our dealio's up, we get squat." "Sam..." "This is..." "I'm a businessman, too, Marion." "Money's never been what's driven you." "I don't think that's what drives Elvis, either." "It's the music." "Always the music." "If you do this..." "You will regret it for the rest of your life." "Colonel Parker mentioned that if we sell Elvis, we can clear all our debts." "And he ain't 100% wrong." "I'm gonna ask for the stupid money... and then double it." "Let that Colonel feel what it's like to sweat out a deal." "Can I buy you a drink?" "I can't." "I'm meeting Earle." "Earle." "Howdy, Memphis." "Hey, Mr. Phillips." "Play something!" "Evening." "Send this." "To Colonel Parker, Jamboree Attractions," "Madison, Tennessee." "Stop." "Pay a non-returnable deposit of $5,000 immediately." "Stop." "Pay an additional $35,000 by October 31." "Stop." "Presley can leave Sun." "Stop." " Send it now." " Yes, sir." "Yes, sir, good people!" "Hell, yes, I'm drinkin' on the air!" "When you got a popular show in the country, when you got sponsors stacked fiddy deep, you can drink anywhere, any time you damn well please!" "And you can cuss any time you damn well feel like it!" " Shut up, Dewey!" " Daddy O' Dewey!" "Daddy O' Dewey!" "Brought to you tonight by Old Gold cigarettes." "I got one lung gone and I've got one week left to live." "You think I'm gonna smoke a dull cigarette?" "Hell, no!" "Old Gold for you and Gold Old for me!" "Ee-gaw!" "Mr. Sun Records!" "All right, Dewey, that's a nice show." "Now, come on down from there, you're scarin' these fine folks." "Man, you know that Alan Freed..." "Alan Freed is going around tellin' everyone that he invented rock 'n' roll." "Man, that ain't nothing but steaming' bull-crap." "'Cause you know we started it right here!" "Right here!" "Didn't we, Slick?" "Rocket 88." "Boy, Elvis Presley." "We sure did." "Alan Freed, boy." "Alan Freed..." "Mr. Rock 'n' Roll, my ass, boy!" "Freed don't make the hits!" "I know." "Only way he knows a hit if it's got a 50 inside it." "No, I wouldn't take 50 bucks to play your lousy record." "Hell, if it's good, I'll pay you 50 to play it!" "Well, that's damn right." "That's the difference between you and him." "Now, come on, man, get down from there." "Come on." "Man, no, there's 1,000 differences between me and Freed." "Yeah." "There are dollars... and Freed's got 'em." "You try to tell that to." "Mr. Earle, Mr. Big Shot Station Manager, WHBQ." "He won't spend one red cent on any kind of ad in cash bucks to tell the world the truth that it was me that found this kind of music, man." "It was me!" "Dewey Phillips!" "I know, I know." "Come on now..." "Well, go on, man." "Tell me all your sorrows." "Go on, spit it all out." "Even though you're kind of stealing my thunder." "I might have done something that I shouldn't have, Dewey." "Even if I get what I want..." "I may not be happy." "If I don't..." "I sure as hell know I'm gonna be pissed." "Last call." "Last call." "Don't go through any trouble." "I would love to talk, but I'm running so late." "It's great to see you." "You look lovely today." "Humpty Dumpty just walked in." "I'll call you back." "Don't sit." "You're not staying long." "Well, Steve, it's time for us to move forward from whatever bad feelings you might have." "What do you want now, a new hi-fi?" "Ever hear of Elvis Presley?" "The girls pee their drawers, their boyfriends want to cut his nuts off, and the older crowd walks out." "Yeah, I heard of him." "Well, the older crowd doesn't buy records." "You told me that." "Get where you're going." "What you're selling, how much." "The boy's contract. 40,000." "Shut the door on your way out." "It's not like there's no other interest." "Wait." "Wait." "Wait." "Wait." "I hear the buzz, I'm not deaf." "But 40,000?" "I could fix the World Series for less than that." "Steve, your artists only sell in the south, this boy will sell coast-to-coast, overseas, if you put some promotional juice behind him." " If you get him on TV, if..." " If, if and more if." "Well, now, every deal's a gamble." "We all know you love to gamble." "I'd want all his old records." "I don't want RCA to push the hell out of him, have Sun putting out all his older stuff, splitting airplay." "Lemme take the temperature in New York, if I can lay any losses against Snow's royalties." "No." "This is a deal between RCA and the Colonel." "Thought you two were partners." "Were." "And this is not a drawn-out negotiation." "Payment in full, no counter offers." "Okay?" "October 31, 7:00 p.m." "One week, one day, four hours." "Good to see you, Steve." "Forty thousand?" "With that, I could buy a couple of houses and a car." "His rug's starting to come loose." "Fix it." "Why don't you go to RCA or Columbia and get them to pony up?" "We just need 5,000 down and we can shop him all over." "We just need my 5,000, you mean?" "Plow that into my career." "I'd be bigger than the kid could ever be." "Ready?" "Thank you." "This is the opportunity that is knocking." "You're either in or out." " Don't threaten me." " No threat." "If you don't want to be partners..." "I didn't say that." "Then you're in for the five Gs." "I didn't say that." "Put up or shut up." "You tear up Presley's contract, we're through." "Fine by me!" "One final bit of free advice, and, you know, the Colonel doesn't do free, fix that damn toupee." "Well played." "Just so I understand... you married Jane?" "And you're married to Peggy, too?" "And Jane's pregnant?" "Yeah, man, I'm cooked, I got nothin'." "Whoo!" "Well, you still got music." "Yeah, and a lot of good it's done me." "Jerry Lee, you're about as far from a saint as Ferriday to the moon when it comes to women." "But one thing I do know is when it comes to this here piano..." "I ain't never seen no one play like that." "Your talent is nothing less than a precious gift from the Lord!" "Can you just move over?" "Some of us got talent, some of us got scraping's." "Yeah!" "You just poked the devil in disguise!" "Hey, Dewey!" "Come here, man." "Come here." "Hey, come on!" "Go on, Dewey." "Go on!" "Go on!" "Come on!" "Dad!" "Gotcha." "Look, I killed Dad." "I see it." "Shoot him again, make sure he's dead." "Come on, I'll put your shoes on." "All right." "Trick or treating time." "I'll take him, honey." "You should be at the office." "What for?" "Well, RCA could be calling you right now." "They don't have our home number." "Colonel Doughboy has." "And believe you me, it would be ringing off the hook if he got the money." "Why take the chance?" "Sam, it is $40,000." "Do you know what we could do with that kind of money?" "I know you're disappointed." "We could finally take that honeymoon to Honolulu!" "For God's sake!" "Could you just, for once, listen to me?" "Fine." "Don't worry, Big Daddy." "They'll phone." "You know, I hate to see you fret so much." "Cat got your tongue?" "Meow." "What's so great about this kid, anyway?" "Big Daddy has so much on his mind." "RCA will call." "I just know it." "If Marion Keisker whispers in your ear, if I hear that you turned down that money..." "I swear to you, I swear to you..." "It is not funny!" "I swear to you, Sam." "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome John Cash and The Tennessee Three!" "Cut!" "Cut!" "Cut!" "Man, I'm not feeling it." "Whoo!" "You know, I think I'm getting better." "Dewey." "Marion." "That Marion is a good-looking broad, boy." "You know, man, if I didn't love my cuz so much, I'd have..." "Sam is a lucky, lucky boy." "Good." "Wait, are you implying what I think you are?" "No, Earle." "Earle." "I wouldn't take anything I said with a grain of salt or a pinch of pepper or a shot of whatever the hell floats your boat." "Earle." "Earle!" "Yes!" " We have to talk." " Excuse me." "I thought you promised to do a lot more than talk." "Whoo!" "I've just realized something that I probably should've realized a long time ago." "This..." "This isn't working." "What's not working?" "Us." "We're done." "What?" "Why?" "Why?" "I don't know." "It might have a little something to do with you screwing Sam." "Let me be clear, Earle." "I've always been in love with Sam, but it's got its complications." "I really tried to make it work with you." "But you know what?" "You're no Sam." "You're fired." " Marion, Marion..." " He fired me." "I didn't say..." "There's something squirrelly about that Colonel." "Mama, everything's gonna be just fine." "Son, I'm gonna need you to get right with Mr. Phillips before it's too late to change your mind." "Besides, you owe him that." "Now, get." "Go on." "I thought you said play with heart, Mr. Phillips." "Yeah, now play with balls." "What do you think this song is about, son?" "Well, rockin', I guess." "No!" "Screwin'." "It's a song about screwing', plain and simple, good ol'-fashioned screwing'." "Now, hold on a sec." "Are you a virgin?" "Hear anything?" "Can't you see I'm celebrating'?" "Everyone's tellin' me this is a win-win." "If we sell Elvis, we get a boatload of money." "If he stays, we build the company around him." "So?" "So why do I feel like it's lose-lose?" "Earle dumped me." "Sorry to hear that." "Yeah, you are." "He fired me, too." "I am sorry to hear about that." "Sam here." "All right." "We lost Elvis." "Sam?" "Big Daddy ready for his show?" "Not tonight."