Edmond O'Brien chews up the scenery without hitting any false notes as teen singer Sand's hard-driving and hard-bitten agent. Blending his publicity agent from Barefoot Contessa with Kirk Douglas's unscrupulous reporter from Ace In The Hole, O'Brien takes Sands on a magic carpet ride without letting him see the bulldozer he has doing the actual dirty work underneath. Jerry Paris has a strong role as O'Brien's henchman who can only sell so much of his soul. A nice moment by Hank Worden in an unbilled part helps provide context of the actual price others pay for the boy's success.
As for the comment that it's "ripped-off" from Elvis Presley's story, today Law & Order and other NBC series proudly boast about ripping their stories from today's headlines. There are elements here that could be from Presley's story, but also from many others. O'Brien has some Colonel Parker in him, but those elements seem overwhelmed by the others mentioned. Of course, today, Edmond O'Brien's character would qualify as a goody-two-shoes!
As for the comment that it's "ripped-off" from Elvis Presley's story, today Law & Order and other NBC series proudly boast about ripping their stories from today's headlines. There are elements here that could be from Presley's story, but also from many others. O'Brien has some Colonel Parker in him, but those elements seem overwhelmed by the others mentioned. Of course, today, Edmond O'Brien's character would qualify as a goody-two-shoes!