A well done post civil war western drama set in April 10, 1865 with the Reno Bros. Vance (Richard Egan), Brett (William Campbell) & Ray (James Drury) & Mike Gavin ( Neville Brand) etc. members of General Randall's cavalry brigade. They attack & defeat federal soldiers & by impersonating them they rob a payroll master as the train pulls in they receive the money & get away with $12,250.00 dollars they intend to turn over to General Randall but soon learn of a surrender & the disbanded cavalry brigade & that the war is over.They decide to keep it as they justify it as spoils of war & not knowing the war is over as they were just carrying out orders by General Randall as they feel they have a right to it. After they divide up the money they go their separate ways back home. Vance (Egan) plans to get married to his sweetheart Cathy (Debra Paget) who's been waiting 4 years but is surprised to find she's already married to his brother who stayed home Clint (Elvis Presley). As the family believed that Vance, Ray & Brett were killed in the war.This creates an awkward situation for the 3 as Vance decides to leave but is approached by Siringo & Major Kincaid played by Robert Middleton & Bruce Bennett as they intend to recover money that was stolen. The 3 brothers are arrested to be identified. Siringo makes a deal with Vance to return the stolen money in return for freedom but the deal is only good if all the money is recovered.This creates problems with the other comrades as Gavin (Brand) & the others want to keep their share. After they attack the train to help the Reno Bros. escape Vance forces Gavin & the others at gunpoint to give up the money intending to return the money to Siringo ( Middleton). Mike Gavin starts filling Clint's head with idea's that Vance's only intention is to run off with all the money & Cathy whom they were in love before & during the war. This leads to a confrontation with Clint & Cathy as he is filled with rage & jealousy.This leads to a showdown with Vance & Clint as Vance (Egan) tells Clint (Presley) he was only intending to return the money & has sent Ray to return the money to Siringo & would still clear out but Clint pressured by Gavin (Brand )& along with Gavin they both shoot Vance only wounding him. As Gavin & the others thinking Vance still has the money try to recover it Clint warns them to get away & as shots are fired Gavin kills Clint.The role of Clint Reno was offered to Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter & Cameron Mitchell before Elvis got it. This is a good debut for Elvis in a solid western drama with a good story & plot & some twists & surprises. Elvis sings 4 songs which are good but unnecessary but at least the music doesn't overshadow & dominate the movie & get in the way of the story. It has an excellent cast & it's one of Elvis' best acting as he does a good job in a supporting role. Worth watching.

Love Me Tender is a supremely stupid movie, but one that has a certain appeal for nostalgists and lovers of drive-in level plotting and acting (not to mention Elvis fanatics who want to see him before he became a Viva Las Vegas cliché).There's no point in talking about the story itself--who would ever have thought the Post Bellum South looked so much like the hills where the TV show MASH was shot--and there is a whole rebel-whooping crowd of professional actors (except the ridiculous Debra Paget) who have to run blocker for the 22-year-old boy with a great, great voice and charisma, so why should you watch Love Me Tender the next time it shows on AMC?Cuz it's Elvis, singing the title song, the prettiest single piece of music he ever performed.

Civil War soldier returns home to his family and fiancée, who are unaware of his past as a thief--and possible murderer. Strictly as a star-vehicle (for a singer who was not yet a movie star), "Love Me Tender" proves to be an interesting footnote in the legend of Elvis Presley; as a piece of western-genre cinema, it is quite dreadful. Richard Egan (in the most prominent role) does well, and the supporting cast featuring Debra Paget and Neville Brand is solid, yet it is Presley's acting debut which garners the most attention, and with good reason: his self-conscious sneering gives the picture its only intrinsic excitement (as well as a campy kick). The writing is inane and the music (with the exception of the hit title tune) is mediocre but, if you can make it to the final reel, stick around for one of the silliest closing shots in 1950s Hollywood. Did the public-at-large really swallow this hokum at the time? *1/2 from ****

This film is a solid Civil war drama w/ a strong cast and a realistic and believable main story and supporting subplots. In my opinion, the major drama unfolds from the train robbery early on in the film. Subsequent to that there's the subplot of shifting alliances among the ex-Rebel soldiers and the Union effort to recover the stolen $12,250 followed by the three angle romantic drama involving the Presley, Egan, and Paget characters. I think at first this subplot appears to be the main drama, but I watched the film twice and argue that it is a subplot (although the film title & title tune suggest differently). Neville Brand gives strong support as his greedy character is pivotal to the Presley's character arc. I wonder why Presley didn't have a flashback scene (to when the Egan character assures him "Deep from my heart" that he would never lie to the Presley character) after he's been convinced by the Brand character that the Egan character betrayed him.The movie has a nice quick pace. In the picnic scene when Presley learns Egan is leaving for California I like how in the background the Union soldiers subtly appear and the main story resumes. However, it's here in the picnic sequence that an earlier scene produces UNINTENDED LAUGHS when Presley is up on stage swinging his pelvis and singing 50's music to a clearly 50's female teen crowd AND it is is supposed to be 1865! It gets even funnier when there's a reaction shot of his "Ma" (who based on her Southern puritan values should be horrified at the sight) smiling happy as a clam. TOTALLY LAUGH OUT LOUD!