Elvis: That's the Way It Is

Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970) is a concert documentary you can watch online on iFILM. Director Denis Sanders trains his cameras on Elvis Presley as the singer walks back onto a major stage for the first time in years, headlining the International Hotel in Las Vegas.

The picture is built in two halves. First come the rehearsals — Elvis loose in the studio, cracking jokes, riding his musicians, testing every arrangement until it sits right. Then the show itself takes over, with his sharp new band behind him: James Burton on guitar, Ronnie Tutt on drums, Jerry Scheff on bass, Glen D. Hardin at the piano. Out come "Suspicious Minds," "Polk Salad Annie," old rockers folded in among the ballads.

What the film captures is rare: a performer at full power, not yet weighed down by the heavier Vegas years, in a white jumpsuit and total command of the room. Worth it for the live sound and the way Presley plays a crowd off the cuff. Stream Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970) online on iFILM.