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Flaming Star Is the Best Elvis Movie You Never Saw

With the King of Rock ’n Roll’s biopic now on streaming, we remember one of the few movies starring Elvis Presley that’s actually worth watching.

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“I made him the highest paid actor in Hollywood history. We had a lot of fun!” So purrs Tom Hanks’ brazenly camp Col. Tom Parker in the new Elvis biopic . The film, which is the most decadent, jewel-encrusted piece of kitsch ever given an $85 million budget, is as much a monument to director Baz Luhrmann ’s showmanship as it is Elvis Presley ’s. For who else could condense the larger than life excess of a man dubbed “the King of Rock ’n Roll” into a three-ringed circus that keeps all its plates in the air for 160 minutes?

Elvis really is a marvel in spectacle and indulgence—plus a breakout for star Austin Butler who is so superb as the titular character that Luhrmann more than once slips in footage of the real Elvis’ 1950s rock star career, as well as clips from his ill-advised detour in 1960s Hollywood… and few viewers ever seemed to notice! For all intents and purposes, Presley and Butler became interchangeable onscreen: the singer and the actor, merged as one.

There’s a small bit of wistful irony in this too. After all, Elvis always wanted to be taken seriously as an actor and screen presence, which is what makes Hanks’ “we had a lot of fun!” hurt all the more.

Despite being nearly three hours, and seemingly exploring every highlight in Presley’s career, from singing with a hound dog on The Steve Allen Show to one final “Unchained Melody” before the King’s death in 1977, Luhrmann’s Elvis spends almost no time whatsoever on Presley’s Hollywood career. Mentioned in passing during a scene at the beginning of Elvis’ courtship with Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge), where the then-Army uniformed Elvis talks aspiringly about James Dean and considering a career in the movies, Luhrmann’s Elvis is as coy about the rock star’s cinematic oeuvre as it is in mentioning Priscilla’s age during that scene (she was 14).

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In reality, Elvis had already made four films before being yanked into the Army by an overzealous U.S. government. Among them was at least one attempt at genuinely mimicking Dean’s brief career of moody adolescent antiheroes: King Creole (1958) starred Elvis as a rebel without a particularly worthwhile cause in a film drenched in noirish shadows, courtesy of director Michael Curtiz ( Casablanca , The Adventures of Robin Hood , White Christmas , and a dozen other classics).

But by the time Elvis got back to the States two years later, “the Colonel” had by and large settled on what would be Elvis’ big screen persona: a dreamy smile and a few innocuous, and often uninspired, showtunes that carried Elvis through another insipid plot line that rehashed the Arthur Freed musicals of MGM’s 1950s heyday—only minus the charm, budget, or talent.

There’s a reason Luhrmann’s Elvis epic spent only a scant 102 seconds on Presley’s years in Hollywood: the vast majority of movies he made were awful. So much so, they derailed his career as a rock ’n roll rebel, leaving him in a precarious place where by ‘68 he had to decide if he wanted a musical comeback or to sing Christmas jingles on TV for the rest of his life.

Even so, Elvis’ movie career could have gone a different way. And if you only want to spend your time on watching one movie that shows that potential, your best bet is 1960’s Flaming Star .

Directed by Don Siegel ( Invasion of the Body Snatchers and, eventually, Dirty Harry ) and released in 1960, Flaming Star really was one of those first few films Presley made after getting out of the Army, attempting to become another Dean or Marlon Brando. Indeed, as originally conceived by 20th Century Fox, Flaming Star was intended to be a vehicle for Brando and Frank Sinatra. That of course never happened, perhaps because no one told them that Sinatra despised Brando after working with him on Guys and Dolls (1955). The years, and later The Godfather , did not make the heart grow fonder for Ol’ Blue Eyes.

In any event, when it became clear that Flaming Star would not be a star vehicle for the most interesting young actor of the 1950s, plus a popular singer(!), the Western was reimagined as an experiment for a young actor who also was a popular singer: Elvis Presley. 

In the film, Presley stars as Pacer Burton, a half-white and half-American Indian rancher’s son. Pacer grew up in the wilds of 1870s Texas where his white father (John McIntire) and Kiowa mother Neddy (Dolores del Rio) raised him and his white half-brother Clint (Steve Forrest) as equals. Theirs is a genuinely loving inclusive family. But after a Kiowa raiding party brutally attacks a nearby homestead, tensions swell between white Texans and Native Americans again, and the Burton family finds itself in the crosshairs of both sides, with Pacer particularly being the subject of vitriol and suspicion among former friends and neighbors who would kill his father’s cattle before letting the lad sing another ditty to their lily white daughters.

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To modern eyes, there are all manner of trigger warnings required for a movie like Flaming Star : the film is rife in the sentiments and prejudices of 1950s America, not least of which include casting all-white Elvis as the “half-breed” Pacer, and the Mexican del Rio as his fully Indigenous mother. There’s also no particular good explanation for how Presley’s Pacer perfected his greaser pompadour in the 1800s.

However, the movie’s strength is how straightforward and grimly self-aware it is about the racism of its subject matter. Here is a film produced in what was still the then highly segregated 1950s in which the hero (and not the John Wayne sidekick) is of a biracial background, and most of the conflict derives from how the white characters react to this fact. At the beginning of Flaming Star , Presley has his one tacked-on singing sequence where Pacer croons a birthday barnburner for his neighbors before the killing starts. (Presley apparently insisted the two other songs intended for the film be cut so he could be taken more seriously as an actor.)

In that moment, the community is all laughs and smiles, but after tensions rise, neighbor turns on neighbor. There’s a scene where some of the same folks at that party come to take Pacer away at gunpoint (he doesn’t go). It has echoes of the kind of small-minded bigotry that is still sadly very common in American life.

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino was probably too enthusiastic when he called Flaming Star “a truly great fifties Western, and maybe the most brutally violent American western of its era.” But there’s a reason why the movie was initially banned in South Africa when apartheid reigned in 1961: It featured a sympathetic portrait for its tragic and (in the script) biracial hero. Notably, that government eventually allowed white South Africans to see it but still kept it banned for segregated Black audiences.

Even the casting of Presley in the film feels pointed since, as Luhrmann’s new biopic takes great pains to demonstrate, part of the outrage against the Elvis phenomenon in the ‘50s was due to many white adults being repulsed by Presley’s clear inspiration from Black Rhythm and Blues, and early rock musicians. On ‘50s television programs, white men casually dropped the N-word while discussing the influence of late ‘50s rock ’n roll music (including Elvis) on white children.

Flaming Star taps into the alleged subversion Presley represented to some audiences as much as his matinee appeal as a teen idol. In the role of Pacer, Presley is also surprisingly serviceable. I’d hesitate to say good, or even necessarily promising, but unlike most 1950s musicians turned actors—with Tom Parker clearly hoping Presley would follow in the footsteps of a Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin—Elvis is unexpectedly solid. He would’ve never been Brando or Dean, but maybe he was on the cusp of finding his From Here to Eternity (1953), which to this day fools people into thinking Sinatra was an above average actor.

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Presley won his battles and only sang two songs in Flaming Star (the other was over the film’s opening credits). But the downbeat Oater about racism and with scenes of murder and assault that pluck from real Western masterpieces like The Searchers (1956) and Shane (1953) did not particularly appeal to Elvis’ largely teenage girl demographic. Released in the same year as Elvis’ other post-Army movie, G.I. Blues (1960), Flaming Star made only a fraction of that paper-thin musical programmer. G.I. Blues ’ signaled the end of any fledgling attempts at a serious acting career by Presley. Instead Col. Parker rotated Presley into one undercooked musical mediocrity after another for the rest of the 1960s—albeit the process occasionally produced a few golden singles. For instance, most forget that the King’s beloved ballad “Can’t Help Falling in Love” came out of Blue Hawaii (1961).

At the end of Luhrmann’s new Elvis movie, Butler’s uncanny ability to conjure Presley’s ghost ends on an unsurprisingly bitter note. In the final non-musical moment of the film, Presley discusses his acting career again, among other things, with a now adult and divorced Priscilla.

“I’m going to be 40 soon, Priscilla,” the King laments. “Forty. And nobody’s going to remember me. I’ve never done anything lasting. I never made a classic film that I could be proud of.”

At least in terms of his filmography, he really didn’t. But much like his doomed Pacer character in Flaming Star , a better world would’ve given him a shot.

David Crow | @DCrowsNest

David Crow is the movies editor at Den of Geek. He has long been proud of his geek credentials. Raised on cinema classics that ranged from…

Once Upon a Time in a Western

Flaming star (1960).

The family owns a small ranch and manages to co-exist with the other whites who live nearby, at least until Buffalo Horn becomes chief of the Kiowa and war breaks out.

Soon Pacer and his white brother Clint are being asked to choose sides. They try to maintain neutrality, but learn that only wins them enemies among the whites and the Indians.

The white folks at The Crossing want nothing to do with them; they even refuse to let the doctor leave town to help Neddy after she’s badly wounded.

As for Buffalo Horn, he promises the Burtons safety, but only if Pacer joins his braves on the warpath. He’s adamant that he won’t have a man who’s half-Kiowa stand against him.

Neddy’s death proves to be the turning point for the family. Blaming her passing on the doctor’s late arrival, Pacer finally splits with his white family to join the Kiowa.

Elvis Presley as Pacer, announcing that he’s decided to take the Kiowa side in the upcoming fight in Flaming Star (1960)

Steve Forrest as Clint Burton, caught in the middle of an Indian war because his father married a Kiowa woman in Flaming Star (1960)

The middle of three Westerns Elvis made during a career that included 31 films, this is unique because of the lack of singing.

Oh, he performs the title tune, but the only other song comes at a birthday party in the film’s opening scene. Heck, he doesn’t even have a girl in this film. The gal he wants (Barbara Eden as Rosyln Pierce) hopes to marry his brother.

That turned out to be a right approach for a film that’s fatalistic in tone. Early in the film, Pacer’s dad warns of what happens to people caught in the middle of a conflict. His words prove prophetic. Nor do director Don Siegel and company shy away from a downbeat ending.

The result is a film that will surprise fans familiar with Elvis’ more light-hearted material.

Oh, and none of it was meant to work out that way. The film was supposed to be a vehicle for Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, not Elvis Presley and Steve Forrest.

Even the female lead changed after shooting began. Dark-haired Englishwoman Barbara Steele was supposed to play the part that ultimately wound up in the hands of Eden, who would find her “I Dream of Jeannie” fame five years later.

Barbara Eden as Roslyn Pierce, the woman in love with Clint Burton in Flaming Star (1960)

Rodolfo Acosta as Buffalo Horn, questioning Pacer (Elvis Presley) about his allegiance to the Kiowa in Flaming Star (1960)

Cast: Elvis Presley … Pacer Steve Forrest … Clint Barbara Eden … Roslyn Pierce Dolores del Rio … Neddy Burton John McIntire … Pa Burton Rodolfo Acosta … Buffalo Horn Karl Swenson … Dred Pierce Ford Rainey … Doc Phillips Richard Jaeckel … Angus Pierce Anne Benton … Dorothy Howard L.Q. Jones … Tom Howard Douglas Dick … Will Howard Tom Reese … Jute Marian Goldina .. Ph’sha Knay Monte Burkhart … Ben Ford

Runtime: 95 min.

Title tune: “Flaming Star” plus “A Cane and a High-Starched Collar” both performed by Elvis Presley

John McIntire as Pa Burton, trying to defend his herd of cattle against Indians in Flaming Star (1960)

Dolores Del Rio as Neddy, fearing she’s to blame for the problems faced by her family in Flaming Star (1960)

Memorable lines:

Clint: “Pa, if trouble starts, who do you think will hit us first? Your folks or ma’s?” Neddy Burton: “Shame on you, Clint. More likely, neither one will bother us.” Pa Burton: “I must say that ain’t been my experience about people in the middle.”

Neddy Burton: “They wouldn’t hurt us, Pacer. They’re our own people.” Pacer: “No, ma, they ain’t my people. To tell the truth, I don’t know who’s my people. Maybe I ain’t got any.”

Pacer to Roslyn: “You were the worst. You made me feel it the worst. When I was little, I liked you a lot. You were the only girl I liked a whole lot. But ever since you’ve been old enough to know you never looked at me once without saying somewhere in the back of your head, ‘He’s Kiowa. Clint’s alright, but watch out for Pacer.'”

Elvis Presley as Pacer, Anne Benton as Dorothy Howard and Richard Jaeckel as Angus Pierce at Clint’s birthday party in Flaming Star (1960)

Barbara Eden as Roslyn Pierce explains the shaving bowl and mirror she bought for Clint (Steve Forrest) as a birthday present in Flaming Star (1960)

Dolores Del Rio as Neddy with Elvis Presley as Pacer, discussing a lot rider she spotted near their ranch in Flaming Star (1960)

Richard Jaeckel as Angus, vowing vengeance for the massacre of the Howard family in Flaming Star (1960)

Ford Rainey as Doc Phillips, torn on whether he should rush to help a wounded Kiowa woman while Pacer (Elvis Presley) and Clint (Steve Forrest) look on in Flaming Star (1960)

Steve Forrest as Clint Burton, wounded during a scrape with Kiowa warriors in Flaming Star (1960)

John McIntire as Pa Burton, reacting to news that the Kiowa have a new chief in Flaming Star (1960)

Elvis Presley as Pacer Burton, wondering which side his family has the most to fear from in Flaming Star (1960)

Barbara Eden as Roslyn Pierce with her father Dred Pierce (Karl Swenson), a man biased against the Burtons in Flaming Star (1960)

Elvis Presley as Pacer using Doc Phillips’ daughter Dottie (Barbara Beaird) to coerce the doctor to treat his wounded mother in Flaming Star (1960)

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Elvis History Blog

Flaming star elvis movie #6 20th-century-fox | 1960.

Flaming Star was the second of three serious Western films made by Elvis Presley. For my money, it was the best, far better than either Love Me Tender or Charro!. It was another small step forward for Elvis in his goal of becoming a serious actor. (Remember, he was only 25 years old at the time and still learning his craft.) Unfortunately, after Flaming Star, box-office conscious Hollywood would offer Elvis few future opportunities to develop his acting talent.

Twentieth-Century-Fox pushed the film hard in the pages of Variety. In a full-page ad on November 2, 1960, the studio listed Flaming Star as one of their four main offerings for the upcoming Christmas season. That was followed up with a double-page ad for the film on November 16. Variety reviewed the movie in its issue of December 21, the same day that it was released nationally.

Variety’s reviewer, noting that the movie appealed to a much wider audience than previous Presley films, predicted box office success for the David Weisbart production.

“‘Flaming Star’ has Indians-on-the-warpath for the youngsters, Elvis Presley for the teenagers and socio-psychological ramifications for adults who prefer a mild dose of sage in their sagebrushers. The plot—half-breed hopelessly involved in war between white man and Redman—is disturbingly familiar and not altogether convincing, but the film, attractively mounted and consistently diverting, will entertain and absorb the audience it is tailored for. There’s good business in store for the 20th-Fox release.”

I first saw Flaming Star on television during the summer of 1967. Due to the scarcity of Elvis songs, it had never been one of my favorite Presley movies. After many years of not viewing it, I did so recently and was pleasantly surprised that the movie’s overall impact and Elvis’ performance in it were much better than I had remembered them.

• Sceenplay is taut and gripping

Tension on several levels is developed early on and the story moves along quickly with lots of action, some of it very violent for its time. Variety called the screenplay “taut, plain and gripping.” And A. H. Weiler, in his New York Times review of December 17, 1960, judged it overall a generally pleasing film. “‘Flaming Star’ is an unpretentious but sturdy Western that takes the time, the place and the people seriously,” Weiler noted. “Although it is not electrifying, ‘Flaming Star’ makes a neat and satisfying adventure.”

As for Elvis, he never looked better in any of his films either before or after Flaming Star . Lean, tough, and handsome, he was given plenty of opportunity to show off his athletic build while running around shirtless late in the film. “Physically, he is thoroughly believable,” stated Variety , “and athletically he is well-endowed for the part’s masculine demands.”

While praising Presley’s appearance,  Variety  was less laudable about his acting ability in  Flaming Star .

“The role is a demanding one for Presley. The film relies heavily on his reactions as an explanation for its dramatic maneuvers and thematic attitudes. But, at this stage of his career, Presley lacks the facial and thespic sensitivity and projection so desperately required here … And one other thing can be said for Presley’s approach—he’s never guilty of over-acting.”

In the  Times  review, Weiler gave Elvis passing marks. “Although he is not called on to carry a histrionic load,” he wrote, “Presley, thanks to fine makeup and the color cameras, is a passable red youth … He sits a horse well and is properly brave and stoic, even to the point where he sees the ‘flaming star’ of death.”

Like in his first Western,  Love Me Tender , Elvis’ character dies at the end of  Flaming Star . This time, though, he rides off into the hills to perish discreetly off camera.  Variety’s  review termed the ending “contrived,” but Weiler saw some meaning in Presley's final ride into the closing credits. “The warfare destroys all but one of the Burtons in an unhappy ending that seems to underline the sadness of the period when the Indian began to vanish,” Weiler noted.

• Elvis’ singing limited to one scene

Only in his later Western, Charro! , did Elvis sing less on screen than he did in Flaming Star . As Pacer, he sang only one time, other than the title song over the opening credits. And “A Cane and a High-starched Collar” was gotten out of the way within minutes after the opening credits ended. The film than settled down into a straight, action Western the rest of the way.

Elvis recorded two other songs that were intended for use in Flaming Star . The film’s double-page ad in Variety on November 16, 1960, promised theater owners that the film would feature “Elvis singing the song his fans will love most—‘Flaming Star’—and 3 others!” Scenes with Presley singing “Britches” and “Summer Kisses, Winter Tears” were filmed, and a preview of the four-song version of the film was shown at the Academy Theater in Inglewood, California, on November 25, a month before general release. According to the “Behind the Scenes Notes” in RCA’s 1995 Double Features CD release, “Apparently, there was laughter during the ‘Summer Kisses, Winter Tears’ segment where Elvis was singing to Indians around the campfire—hence its hasty deletion!” The “Britches” scene suffered the same fate.

While viewing the film’s final two-song version, it’s easy to identify where the two dropped songs were originally placed. From a dramatic point of view, pulling those two musical sequences was the right call. One only has to go back and observe how several Elvis singing scenes effectively chopped up the dramatic storyline of Love Me Tender to realize what similar damage Flaming Star’s narrative would have suffered with the same treatment.

• Flaming Star suffered by comparison

Although Flaming Star was a step forward for Elvis, in the end the film delivered a body blow to his aspirations of becoming a good actor. It opened in theaters on December 21, 1960, exactly four weeks after G.I. Blues was released on November 23. Hollywood execs, along with Colonel Parker, were able to compare side-by-side the performance of the light, song-filled comedy with that of the serious, song-sparce Western.

The contrast was stark. That holiday season G.I. Blues reached as high as number two in Variety’s weekly list of top-grossing films and finished 14th in the publication’s list of annual box-office ratings. Flaming Star , by comparison, peaked at number 12 in the weekly listings and finished far down among the year’s top grossers.

The 11 songs in G.I. Blues fed sales of the film’s successful soundtrack album, which, in turn, led to multiple viewings of the film by the Presley faithful. It was a double-punch combination that spelled success for both Hollywood and RCA. If Colonel Parker hadn’t known it already, the G.I. Blues-Flaming Star face-off must have convinced him that his boy’s future in Hollywood was in song-filled comedies. Wild in the Country was already in the works, but after that there would be no more of this “serious actor” stuff in Elvis Presley’s future. At the box office, Flaming Star proved that his fans did not share Presley’s most cherished dream.—  Alan Hanson  | © March 2008

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" Flaming Star has Indians-on-the-warpath for the youngsters, Elvis Presley for the teenagers and socio-psychological ramifications for adults who prefer a mild dose of sage in their sagebrushers."

Flaming Star Is Elvis Presley's Best Western Movie

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• Flaming Star showcases Elvis Presley's unfulfilled acting potential under the direction of Don Siegel in a dark and violent Western film.
• Presley shines in this intense film, revealing Pacer's conflicted emotions and identity through expression and movement, not just words.
• Despite initial promise, Presley's serious acting ambitions were derailed by his manager's focus on profit over artistic quality in subsequent films.

Elvis Presley starred in 31 feature films of increasingly deteriorating quality between 1956 and 1969. Presley’s acting career concluded so disappointingly that it’s easy to forget how much promise Presley showed as an actor in the beginning phase of his acting career. The 1958 musical drama film King Creole , for which Presley received excellent reviews for his performance as a juvenile delinquent and nightclub singer who becomes embroiled in the criminal underworld of New Orleans, was directed by the estimable Michael Curtiz , whose impressive list of feature directorial credits includes The Adventures of Robin Hood , Captain Blood , The Sea Wolf , and, of course, Casablanca .

However, Presley’s most interesting feature film performance is contained in the 1960 Western film Flaming Star , which was directed by Don Siegel, an action specialist who previously directed the first Invasion of the Body Snatchers film and later directed Clint Eastwood in five films, most notably the first Dirty Harry film. Moreover, the screenplay for Flaming Star was co-written by Nunnally Johnson, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the acclaimed 1940 film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s iconic novel The Grapes of Wrath .

Indeed, Flaming Star , more than any other Presley film with the possible exception of King Creole , is a testament to how effectively and interestingly Presley could have developed as an actor had Presley continued to align himself with talented filmmakers throughout the rest of his career. Of course, Presley’s serious acting ambitions were ultimately sabotaged by Presley’s myopic longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who increasingly orchestrated Presley’s starring film vehicles to serve as nothing more than lame advertisements for Presley’s soundtrack albums.

Elvis Presley Is Caught Between Two Worlds

In Flaming Star , which is set along the Texas frontier in 1878, Elvis Presley plays Pacer Burton, the son of a Kiowa mother and white Texan father. Pacer’s conflicted sense of identity is exacerbated after a nearby tribe of Kiowa warriors starts attacking nearby homesteads. Throughout the film, Pacer increasingly feels adrift between these two worlds, in which he doesn’t feel that he truly belongs anywhere .

Under the crisp, economical direction of Don Siegel, Flaming Star enables Presley to project his character’s conflicting emotions and identity mostly through expression and movement, instead of dramatic speeches. Presley’s Pacer is a young man of few words whose essentially brooding presence reflects a long-held sense of confusion and resentment, which Presley reveals with great dramatic power. The plot of Flaming Star places increasing pressure upon Pacer, who is simultaneously pressured by the Kiowa and white people to choose a side in this conflict, which intensifies when Pacer’s Kiowa mother dies after having been shot by a white neighbor whose family was massacred by Kiowa warriors.

The death of his mother compels Pacer to consider joining Kiowa trial leader Buffalo Horn in the tribal leader’s quest to banish the white homesteaders, including Pacer’s father and white half-brother, from Native land. Having started the film as a brother and peacemaker and son, Pacer finds himself being irrevocably drawn toward violence and war by the mystical flaming star of death, which refers to a Kiowa symbol of death.

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Flaming Star Is Dark and Violent

Aside from arguably being the best Elvis Presley film, Flaming Star is one of the most intense and violent Western films of its era. This reflects the influence of director Don Siegel, who makes the violence in Flaming Star seem especially disturbing because of how effectively the film establishes its characters as real people instead of standard Western archetypes.

Moreover, the specter of violence that permeates the film creates palpable tension, regardless of whether a given scene erupts into actual violence. This is established in the film’s opening scene, in which Pacer and Pacer’s brother, Clint, approach their Texas family ranch on horseback one moonlit night. As they approach the ranch, they become unnerved by the silence that surrounds the house. It feels like the aura of death is present. However, upon cautiously entering the house, Pacer and his brother are surprised by their family and friends, who have gathered at the house to celebrate Clint’s birthday.

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The bleak, dark tone of Flaming Star is most clearly embodied in the film’s merciless and uncompromising ending, in which Presley does an excellent job of revealing Pacer’s ultimate transformation. Like the great 1953 Western film Shane , which ends with the film’s bleeding and presumably dying titular character riding out of a valley, Flaming Star ends with a slumping, wounded Pacer following his own flaming star of death.

Flaming Star Highlights Elvis's Wasted Acting Potential

Upon the start of his film career, Elvis Presley expressed an ambition to emulate his acting idols, James Dean and Marlon Brando, in terms of expanding his own dramatic range as a film actor. However, the relatively disappointing box-office performance of Flaming Star , which wasn’t accompanied by a soundtrack album, heralded the end of Presley’s dramatic aspirations. While Presley might never have become a great dramatic actor, his compelling performance in Flaming Star , for which Brando and Frank Sinatra were originally slated to star in the film, proves that Presley wasn’t a joke as an actor.

That was until manager Colonel Tom Parker destroyed Presley’s credibility as an actor by placing Presley in a string of insipid film vehicles, for which the sole criteria of selection was the size of Presley’s salary. Indeed, beginning with the 1961 comedy-drama film Blue Hawaii and ending with Change of Habit , the most interesting aspect of Presley’s subsequent films is how unhappy Presley seemed to be in them. In this context and that of Presley’s sad final days, Presley’s performance in Flaming Star carries an additional level of poignancy, which makes the film’s grim ending seem especially tragic in retrospect. Stream on FuboTV.

• Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley Delivered the Best Performance in This Violent Western

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The Big Picture

• Elvis Presley's performance in Flaming Star showcases his acting range and explores a character caught between two cultural worlds.
• The film's context of Native American narratives allows Presley to delve into complex emotions and internal struggles, especially after the death of his mother.
• Despite his character's attempt to mediate between two civilizations, Presley's moving portrayal of Pacer ends with a heartfelt speech about the fiery star of death.

Elvis Presley is often remembered for his influential music career, but he also left a lasting impact on the film industry with his acting roles. Despite his relatively short-lived acting career, Presley starred in 33 films, showcasing his versatility on the big screen . One of his standout performances was in the 1960 film Flaming Star (directed by Don Siegel ) where he played the role of Pacer Burton, the son of a Kiowa mother and Texan father. In this film, Presley delivered a poignant portrayal of a Natie American grappling with his identity and internal struggles in a society that cannot make room for both of his cultural identities. This article will showcase that Flaming Star was Presley’s best acting performance, specifically his monologue when he is coming to death.

Flaming Star

When fighting breaks out between two cultures in West Texas, the mixed-blood Pacer tries to act as a peacemaker, but the "flaming star of death" pulls him irrevocably into the deadly violence.

Setting the Stage For Elvis Presley’s Infamous Performance

The historical context of Flaming Star is essential to understanding the significance of Elvis Presley's performance. The film was released during a time when Hollywood was starting to explore more diverse and complex narratives, including those centered on Native American characters. Presley's portrayal of Pacer Burton allowed him to showcase his acting range and delve into the complexities of a character caught between two worlds. Obviously, it's worth pointing out that Elvis himself was not Native American , and although this is a powerful performance, he is still just a white man portraying someone who is Native American. While in the 1960s this was commonplace, a casting like this would not fly today.

The film begins joyfully, with the Burton family and friends dancing and singing while they make dinner. But Burton’s legacy becomes a tragic one when the Kiowa tribe leader, Buffalo Horn, played by Rodolfo Acosta , comes to discuss broken land agreements. The slowly building tensions between the Kiowa and white characters transformed into an inevitable war , and became more violent and deadly than Pacer could have ever imagined. The tensions between the two groups only heighten when Neddy ( Dolores del Rio ), Pacer’s mother, is shot on their way home from visiting the reserved land of the Kiowa tribe by Howard ( L.Q. Jones ). Pacer shot Howard a few days earlier after provoking him with racist slurs, and when Neddy offers to help with Howard’s wound, he refuses on behalf of her Kiowa blood.

Pacer’s Anger Portrayed by Presley

The death of Pacer's mother, Neddy, serves as the catalyst for his transformation , as he finally allows his suppressed Indigenous heritage to come to the forefront. The sight of "the flaming star of death" symbolizes the end of Neddy's life and the beginning of Pacer's internal turmoil. Pacer's resentment towards the white community, which had been slowly burning within him, erupts into a rage that leads him to side with the Kiowa tribe. His anger and grief manifest in a confrontation with the doctor, Ford Rainey , whom he blames for not saving his mother, and his friends who did not bring her to the doctor sooner.

This moment of intense emotion and conflict reflects Pacer's internal struggle as he grapples with his identity and the loss of his mother. The death of his mother highlights the complex emotions and internal conflict that Pacer experiences as he navigates his heritage, grief, and the injustices he perceives. Presley's touching performance when he loses his mother sets the stage for a deeper exploration of Pacer's journey and his eventual reconciliation with his conflicting emotions.

Presley’s Portrayal of Pacer Burton Seeing The Flaming Star of Death

Even though Pacer struck a deal with Buffalo Horn to protect his white father Clint ( Steve Forrest ) and white brother Sam ( John McIntire ), he also develops mistrust of the Kiowas after they shot his father. Despite his best attempts to keep his family alive, Pacer discovers that he has no control over the conflict when he learns that his father was slain. He is shot while attempting to mediate a settlement between the two civilizations and informs the community that he has already passed away and has seen the fiery star of death after losing all hope on both sides and understanding there is nothing left to fight for. This heartfelt speech considers Pacer's tragedy and the death of his Kiowa culture.

In conclusion, Presley's portrayal of Burton in Flaming Star stands out as one of his most memorable and impactful acting performances . The historical context, key figures involved in the production, and the lasting impact of the film all contribute to the significance of Presley's role in shaping his acting career. While his time in Hollywood may have been relatively short, the legacy of Flaming Star and Presley's performance in the film continues to be celebrated and appreciated by fans and critics alike . As such, Flaming Star remains a testament to Presley's talent as an actor and his ability to deliver a touching performance.

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Flaming Star

Flaming Star has Indians-on-the-warpath for the youngsters, Elvis Presley for the teenagers and socio-psychological ramifications for adults who prefer a mild dose of sage in their sagebrushers. The plot - half-breed hopelessly involved in war between white man and Red man [from a novel by Clair Huffaker] - is disturbingly familiar and not altogether convincing, but the film is attractively mounted and consistently diverting.

By Variety Staff

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Flaming Star has Indians-on-the-warpath for the youngsters, Elvis Presley for the teenagers and socio -psychological ramifications for adults who prefer a mild dose of sage in their sagebrushers. The plot – half-breed hopelessly involved in war between white man and Red man [from a novel by Clair Huffaker] – is disturbingly familiar and not altogether convincing, but the film is attractively mounted and consistently diverting.

Presley plays the half-breed, pivotal character in the conflict between a group of Texas settlers and the angry Kiowa tribe. Part of a heterogeneous family (full-blooded Indian mother, white father, half brother) resented and tormented by whites, taunted and haunted by Indian ties, Presley is buffeted to and fro between enemy camps by the prevailing winds of prejudice and pride.

Popular on Variety

The role is a demanding one for Presley. But he lacks the facial and thespic sensitivity and projection so desperately required here. The standouts are the veterans, Dolores Del Rio and John McIntire. Del Rio brings dignity and delicacy to the role of Presley’s full-blooded Indian mother. McIntire adds nobility and compassion as the father of the doomed household. Steve Forrest is competent as the brother, Barbara Eden decorative as his girl.

Director Don Siegel has packed plenty of excitement into the picture, notably some realistically-staged fistfight, battle and chase passages. But there are a few equally unrealistic-looking scenes.

• Production: 20th Century-Fox. Director Don Siegel; Producer David Weisbart; Screenplay Clair Huffaker, Nunnally Johnson; Camera Charles G. Clarke; Editor Hugh S. Fowler; Music Cyril J. Mockridge; Art Director Duncan Cramer, Walter M. Simonds
• Crew: (Color) Widescreen. Available on VHS. Extract of a review from 1960. Running time: 92 MIN.
• With: Elvis Presley Steve Forrest Barbara Eden Dolores Del Rio John McIntire Richard Jaeckel

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Flaming star blu-ray review.

Flaming Star (2013)

Genre(s): Western Twilight Time | NR – 92 min. – $29.98 | November 11, 2014

PLOT SUMMARY

Don Siegel directs Elvis Presley in Flaming Star , a tough-minded Western that many have pegged as the legendary entertainer’s best film. Presley plays a half-white/half-Kiowa youth in post-Civil War Texas, caught up in a tragic war between whites and Indians, his loyalties and allegiances tested at every turn. The supporting cast includes John McIntire as Presley’s father, who just wants to live in peace; Delores Del Rio as his mother, determined to keep her son safe; Steve Forrest as his conflicted brother from another mother; and Barbara Eden as an understanding local girl.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5

As with other TT releases, this comes with a 6-page essay booklet. Features-wise, there’s not much here save for an informative and well done Audio Commentary with film historians Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman and the Original Theatrical Trailer (2:36; HD) .

VIDEO – 4.0/5

Twilight Time releases Flaming Star with a 1080p high-definition transfer presented in the film’s original 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio. Like most movies from the 1960s, it has a very warm texture to it and bright colors. Detail levels are for the most part good, though any background or distant shots tend to be softer. Even so, it’s a nice transfer that does have some dust marks and scratches but nothing distracting

AUDIO – 3.5/5

The film comes with 5.1 and 2.0 Mono DTS-HD Master Audio tracks, both of which are effective but obviously the 5 channel gets some more depth. Dialogue does sound clear throughout and any action elements are well diverse between each channel.

OVERALL – 3.0/5

Overall, Flaming Star is a different sort of film from Elvis Presley who gives a nice performance in an otherwise OK western (which admittedly is not my favorite genre). The Blu-ray meanwhile released by Twilight Time offers good audio and video transfers, with more emphasis on the latter, but not much in the features department.

Published: 11/17/2014

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Flaming star.

Directed by Don Siegel

CHOOSE!... Between your white father and your Kiowa mother !

Sam Burton's second wife is a Kiowa, and their son is therefore born mixed-race. When a struggle starts between the whites and the native Kiowas, the Burton family is split between loyalties.

Elvis Presley Barbara Eden Steve Forrest Dolores del Río John McIntire Rodolfo Acosta Karl Swenson Ford Rainey Richard Jaeckel Anne Benton L.Q. Jones Douglas Dick Tom Reese Miriam Goldina Monte Burkhart Ted Jacques Rodd Redwing Perry Lopez Lon Ballantyne Barbara Beaird Virginia Christine Roy Jenson Larry Chance Pat Hogan Foster Hood Jim Whitecloud Red West Bob Alder Henry Amargo Show All… Ray Beltram Sharon Bercutt Joe Brooks Tom Fadden Bob Folkerson Griswold Green William Herrin Charles Horvath Guy Way

Director Director

Producer producer.

David Weisbart

Writers Writers

Clair Huffaker Nunnally Johnson

Original Writer Original Writer

Clair Huffaker

Editor Editor

Hugh S. Fowler

Cinematography Cinematography

Charles G. Clarke

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Joseph E. Rickards Fred R. Simpson

Additional Directing Add. Directing

Richard Talmadge

Art Direction Art Direction

Walter M. Simonds Duncan Cramer

Set Decoration Set Decoration

G.W. Berntsen Walter M. Scott

Stunts Stunts

Charles Horvath Eli Bo Jack Blackfeather Loren Janes Joe Brooks John Epper Tom Sweet Roy Jenson Guy Way Bob Folkerson Red West Richard Talmadge

Composers Composers

Jerry Goldsmith Cyril J. Mockridge Irving Gertz

Sound Sound

E. Clayton Ward Warren B. Delaplain

Costume Design Costume Design

Adele Balkan

Makeup Makeup

Hairstyling hairstyling.

Helen Turpin

20th Century Fox

Releases by Date

20 dec 1960, 17 mar 1961, 23 jun 1961, 20 sep 1961, 02 may 2005, releases by country.

• Physical 12 Fox Home mj.gov.br
• Theatrical 12
• Theatrical PG

92 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by 📀 Cammmalot 📀 ★★★½ 2

Viva Rio Bravo?

”What is it Sam?” “I’m not sure yet.”

A year after Ricky Nelson’s western debut comes an Elvis cowboy movie, but it’s like nothing you might expect.

Elvis actually gets serious and it catches me completely off-guard. I went into this thinking it’d be a typical Elvis movie with him as a singing cowboy, but once you get past the two opening songs it suddenly turns into a pretty dark and solid western with some decent Elvis acting.

He plays the son of a white rancher and a Kiowa mother who finds himself, and his family, caught in the middle of a frontier racial war. The tension builds from both sides as the violence swirls ever closer and it becomes obvious there’s no easy answers and no way out.

Sam, I saw the flaming star of death.

Cinematic Time Capsule - 1960 Ranked

Cinematic Playlist – Viva Las Elvis

Review by Josh Gillam ★★★

Pacer (Elvis Presley), the mixed race son of a Texan rancher (John McIntire) and a Native American woman (Delores del Río), becomes conflicted when a nearby tribe begin attacking his town, in Don Siegel’s western drama co-starring Barbara Eden and Steve Forrest.

I think this is one of Elvis’ best roles, along with King Creole , as the story takes precedence over the songs, allowing him to give a more layered, conflicted performance than usual. He manages to show Pacer’s inner dilemma really well, and holds the film well. Del Río and McIntire were also really good, and gave a lot of warmth and believability to the film.

It explores some interesting ideas about prejudice and racism, feeling a lot more…

Review by Jesse Snoddon ★★★

"I saw the flaming star of death"

A mixed race family finds themselves caught in the vice of a conflict between white racists and the Kiowa. Pacer (Elvis), the son of a white father (John McIntire) and Kiowa mother (Dolores del Rio), finds himself torn between two worlds and increasingly pressured to choose one of them. 

Flaming Star is a decent Western. Though it's a little outdated in its politics now, it was socially conscious for the time in how it approached the genre. The white people here are shown as hostile and racist toward the tribe, a portrayal most Western films would flinch away from. It really demonstrates the tragic consequences of the conflict on average, everyday families. It's…

Review by Blair Russell ★★★½ 2

If only Elvis had the chance to do more serious motion pictures such as this Western. Before it leaves the Criterion Channel at the end of September, I wanted to see one of Presley’s films which weren’t goofy cornball efforts. A Western from Don Siegel where Elvis was half Native American and the conflict came from his mixed family & how each side in an escalating conflict is upset with them because they’re a mixed family; they’re supposed to “pick a side”… I was intrigued.

Specifically, white John McIntire has a Kiowa wife (Dolores del Rio); white Steve Forrest and Elvis are half-brothers. Both sides of the equation are three-dimensional characters yet both also do some heinous things against the other.…

Review by annabelle🌿🪻⏳ ★★★★½

this is what power of the dog (2021) wishes it was

Review by Joe ★★★½

My first Elvis movie, and apart from an early musical number (and an actually pretty cool title song), it's not really too similar to what I expected, much more dramatic and sturdy, probably in large part thanks to Don Siegel being at the helm. I also wasn't expecting it to be explicitly about white racism, in its own inevitably flawed fashion, with a downer ending and plenty of exciting, sometimes painful-looking action. Elvis spends the last part of the movie running around shirtless with his brother's blood smeared on his face like warpaint, hardcore.

Review by Schratzi ★★★½ 2

Ev’ry man has a flaming star A flaming star, over his shoulder And when a man sees his flaming star He knows his time, his time has come

So sings the King in a story in which death is never very far away.  After Hell Is For Heroes I was right in the mood for another lean and mean Don Siegel movie, and Flaming Star  fits that bill perfectly. Shot only two years earlier it’s a completely different looking film, with a more substantial budget, in color and widescreen and featuring one of the biggest names in show business in the lead role.  Yes, this is an Elvis Presley movie, but it would be a big mistake to lump it among…

Review by RetroHound ★★★★ 2

Possibly the most serious Elvis movie. A Western directed by Don Siegel about a ranching family, white dad, Kiowa mother, one white son, one half-white/half Kiowa son (Elvis). When a young Kiowa chief decides to start a war to take back the land that the whites took from them, the family is caught in the middle, hated by both sides. Boy, the prejudice is thick in this film. If only people would get along. The ending is heavy and a downer. One of Elvis' best acting jobs.

See my Elvis Movies Ranked list .

Review by MichaelEternity ★★½ 2

One of those adequate, insubstantial episodes of "Gunsmoke" or "Maverick" that tells the honor-bound, family-values preaching, enlighteningly themed, action-packed standalone story of an entirely different group of characters out on the frontier rather than the series regulars. On this episode, Elvis and his clan are trying to live peacefully out on a ranch, but the mother is a Native American, ergo feuds about loyalty to one side or another with other less tolerant white families nearby and with the natives themselves too. Its lesson about racism is ultimately a bitter one as everyone gets caught up in a grim, fatalistic tailspin. Though adapted from a novel, the material's on-screen grit may owe something to its formidable director, Don Siegel. That…

Review by Jeffrey Flam ★★★★

The King puts the guitar down and fights racism!  Kinda...

Review by ˚.✶⋆ 𝚐𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚢 ₊✧˚.‧ ★★★

westerns are so boring but elvis is living his serious actor dream!!!! go off king!!!! i love that for you!!!!!!

elvis filmography: ranked

Review by Andy Fell ★★★★ 6

DuBFaL-Western-Weeks- Shot 3 - Film Nr. 6

Mit mehr solcher Rollen wie in Flammender Stern hätte die Schauspielkarriere von Elvis Presley sicherlich eine andere Richtung eingenommen.

So nahm die Qualität seiner Filme danach stetig ab bis er sich Gott sei Dank Ende der 60er Jahre besann, seine Musikkarriere wieder in den Blickpunkt zu rücken.

In dem Western Flammender Stern aus dem Jahr 1960 spielt Elvis das Halbblut Pacer Burton, der zusammen mit seiner Kiowa-Mutter, seinem Vater und seinem Halbbruder auf einer Farm lebt 🐎🏚🐂🐃🐂.

Alles war harmonisch auch das Zusammenleben mit den Nachbarn passte. Bis eines Tages Indianer die Nachbarranch angreifen und alle töten. Die Burtons stehen fortan zwischen den Stühlen und werden von beiden Seiten unter Druck gesetzt, sich…

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Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

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FLAMING STAR

• Post author: eenableadmin
• Post published: August 5, 2019
• Post category: Uncategorized

FLAMING STAR (director: Don Siegel; screenwriter: Nunnally Johnson/Clair Huffaker/from the book by Clair Huffaker; cinematographer: Charles G. Clarke; editor: Hugh S. Fowler; music: Cyril Mockridge; cast: Elvis Presley (Pacer Burton), Steve Forrest (Clint Burton), Barbara Eden (Roslyn Pierce), Dolores Del Rio (Neddy Burton), John McIntire (Sam ‘Pa’ Burton), Rudolph Acosta (Buffalo Horn), Karl Swenson (Dred Pierce), Ford Rainey (Doc Phillips), L.Q. Jones (Tom Howard), Douglas Dick (Will Howard), Monte Burkhart (Ben Ford), Perry Lopez (Two Moons); Runtime: 101; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: David Weisbart; 20th Century Fox; 1960) “An emotionally charged liberal themed Western that keeps things rocking.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

This is the best film Elvis Presley was ever in (the nearest to it in quality is Jailhouse Rock). The Elvis Presley role was originally written for Marlon Brando by Nunnally Johnson and rewritten for Presley by Clair Huffaker. Elvis is only called upon to sing two songs–the theme song entitled “Flaming Star,” which is a sign that death has arrived, and a number called “A Cane and a High-Starched Collar” that is done in an early scene. The ‘Man with the Blue Suede Shoes’ is required to act and that he does surprisingly well, giving a first-class moving performance as someone torn asunder by his mixed heritage. It’s an emotionally charged liberal themed Western that keeps things rocking as it exposes through an interracial family the frontier racism that prevailed between Indians and whites. Don Siegel (“Dirty Harry”/”Invasion of the Body Snatchers”/”Riot in Cell Block 11”) doesn’t soften the punches as he directs by never losing sight that the volatile racist situation brings about the inevitable violence.

The film is set in rural Texas in 1873. White settler Sam Burton (John McIntire) took some twenty years ago a full-blooded Kiowa woman named Neddy (Dolores Del Rio) as his wife and had a half-breed son with her named Pacer (Elvis Presley). By his first marriage, he had a white son named Clint (Steve Forrest). The brothers get along very well. Things get ugly with the new chief of the Kiowas, Buffalo Horn (Rudolph Acosta), who goes into a snit that the white settlers took his land and is starting anew an Indian-white war. When the Kiowas raid the Howard home and kill off the entire family, the whites at the Crossing are angry with the mixed-race Burton family who seem to be protected by the Kiowas. Dred Pierce (Karl Swenson) is so upset, that he orders his daughter Roz (Barbara Eden) to no longer see her sweetheart Clint.

In retaliation for their friendship with the Kiowa, the whites steal some of the Burton’s cattle and leave it slaughtered. Meanwhile Buffalo Horn tries to convince Pacer to turn his back on the racist whites and rejoin his people to fight the whites. Neddy goes to the Kiowa campsite to pow-wow with her tribesmen and tell them she wants peace but is killed by Will Howard, who evidently survived the massacre and had enough strength before succumbing to critically wound the innocent Neddy. When Clint and Pacer go to the Crossing to get Dr. Phillips to try and save their mother’s life, they are rebuffed from taking the Doc to her by the racist whites but take him any way by force. But they arrive too late, as Neddy saw the “flaming star” of death. Pacer is so upset with the racist whites, that he flees to the Kiowas and turns his back on his white family.

Warning: spoiler in the next paragraph.

Elvis is setup as an emblematic figure, torn between two loyalties, who gets so twisted by the turn of events that he’s forced to choose sides in this gripping but bleak melodrama. It ends with only a glimmer of hope that mankind can learn to look past its hatreds and live in peace with each other, as the brother’s folks give them both valuable moral lessons, understanding, support and love to cope with the hostile world. The burden of passing on the lesson of tolerance is passed onto Clint, whom the dying Pacer tells in his last breaths “You live for me, maybe they’ll understand some day.”

REVIEWED ON 7/24/2005 GRADE: B+

Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ

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Flaming Star Reviews

• 1 hr 32 mins
• Watchlist Where to Watch

Don Siegel directed this tale of Indian-white antagonism, featuring a surprisingly effective Elvis Presley as the half-Indian son of Dolores Del Rio and John McIntire. Barbara Eden, Steve Forrest. Dred: Karl Swenson. Buffalo Horn: Rudolph Acosta. Doc: Ford Rainey. Angus: Richard Jaeckel.

This was Presley's best film, far superior to the moronic material he was usually given. Here he plays a young man who is forced to choose between his white father, McIntire, and his Kiowa mother, Del Rio. Despite his parents' attempts to stay out of local racial hostilities, Del Rio is killed by a white man, and McIntire later dies in an Indian raid. By this time Presley has joined the Indians, while Forrest, his brother, tries to avenge McIntire's death by attacking the Kiowas singlehandedly. He ambushes and kills the chief but is severely wounded. Presley ties his brother to a horse and sends him to safety while fighting off the attacking tribe. Eden then tends to Forrest's wounds and tries to keep him in bed, but Forrest struggles off to help Presley. However, in the end he can only watch as the mortally wounded Presley rides off into the mountains to die. This violent western about prejudice focuses on the consequences of racism, rather than the causes. Siegel's crafty direction shapes the material into a strong story, and the film proves that, with an intelligent script, Presley could be a forceful actor. The film is refreshingly lacking in the record-peddling that dominates other Presley vehicles (there isn't a song sung after the first 10 minutes). The script was initially written for Marlon Brando by Johnson, then rewritten for Presley by Huffaker. Ten minutes were cut from the original version of the film. Classic Elvis!

Flaming Star (1960)

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Rotten Tomatoes® Score

A treasure trove of content for Presleyologists who interpret Elvis as a repository and reflector of America's conflicted and evolving attitudes toward youth, class, race and sex.

The filmmaking may be a little ramshackle, but it's sensitive, and the performances are soulful.

...proves that Elvis didn't just get lucky with his first performance; the boy could actually act.

Famed action director Don Siegel saw an element of raw danger in Elvis and gave him his very best role in this excellent quasi-Western.

Less an "Elvis film" than a western starring young Presley in a surprisingly well cast role, this lean frontier drama... offers one of his most impressive performances.

Elvis' best performance, in a solid Don Siegel Western

An emotionally charged liberal themed Western that keeps things rocking.

Among the best Presley features; directed by Don Siegel.

Although the sight of a shirtless Elvis wrestling a native warrior is fascinating enough, there are few surprises in the sequence of events.

Additional Info

• Genre : Action
• Release Date : December 20, 1960
• Languages : English
• Captions : English, Spanish
• Audio Format : Stereo

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