By Lee Pfeiffer
With Elvis mania in high gear the summer to commemorate the 30th anniversary of The King's passing, a virtual tsunami of Presley DVD releases have been unleashed by the major studios. Most of the reviews tend to focus on Elvis's "golden era" of the 1950s and scant attention has been paid to his films from a decade later. These are generally considered to be lightweight entries at best, with the exception of Viva Las Vegas! Thus, it's interesting to examine some of Elvis' lesser works from the late 1960s. Warner Home Entertainment has just released Stay Away, Joe, a 1968 vehicle for The King that actually had a prestigious pedigree: it was based on an acclaimed best-selling book. As expected, much was lost in the translation to the screen. Elvis stars as a hip, younger generation American Indian who returns to his family's ramshackle house on the reservation after establishing a reputation as a Mr. Fix-It who employs less than honorable methods to solve problems, initiate shady business deals, etc. Because of his charisma, he is greeted as the Prodigal Son upon his return with men wanting to emulate him and the local girls salivating at the sight of him. This isn't quite as preposterous as it sounds, as Elvis was still in top physical condition at this point in his life and does indeed cut a handsome figure whether its on a motorcycle or riding a tempermental bull in a rodeo. In fact, there's a lot of bull in Stay Away, Joe but only some of it is on the range. The rest is in the screenplay.