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00:02Elvis Presley an American icon a hip-shaking rebel with a golden voice
00:09cameras love him crowds worship him the world has never seen anything like him
00:16yet by the late 60s his world is shifting and so is Las Vegas the gambling paradise
00:25that has become a second home to Elvis Elvis loved the freedom of Las Vegas he
00:32loved it as an adult playground and his enigmatic manager Colonel Tom Parker
00:37Colonel Parker is a compulsive gambler and this is his favorite place to be
00:43organized crime helped shape Las Vegas turning gambling and vice into a
00:48criminal Empire but if the town had once been ruled by mobsters it is now being
00:53reshaped by corporate giants Las Vegas transformed dramatically plans are
01:00underway to build the largest hotel the world has ever seen an audacious symbol
01:06of Las Vegas's new era and to fill it the city needs the biggest star on earth
01:12Elvis you had to go see Elvis Presley perform it was an event but it's been
01:19almost a decade since Elvis last stepped onto a stage the world has changed so
01:25is he can the king reclaim his crown in a city built on spectacle seduction and
01:32danger the mob's tentacles in Las Vegas were into all different facets of the
01:40industry Parker wants Elvis back in Vegas but the mob still lurks in the shadows
01:46and the colonel knows exactly who holds the strings there is no other place where
01:52there are so many entrepreneurs who are connected to organized crime for Elvis it
01:57starts a descent into a world of drugs death threats and unlimited firepower he's
02:03collecting a whole host of guns he gets a Tommy gun and this time the odds are in
02:21nobody's favour 1968 America is an upheaval the youth rebellion that Elvis Presley once symbolized has erupted
02:34into a full-blown counterculture the Vietnam War rages protests fill the streets and the fight for civil rights and
02:46sexual liberation dominates headlines
02:51in the wake of the summer of love young Americans are questioning everything from the government to rock and roll
02:58itself
03:02Elvis Presley once the face of teenage rebellion feels like a relic and his manager Colonel Tom Parker has trapped
03:11him in a carousel of forgettable Hollywood films
03:14creatively stifled and losing relevance Elvis is desperate to remind the world who he really is in a bold move
03:24Parker arranges a television
03:26special to showcase Elvis at his best and reintroduce him to the American public
03:37airing on December 3rd 1968 the show reminds America what made Elvis a star in the first place
03:48charisma swagger and pure rock and roll energy
03:54that special was a big success in the ratings
03:58it's an incredible piece of TV it's got a bit of him playing in a round and it's also got
04:03him doing these big song and dance numbers it's really dynamic
04:08it was really really good and suddenly Elvis is back
04:12that special really reminded people that Elvis was still a terrific performer
04:19Colonel decided okay now it's time to get Elvis back to live performing
04:24the world is at his feet
04:27now what he should be doing I don't know touring the world
04:30but instead what does he do he goes to Las Vegas
04:37Elvis's manager the shady Colonel Tom Parker has long been a fan of mob-built Las Vegas
04:44he thrives on its energy and its unwritten rules
04:49over the years he's grown close to the city's power players
04:53including Milton Prell the influential boss behind the Sahara and Aladdin hotels
05:00but new money is moving in
05:02businessman Kirk Kerkorian is leading the charge with plans for the largest hotel in the world
05:09Kirk Kerkorian was opening the new international hotel set to open in the summer of 1969
05:19they need a big name they need the biggest name
05:22so the entertainment director of the new international is Bill Miller
05:26Bill Miller ran Bill Miller's Riviera a nightclub in New Jersey
05:29famous mobster hangout
05:32he came to Vegas he was working for Milton Prell he's been there for decades
05:35he knows everything and everyone in Vegas and he knows what Vegas wants
05:38and he knows that middle American tourists will want to come to Vegas to see Elvis
05:48Alex Shufi was the general manager of the new international and he had been the general manager of the Sahara
05:55for Milton Prell
05:56there had been rumors that Milton Prell was a gangster he was the front man for the Detroit mob
06:04and Alex Shufi had first worked for Milton Prell at the club Bingo
06:10Shufi had the nickname of the Cleaver in Las Vegas
06:14and he was really more of the colonel's contact there than Kirk Kerkorian
06:20Milton Prell and Alex Shufi came to the colonel and asked him if Elvis would want to open the hotel
06:27and it was the colonel who decided that the place to make the biggest splash on his return to live
06:34performing was Las Vegas
06:38the colonel loved Las Vegas that was his playground that was his carnival that was his fair
06:45he felt important there he knew all these top guys who jumped at his call gave him anything he wanted
06:51kissed his feet but mostly he could gamble and rack up massive debts
06:57when the international came to Colonel Parker they offered him a hundred thousand dollars a week
07:03and under the table basically agreed to cover the colonel's gambling debts
07:08the colonel was game but he said the hotel is still being finished they were racing to finish construction
07:15we're not sure if the technical things are all going to be sound the lighting and the electricity
07:21he said let somebody else be the guinea pig come in first we'll be second
07:26and so the international they went to their second choice
07:30and it was Barbara Streisand who opened the international hotel in July
07:36followed by Elvis Presley for four weeks in August 1969
07:43Kerkorian's team and the colonel sealed this new deal
07:46and it's for a month-long residency in Vegas for Elvis
07:49this is an entirely new concept and it's going to change Vegas
07:57Las Vegas once thrived on intimate nightclub acts
08:01low-lit smoky shows made famous by Frank Sinatra and his pals in mob affiliated venues across the city
08:10but the new international is vast
08:13its 2,000 seat showroom dwarfs the old lounges
08:17marking a new era in Las Vegas spectacle
08:20Colonel Parker had done an amazing job of promoting the event
08:24he had blanketed the area with billboards and signs on top of taxi cabs at bus stops
08:31radio ads just blaring Elvis Elvis Elvis
08:35there was probably more advanced hype for that show than any show in Vegas history
08:39although he hasn't set foot on stage since 1961
08:43the prospect of a Las Vegas comeback ignites a sense of purpose in Elvis
08:59July 31st 1969
09:03backstage at the international hotel
09:05Elvis is preparing to take the stage for the first time in eight years
09:11of the girls
09:11Cary Grant's there
09:13Sammy Davis jr
09:14and I think a lot of people are curious as what's gonna happen
09:17I mean is it gonna be a car crash
09:18I mean he's on the comeback special but you know what's gonna go on
09:23This showroom at the international hotel where Elvis was performing was twice as large as any showroom in Vegas at
09:30the time
09:30Elvis filled it up
09:32and the anticipation was unbelievable.
09:37Elvis is nervous but comes in from the wing.
09:41The crowd goes wild.
09:45Elvis opens with Blue Suede Shoes,
09:48one of his great old hits.
09:50The minute he finishes the first song,
09:52he kind of turns around to his band, relaxes,
09:56and he really gets going.
10:00He's full of energy.
10:02I mean, he is just in constant motion,
10:05doing karate kicks, dancing around the stage.
10:08The whole show, it's an hour and 15 or 20 minutes,
10:11and it's just a spectacular success.
10:14It turns out the show is an amazing hit.
10:16Everybody loves him.
10:18Magazines marvel at the staying power of this guy.
10:21And Elvis is celebrated again.
10:23It is a triumph.
10:31The very next day,
10:33Alex Shufi from the International Hotel
10:35got together Colonel Parker
10:37and basically tried to sign up Elvis
10:39for regular gigs at the hotel.
10:42He just wrote up the contract,
10:44apparently on a tablecloth.
10:47It was all done very quickly.
10:50$125,000 a week,
10:52eight weeks a year,
10:53that makes a million dollars a year,
10:55which was Colonel Parker's favorite number.
10:58But many people believe
10:59that it was actually a very bad deal,
11:02locking Elvis into five years
11:04and essentially no raise.
11:06And that Prell was negotiating that deal.
11:10And there is no way
11:11that Elvis and Colonel
11:12could have come out on top.
11:15To this day,
11:17rumors continue to swirl
11:18that the hurried deal
11:19to keep Elvis in Vegas
11:21was made possible
11:22because of Colonel Parker's
11:24historic gambling debts.
11:25vast sums of money
11:27owed to the city's casino bosses,
11:29putting him at a distinct disadvantage
11:32when negotiating
11:33with the likes of Alex Shufi.
11:36Tom Parker was an obsessive-compulsive gambler,
11:39and he made a deal with the hotel
11:42that he would have carte blanche
11:44to gamble as much as he wanted,
11:46and he wouldn't have to pay
11:47any gambling debts.
11:49He would get to keep all of his winnings,
11:51and they gave him all sorts of benefits
11:54to stay there,
11:55and they did this in exchange
11:56for being able to pay Elvis
11:58only $150,000 a week
12:01instead of maybe two or three times that.
12:03Alex Shufi was loose with the lips
12:06when it came to talking about Colonel's gambling.
12:08He said initially he was good
12:10for a million dollars a year,
12:11but eventually he became good
12:14for a million dollars a month.
12:16Elvis performed hundreds of shows
12:19that he never knew
12:21were to cancel the Colonel's gambling debts.
12:24This is another instance
12:26in which Colonel's decisions benefit the Colonel
12:29more than they do Elvis.
12:32It's a five-year deal.
12:35It's going to require
12:36an incredible output of energy
12:39or an incredible input of amphetamines.
12:48As Elvis' residency at the International
12:51begins in the summer of 1969,
12:54Las Vegas is, on the surface,
12:57cleaning up its act.
12:58Although mobsters still control
13:01a number of hotels in Las Vegas,
13:03a new wave of corporate ownership
13:05is moving in,
13:06keen to legitimize the casino business
13:09and wash away its ties to organized crime.
13:12The first of these corporate giants
13:14had been the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes,
13:17whose arrival in 1966
13:19signaled a shift in the city's power dynamics.
13:23But the transition was anything but smooth.
13:27The mob's tentacles in Las Vegas
13:29were into all different facets
13:32of the industry.
13:33And it was very hard
13:35to extricate the mob from them.
13:38All the people who had owned these hotels
13:41now became the managers
13:42of the hotels that Howard Hughes owned.
13:44And they were skimming the money
13:46and they were cheating Howard Hughes.
13:47And he didn't know
13:48what was happening to him,
13:49even though he was the owner
13:51of these hotel casinos.
13:54So there were so many instances
13:56of people owning things in Las Vegas
13:59but not realizing
14:00that they were really working for the mob.
14:08It is a slow transformation.
14:11But gradually,
14:12business starts to change.
14:14The lavish budgets of the mob era,
14:17fueled by skimmed profits
14:18and backroom favors,
14:20begins to shrink.
14:22Performers who had grown used to envelopes
14:24stuffed with cash
14:25and extravagant perks,
14:27now find themselves negotiating
14:29with corporate managers,
14:31not wise guys.
14:32The corporate players
14:34were coming in
14:35and changing the rules
14:37in Las Vegas.
14:39The mob people
14:40were willing to spend
14:41tons of money
14:43on big name entertainment,
14:44knowing that they could make it back
14:46from the gambling.
14:47The new corporate players
14:49became much more careful
14:51about how they spent money.
14:53They really put a cap
14:54on the salaries they were paying.
14:57This kind of pissed off
14:58some of the old-line entertainers
15:00who were used to being
15:01lavishly feted and paid.
15:05To them,
15:06the corporate people
15:07were coming in
15:07and were kind of spoiling Vegas
15:09a little bit.
15:10And some of them
15:11started avoiding it.
15:14This was all beginning
15:15to shift Vegas
15:16away from the mob people
15:18who were also seeing
15:20a lot more aggressive
15:21law enforcement.
15:24With Elvis' residency
15:26at the International
15:27underway,
15:28federal authorities
15:29are launching
15:30sweeping investigations
15:31into the criminal control
15:33of the city's casinos.
15:35In 1970,
15:37the RICO Act is passed.
15:39This is a law
15:41that allows for
15:42the prosecution
15:43of people involved
15:44in organized crime,
15:45whether you can prove
15:46the individual criminal acts
15:48or not.
15:49If you're associated,
15:50you're busted.
15:51And so this gave
15:52the federal government
15:53a great deal of power
15:54to crack down on the mob.
15:59So the way this manifested
16:01in Las Vegas was
16:02in what they called
16:03Operation Straw Man.
16:06Gary Jenkins,
16:07who was head of
16:08police intelligence
16:10in Kansas City,
16:11was able to bug
16:13all these gangsters
16:14and get them talking
16:16and get them talking
16:16about how much money
16:17they were skimming
16:18from the casinos
16:19and how it was being
16:20distributed
16:20and where it was going
16:21and why they're not
16:22paying taxes.
16:24They admitted all of this
16:25on tape.
16:26And so when the FBI
16:28arrested them
16:28and the prosecutor
16:29got a hold of the tape,
16:32indictments just flowed freely.
16:35The federal investigations
16:36are yet another factor
16:37in the shift of power
16:38that is taking place
16:39in Las Vegas.
16:44And as the mob
16:45starts to lose
16:46its vice-like grip
16:47on the city,
16:48Elvis continues
16:49to dazzle onstage
16:51at the International.
16:53Yet the pressure
16:54on the king
16:54is relentless.
16:56Behind the curtain,
16:57the physical
16:58and emotional toll
16:59begins to mount
17:00and cracks
17:01begin to show.
17:03When Elvis went
17:04into Las Vegas,
17:05it was at a punishing
17:07schedule.
17:08He was the first performer
17:10to play shows
17:11seven days a week
17:12and he played
17:13two shows a night.
17:14And if the colonel
17:15wasn't keeping him
17:16on a terrible
17:18punishing schedule
17:19in Las Vegas,
17:20then he was doing
17:21one-nighters
17:22on the road.
17:24And so that meant
17:26that to keep
17:26this schedule,
17:28he was on
17:29an unbelievable
17:30regiment of drugs
17:32that were prescribed
17:33to him
17:33by his personal physician.
17:37As Elvis continued
17:38to perform in Vegas
17:39every six months
17:40for four weeks
17:41at a time,
17:43it was grueling
17:44for him
17:44and to relax.
17:45He would do his show
17:46and he would stay up
17:47almost all night.
17:48He would invite people
17:50to his suite
17:51at the top
17:52of the International Hotel.
17:54He would have
17:55jam sessions,
17:56they would sing
17:56and they would
17:57take drugs.
17:59It was Elvis's
18:00way of unwinding.
18:02Elvis would convince
18:03himself he wasn't
18:04doing drugs
18:04because they were
18:05being given to him
18:06by a doctor,
18:07a guy called Dr. Nick.
18:09Dr. Nick and his team
18:11are prescribing Elvis
18:11everything.
18:12There's opioids,
18:14uppers,
18:15downers,
18:16quaaludes,
18:17valium,
18:18demerol,
18:19you name it.
18:20It's all there.
18:21And just being there
18:22for four weeks straight,
18:24doing the same show
18:25every night,
18:26that was when
18:27the drug use
18:28and the real sort
18:29of burnout
18:29began to take hold.
18:33Elvis has struggled
18:34with addiction
18:35for much of his life.
18:36But in Las Vegas,
18:38it starts to consume him.
18:40Amidst the bright lights
18:41and relentless schedule,
18:43his private battles
18:44deepen.
18:45This isn't just
18:46a rough patch,
18:47it's the beginning
18:48of a tragic descent.
18:54The usual thought
18:55is that Elvis
18:56indulged himself
18:57in pills
18:57or became dependent
18:59on pills
18:59in the army
19:00when he had to stay up
19:01all night
19:02for guard duty.
19:03The fact of the matter
19:04is that he began
19:05taking pills
19:06in the early days
19:07on the road
19:07so he could drive
19:09for long hours
19:09and perform.
19:12He stole his mother's
19:14dexedrine
19:14or diet pills,
19:16the uppers.
19:17But later,
19:18as anxiety set in,
19:20he really preferred
19:20downers,
19:22drugs that would
19:22take the edge
19:23off of things.
19:27Growing increasingly
19:28anxious and paranoid,
19:30Elvis indulges
19:31in a lifelong fascination
19:33with firearms.
19:34And back in Memphis,
19:35he's collecting
19:36a whole host of guns.
19:37He's got a Luger.
19:38He's getting a Walter PPK.
19:41He's got so many guns.
19:43One of the more
19:43fascinating guns
19:44is a Tommy gun.
19:45One of the old school guns
19:47that the Chicago mob
19:49used to use,
19:49like Al Capone.
19:50Chaotic tales
19:51about Elvis'
19:52erratic behavior
19:53emerge with
19:54alarming frequency.
19:56His inner circle,
19:58jokingly known
19:59as the Memphis Mafia,
20:00are often drawn
20:02into his manic episodes.
20:04There are some wild
20:05stories at this time.
20:06There are stories
20:07about Elvis pulling a gun
20:08on a car
20:09that's going past him
20:10a bit too fast.
20:12There are stories
20:13of him trying to rally
20:14the Memphis Mafia together
20:15to go and beat up
20:16some local drug dealers
20:17in Memphis,
20:18which is kind of crazy
20:19because he's also
20:20one of the most famous
20:21men in the world.
20:23As the spotlight
20:25intensifies,
20:26threats appear
20:27in the shadows.
20:29Elvis was starting
20:30to get paranoid,
20:31but with Elvis'
20:33huge popularity
20:34there also came dangers.
20:36In 1970,
20:38Elvis caught wind
20:39of a plan
20:40to kidnap him
20:41off the stage
20:42at Las Vegas.
20:44He was pretty nervous
20:45about it.
20:46It seemed real.
20:49This galvanized
20:50the whole group,
20:51the Elvis entourage.
20:52They planted themselves
20:53around the stage,
20:55getting ready
20:55to protect him.
20:58Elvis goes on stage
21:00with a gun.
21:01Into his performance,
21:03some man stood up
21:04and yelled,
21:04Elvis.
21:06Elvis freaked
21:07and he crouched
21:08down on the stage,
21:10he reached into his boot
21:11and pulled out
21:12a derringer.
21:15It turned out
21:16he was just requesting
21:17don't be cruel.
21:19It showed
21:19that there was
21:20some danger.
21:21Elvis was a huge star
21:22and he was worried
21:23about what could
21:24happen to him.
21:26the murder.
21:32Threats against Elvis
21:34continue to swirl
21:35and members
21:36of the Memphis Mafia
21:37are dragged further
21:38into the confusion.
21:40The day after
21:41the kidnapping threat,
21:42Joe Esposito,
21:43who's one of the Memphis Mafia,
21:44receives a call
21:45that Elvis
21:45is going to be shot
21:46that night.
21:47The caller demands
21:48$50,000
21:49to reveal the name
21:50of the would-be assassin.
21:52A menu
21:53that's promoting
21:54Elvis' show
21:55is delivered
21:55to the hotel
21:56that day
21:57and it's got a picture
21:58of Elvis on it
21:59and the picture
21:59is defaced
22:00with a gun
22:00pointed at Elvis' head
22:02and the words
22:02guess who
22:03and where
22:04on it.
22:05The colonel
22:06calls Elvis' lawyer
22:07and the lawyer
22:08arranges extra protection
22:09to be sent over
22:09and these guys
22:10are from the FBI.
22:11Once again,
22:12the show goes off
22:14without a hitch.
22:15It's another hoax.
22:16But the question lingers.
22:19Who's behind it?
22:20Could the threat
22:21have come from somewhere
22:22or someone
22:23no one had expected?
22:26Elvis was never
22:27really sure
22:28if it was for real
22:29or if Colonel
22:30had orchestrated this
22:31to keep him in line
22:34or if Colonel himself
22:35was really the target
22:37if it was a message
22:38sent by the mob
22:39that it was time
22:41for Colonel Parker
22:42to pay his gambling debts.
22:51Just a year
22:52into his Vegas residency,
22:54Elvis' dependence
22:55on prescription drugs
22:56is spiraling
22:57out of control.
22:59At the same time,
23:00he becomes fixated
23:02on what he sees
23:03as a new
23:03national threat.
23:05Hippie culture.
23:07Convinced the country
23:08is at risk
23:09from left-wing radicals,
23:11Elvis decides
23:12law enforcement
23:13needs his help.
23:15He begins
23:16obsessively collecting
23:18police and federal badges,
23:20seeing them
23:21as symbols
23:21of authority
23:22and protection.
23:24But there is
23:25one badge
23:25above all others
23:26that he is determined
23:27to own.
23:28The badge
23:30of the Federal Bureau
23:31of Narcotics
23:32and dangerous drugs.
23:34He wants to crack down
23:35on drugs,
23:36which is kind of crazy
23:37because he's addicted
23:38to drugs.
23:39But I guess he thinks
23:41that the drugs
23:41he's addicted to
23:42are legal.
23:42They're prescription drugs.
23:43So it's not the same
23:44as the street drugs
23:45and he's going to go
23:46after those guys.
23:47He really figures himself
23:48to be a crime-fighting
23:51superhero
23:51over this time.
23:52He wanted to be
23:53a federal agent,
23:53so he had one of his people
23:55contact President Nixon,
23:57somehow finagled
23:58a trip to the White House.
23:59He said,
24:00don't tell anybody.
24:02Let's go to Washington.
24:06It disappeared.
24:07His wife didn't know
24:08where he was.
24:08No one knew
24:09where he was.
24:09He actually just turned up
24:11at the White House.
24:13When he met Nixon,
24:14it seemed so absurd
24:15that a rock and roll star
24:17would suddenly knock
24:18on the White House
24:19front door
24:20and get invited in
24:21and sit with the President.
24:24He gave Nixon a gun.
24:26Mad thing to do.
24:29And was presented
24:31with a badge
24:32and a kind of phony title
24:34in terms of drug enforcement
24:35or something.
24:37He believes this badge
24:39gives him the authority
24:39to go undercover
24:40and fight crime.
24:42When we heard,
24:42we thought,
24:43he's crackless,
24:44but, you know,
24:45he's Elvis.
24:45It was part of Elvis'
24:47craziness,
24:48the beginning of his
24:48going off the rails
24:49a little bit
24:50in the 70s.
24:51He was actually
24:52stoned out of his head
24:53all the time.
24:58So the question is,
24:59why is he so obsessed
25:00with law enforcement
25:01at this time?
25:02Is it because he's
25:03paranoid because of
25:03all the drugs?
25:04Is he going a bit crazy?
25:07Or is it a way
25:08to keep his nose clean
25:09in a city of
25:10organised crime?
25:14Elvis tries to badger
25:15the Memphis Mafia
25:16into joining him
25:17to go after
25:17local drug dealers.
25:20And apparently
25:21he even told Red,
25:22one of the members
25:23of the Memphis Mafia,
25:24that these sons of bitches
25:25need to be wiped out.
25:28He invites them
25:29into his bedroom
25:30where there are
25:30a whole bunch of guns
25:31laid out in the bed
25:32and tells them
25:32to each pick up a weapon
25:33and they're going
25:34to go out to local bars
25:35and they're going
25:35to beat up
25:36organised crime figures.
25:38They're going to
25:38shoot them.
25:39I mean,
25:39who knows what he's thinking?
25:43The tragic contradiction
25:45is striking.
25:47While Elvis publicly
25:48pledges to help
25:49fight America's
25:50growing drug crisis,
25:52he's quietly sinking
25:53deeper into his own,
25:55trapped in a fog
25:56of prescription medication
25:58and dependency.
26:01And it's clearly
26:02affecting his personal life,
26:03so much so
26:04that he grows
26:05distant from his wife,
26:05Priscilla,
26:06and she starts
26:06having an affair.
26:08As Elvis Presley's
26:09drug use grows
26:10ever bigger,
26:11his relationship
26:12with his wife,
26:13Priscilla,
26:14falters,
26:14and she seeks comfort
26:16in the arms
26:17of another man.
26:19Now,
26:19the person she has
26:20an affair with
26:20is a guy called
26:21Mike Stone.
26:22That's a karate instructor.
26:25Elvis got very upset.
26:26He told his mates,
26:27I want to kill the guy.
26:29Let's kill him.
26:31He asks members
26:32of the Memphis Mafia
26:33to see if they can
26:33hire a hitman
26:34to have him killed.
26:37He's deadly serious,
26:38and they actually
26:39go to the extent
26:40of tracking down
26:41a mob man
26:42who was going
26:43to kill
26:43Priscilla's lover.
26:45Luckily,
26:47Elvis steps back.
26:48This time.
26:49But episodes like this
26:51are becoming routine.
26:53Sudden fits of rage,
26:55bizarre ultimatums,
26:56and a dangerous drift
26:58from reality.
27:04In February 1972,
27:07after less than
27:08five years of marriage,
27:09Elvis and Priscilla
27:11officially separate.
27:12For Elvis,
27:14it's a crushing
27:15emotional blow,
27:16one that pushes him
27:17deeper into loneliness,
27:19drugs,
27:19and dependency.
27:25As his personal life
27:26unravels,
27:27so too does his grip
27:29on the world around him.
27:33One of the reasons
27:34that Elvis was
27:35so self-destructive
27:38is that he realized
27:40Vegas was a treadmill
27:41that he could
27:42never get off
27:43because Las Vegas
27:45owned the colonel,
27:46and the colonel
27:48owned him.
27:49And so he
27:50numbed himself out
27:51with pills
27:52and guns
27:53and whatever
27:54diversion
27:54he could think of.
27:57Perhaps it's
27:58the amount of time
27:58he has spent
27:59in Las Vegas.
28:00or the countless rumors,
28:02but Elvis
28:02has finally realized
28:04that he isn't trapped
28:05in the city
28:05by fame
28:06or the stage lights.
28:08He's trapped
28:09by Colonel Parker's
28:10mounting gambling debts.
28:12Those debts
28:13tie him
28:14to the casinos,
28:15chaining him
28:16to a contract
28:17he can't escape.
28:20With the pressure building,
28:22he pulls aside
28:23one of the most
28:24trusted members
28:24of the Memphis Mafia
28:26to share the weight
28:27of the burden
28:28he's been carrying.
28:30And one of them
28:31was a portly guy
28:32named Lamar Fike.
28:34And of all the guys,
28:36really only Lamar Fike
28:37would get in his face
28:38and talk turkey with him.
28:41And one night,
28:42early, early in the morning,
28:43really,
28:44they had a heart-to-heart.
28:45And he said,
28:46Lamar,
28:47I'll play this town
28:49till I die.
28:52That old son of a bitch
28:53owes so much money
28:55that they own him
28:57and they're trying
28:57to own me.
28:59I'm talking all the way
29:00back to the Sahara Hotel
29:02in Milton Perle.
29:11But it isn't just
29:12the lure of the casinos
29:13that keeps the colonel
29:14tethered to Vegas.
29:16Although Elvis
29:17has offered lucrative deals
29:19to perform outside
29:20of the United States,
29:21the colonel
29:22turns them down
29:23for reasons
29:24that very few people know.
29:26For years,
29:28rumors have swirled
29:29within Elvis' inner circle
29:31that Parker isn't
29:32from the South at all
29:34and that if he ever
29:35leaves the country,
29:36he might not
29:37be able to return.
29:39The fellows at RCA
29:41really began to suspect this
29:43when A,
29:45colonel did not go to Germany
29:46when Elvis was in the Army
29:47and especially when B,
29:50he never took Elvis overseas.
29:53I said to the colonel,
29:55why can't Elvis come
29:56to old Britain?
29:57It was huge in England.
29:59And he said,
30:00well,
30:00Mrs. Parker
30:01isn't very well right now.
30:03And that was just an excuse.
30:04The real reason was
30:05because the colonel
30:06had no passport
30:07and couldn't let Elvis
30:09out of his sight
30:10and wasn't going to risk
30:11some other guy
30:12coming along and saying,
30:13I can do a better job for you.
30:16Parker's real name
30:17was Andreas Cornelis van Kauk.
30:20Born in 1909
30:22in the Netherlands,
30:23he had stowed away
30:24on a ship to America
30:26as a young man,
30:27building his career
30:28in show business
30:29under a new identity.
30:31But he was meticulous
30:33in concealing the truth
30:34of his past
30:35from everyone around him.
30:38His wife,
30:39his first wife,
30:39didn't even know
30:40he was from Holland.
30:42But he could have
30:43cleared up his illegal status
30:44with one phone call.
30:46It would have been
30:47very easy for him
30:48as he had lots of friends
30:50in the U.S. government,
30:51including Lyndon Johnson,
30:52who was his pal.
30:53So you have to ask,
30:56why didn't the colonel
30:57become a U.S. citizen,
30:59particularly when he was
31:01being offered millions of dollars
31:03for one performance
31:05for Elvis overseas?
31:09Well, the colonel got into
31:11some kind of trouble in Holland.
31:15Exactly what, we don't know.
31:18What I can tell you for certain
31:19is two things.
31:22He was implicated
31:23in a murder
31:29only privately
31:30by a letter,
31:31an anonymous letter,
31:33which I have seen.
31:34But I can tell you
31:35with certainty
31:35that also he had a file
31:38in the central police records
31:40in The Hague.
31:42And when a reporter
31:43went to find it
31:44in the 80s,
31:45there was a note there
31:47that said the file
31:48had been removed
31:49by the Dutch state consulate.
31:54Whatever it was,
31:55there was something in Holland
31:57that he was frightened
31:59about coming to light,
32:00and he wanted
32:01no background checks.
32:05And his grand title
32:06of colonel?
32:07It was a gimmick
32:09designed to mask the truth
32:11and give him an air
32:12of charm and authority.
32:15The colonel wanted
32:17to be important.
32:18He had been
32:19in the U.S. Army.
32:21He had been a private,
32:22first class,
32:23but he ran away
32:24to join the circus.
32:27He had a carny friend
32:29who worked for the governor
32:30of Louisiana,
32:31Jimmy Davis.
32:32And so he arranged
32:34to be an honorary colonel.
32:37After the war,
32:39if you announce yourself
32:40as a colonel,
32:41you've got all kinds of perks.
32:42You've got lots of things
32:43put in your lap
32:44for such a title.
32:45He thought that was hilarious.
32:46And so he said,
32:48after he got this
32:48honorary colonelship,
32:50from now on,
32:51you will address me
32:52as colonel.
32:57The mid-1970s.
33:00After two decades together,
33:02the bond between Elvis
33:03and the colonel
33:04is fractured.
33:06Elvis,
33:07once lean and electric,
33:08is now a wreck.
33:10Exhausted,
33:11overweight,
33:12and barely holding it together.
33:16People who were close
33:17to Elvis were concerned.
33:20One of Elvis' old pals
33:21from Memphis,
33:22Jerry Schilling,
33:23he came to see Elvis
33:25in around 76,
33:26saw his show
33:27and was just appalled
33:29at how he looked
33:30and how he sounded,
33:31and he could tell
33:32that there was
33:33such deterioration.
33:34He was bloated
33:36from all these drugs.
33:37He had legitimate
33:38medical problems.
33:40His diet was terrible.
33:42He ate like a teenager.
33:44He was living a life
33:46that would have killed
33:47most people
33:48long before it killed him.
33:50And it was clear to people
33:52something was really wrong.
33:54And I think the colonel
33:56just purposely looked away
33:58and just went
33:59for the regular paydays
34:01and didn't look out
34:02for his artist.
34:04In the midst
34:05of this decline,
34:06Hollywood throws Elvis
34:07a lifeline.
34:08For the first time
34:09in years,
34:10a prestigious leading role
34:12playing a fading superstar
34:13comes Elvis' way.
34:15But to his bewilderment,
34:17the colonel kills the deal.
34:20Sometime in the mid-70s,
34:22Barbara Streisand
34:23actually came to Elvis
34:24and offered him
34:26the co-starring role
34:27in the remake
34:28of A Star is Born.
34:30Elvis,
34:31looking for something
34:32different to do
34:33besides Las Vegas
34:35and touring,
34:35really jumped at the chance.
34:38But the colonel
34:38made the deal so difficult,
34:40demanded so much money,
34:42and I think probably felt
34:44it wasn't really
34:45the right thing for Elvis.
34:48I mean, perhaps one of the reasons
34:50Colonel Tom vetoed him
34:51from doing A Star is Born
34:52is the fact that
34:53he realized his client
34:54shouldn't be starring
34:55as a washed-up rock star,
34:57especially when he's trying
34:58to claw back his own career.
34:59The other reason was
35:00because he maybe thought
35:01Elvis is in such a bad state
35:03with the drugs.
35:05He won't be able to do it.
35:06I think the colonel
35:07just manipulated the deal,
35:09made the deal so difficult
35:11that Streisand and her team
35:13finally just opted out.
35:17After the collapse of A Star is Born,
35:20Elvis' downward spiral accelerates.
35:25Perhaps due to his paranoia
35:26and distrust,
35:28Elvis fires three long-time bodyguards.
35:31They retaliate with a tell-all memoir
35:34published in 1977
35:35that exposes Elvis' drug use
35:38to the public for the first time,
35:41igniting a scandal.
35:55Early summer, 1977.
35:58Elvis drifts between
36:00the dazzle of the stage
36:01and the quiet shadows
36:03of his Memphis mansion, Graceland.
36:05He's swollen, exhausted,
36:08and drowning in prescription drugs.
36:12But the show goes on
36:13because it has to.
36:16By 1977, it's clear
36:18Elvis is not well.
36:19You can see it in concert footage.
36:20He's a beast.
36:22Visibly larger, sweatier,
36:23his performances are more erratic.
36:26He was just getting
36:27too loose and lazy
36:29and he was going off on tangents
36:32in the middle of sets.
36:33Sometimes you couldn't
36:34even understand him.
36:37But he keeps turning up,
36:39he keeps performing,
36:40he keeps bringing the people
36:41his shows.
36:42He's giving them what they want.
36:43It's a hot August night
36:45in Memphis
36:46and Elvis is enjoying
36:48a brief moment of calm,
36:50a rare pause
36:51from the relentless demands
36:53of life on the stage.
36:55Elvis was due
36:56for another stint in Vegas.
36:59He was in Memphis
37:00getting ready to fly
37:02on his next tour date.
37:04Before he was seeing friends,
37:06they played racquetball
37:07in the middle of the night.
37:09At some point
37:10in the early morning hours,
37:12Elvis' girlfriend at the time,
37:14Ginger Alden,
37:15found him in the bathroom,
37:16keeled over.
37:20The king is dead.
37:33Elvis Presley is officially
37:35pronounced dead
37:36at 3.30 p.m.
37:38on August 16, 1977
37:41at Baptist Memorial Hospital
37:43in Memphis, Tennessee.
37:45He is just 42 years old.
37:49It came as a huge shock,
37:52not just to Elvis' entourage,
37:54but as we know,
37:55to the whole nation.
37:56His death in some ways
37:57seemed to be
37:58the end of an era.
38:02The death of Elvis
38:04was really one of the most
38:06traumatic events
38:07in rock and roll history.
38:10People don't want to accept
38:11that God is dead.
38:13They don't want to accept
38:14that it's over.
38:18After Elvis' death,
38:20rumors and conspiracies
38:22spread like wildfire,
38:24fueled by mystery and grief.
38:27Despite a public autopsy
38:29that says he died
38:30of heart failure,
38:31the speculation is endless.
38:33People are saying
38:34he was murdered,
38:35different ways he died.
38:37There's also speculation
38:39that Elvis was murdered
38:40by the mob.
38:41Maybe the colonel
38:42owed too much money
38:43to the mob.
38:44Maybe the mafia
38:45wanted to control his career
38:46and Colonel Tum
38:48wouldn't sign him over.
38:50The theories around
38:51the mafia involved
38:51with his death
38:52are endless.
38:53Probably none of it
38:54is true,
38:55but it doesn't stop
38:56the rumor mill
38:56from carrying on.
39:04Despite all the wild theories,
39:06Elvis Presley
39:07is truly gone.
39:09Yet the colonel remains,
39:11strangely composed,
39:13untouched by grief,
39:14as if the loss
39:15of the world's
39:16most famous musician
39:17is just another
39:18business transaction.
39:21He attended the funeral
39:23wearing a Hawaiian shirt,
39:26which some people
39:26thought was disrespectful.
39:28But he told Elvis' guys
39:30not to wear suits,
39:32but to dress the way
39:33Elvis knew them.
39:35That's the way
39:36he would want
39:36to remember them.
39:37With his client gone,
39:39the colonel's focus
39:40doesn't waver,
39:41relying on earlier agreements
39:43that entitle him
39:44to half of
39:45Elvis Presley's earnings.
39:46Parker keeps himself
39:48tied to the king's income
39:50even after Elvis' death.
39:52On the day
39:53that Elvis' body
39:54was laid out,
39:56the colonel went
39:57to Vernon Presley,
39:58his father,
39:58and said,
40:00this changes nothing.
40:03And had Vernon
40:04sign a piece of paper
40:05to keep the 50%
40:07in play.
40:10What the colonel
40:11said publicly
40:11is that
40:12Elvis wasn't dead,
40:15just the body
40:16was gone.
40:17So for the colonel,
40:18it was business
40:19as usual.
40:22It didn't take him long
40:24before he was
40:26trying to see
40:27what he could do
40:28with the Elvis brand.
40:30He went to work
40:31immediately
40:31after finding out
40:33Elvis had died
40:34to make sure
40:34that RCA pressing plants
40:36were at full speed.
40:38He had meetings
40:39regarding the merchandising.
40:41And this sounds
40:43really cold
40:43on the surface,
40:45but you could also argue
40:46that he was indeed
40:47taking care of business.
40:50A year after
40:51Elvis' death,
40:52the colonel organized
40:54a kind of Elvis celebration
40:55in Las Vegas
40:56to kind of mark
40:58the one-year anniversary
40:59of his death
41:00and attracted
41:01a lot of people.
41:03And I think
41:04it was the start
41:05of Elvis
41:06becoming this kind
41:07of symbol
41:08for Las Vegas.
41:20After Elvis' death,
41:22Colonel Tom Parker
41:23becomes even more
41:24focused on profiting
41:26from his late
41:26client's legacy.
41:28But questions
41:29begin to surface.
41:35In the early 1980s,
41:37Elvis Presley's estate
41:39sues Parker,
41:40accusing him
41:41of siphoning off
41:42vast sums of money
41:43for himself.
41:45In the ensuing
41:46legal battles,
41:47Parker finally reveals
41:49the truth
41:49about his real identity.
41:52Colonel answered
41:53that he could not
41:54be sued in federal court
41:55because he was not
41:57an American citizen.
41:59The news
42:00that Colonel Tom Parker
42:01is actually Dutch
42:03reverberates
42:04around the world.
42:06But the scrutiny
42:07of this investigation
42:08takes its toll
42:09on Parker.
42:11In 1983,
42:12he is forced
42:13to relinquish
42:14all rights
42:14and control
42:15over Elvis' estate.
42:18Stripped of his power,
42:20Parker retreats
42:21to Las Vegas,
42:22moving into a suite
42:23at the Las Vegas Hilton,
42:25formerly known
42:26as The International,
42:28where Elvis
42:29once reigned.
42:31The Colonel
42:32was always
42:33not particularly popular
42:34among the general
42:36rock and roll
42:37music community
42:38because they felt
42:39that he kind of
42:40stymied Elvis' career
42:41after his initial
42:43rise to fame.
42:44So when they found out
42:46that he wasn't
42:48what he made out to be,
42:49I think that went along
42:51with people's distrust
42:52of the Colonel,
42:53who was this huckster
42:54and con man.
42:57And the Colonel
42:58actually ended up
42:59staying in Las Vegas,
43:00becoming a consultant
43:02with the Hilton Hotel.
43:05But he becomes
43:06a shadow
43:07of his former self.
43:09People begin
43:09to see him
43:10as a pathetic figure.
43:13Everyone knows
43:14he has become
43:14this notorious
43:15compulsive gambler.
43:17The addiction
43:18was so harsh
43:19that it got to where
43:20the Colonel
43:21wouldn't even go down
43:22on the floor.
43:23He'd have the roulette wheel
43:24brought up to his room.
43:25in Las Vegas.
43:32Vegas was the place
43:33that he ended up with.
43:34It's the place
43:35he brought Elvis to
43:36at the beginning
43:37in 1956,
43:38and it was the place
43:39he ended.
43:49Colonel Tom Parker
43:50dies in Las Vegas
43:52in 1997,
43:53aged 87.
43:55To some,
43:56he was a brilliant showman.
43:58To others,
43:59a manipulative fraud
44:00who exploited Elvis
44:01for decades.
44:03Built on falsehoods,
44:05Parker's life
44:05was a long con,
44:07and in protecting
44:08his lies,
44:09he made decisions
44:10that would define
44:11and ultimately derail
44:13Elvis Presley,
44:15including the choice
44:16to bring the king of rock
44:17and roll into a city
44:19built by crime.
44:25When Colonel Tom Parker
44:27dies in 1997,
44:29the Las Vegas
44:30that tourists saw
44:32in that year
44:32was so dramatically
44:33different than the Las Vegas
44:35that Colonel Parker
44:36saw in the late 1940s.
44:40It went from being
44:42the mob town,
44:43the rat pack environment,
44:45to a place
44:46that was very corporate.
44:48The casinos
44:49were ten times bigger
44:51than the ones
44:51he saw
44:52when he first got here.
44:55Colonel Tom
44:55is a fascinating figure.
44:57There have been
44:57recent attempts
44:58to reappraise his career,
45:00that the Colonel
45:00really was a good force
45:01in Elvis' life,
45:03and that he really
45:03was doing his best
45:04to look after Elvis
45:05as a client.
45:07I'm not sure
45:08I entirely believe it.
45:10The Colonel
45:10always used his client
45:12as a human shield
45:14to conceal his secrets
45:16of his illegal status,
45:18of his shady dealings,
45:21of his financial overreaching,
45:23and his associations
45:25with the criminal underground.
45:27He was definitely
45:28a shady figure
45:28with some very nefarious
45:30sides to his life.
45:31I think he knew the mob.
45:32I think he knew
45:33how to use the mob
45:34to steer Elvis' career
45:36and keep them away
45:36from him as well.
45:38And at the end of the day,
45:39he is a really, really
45:41interesting multifaceted figure,
45:43someone who knew
45:44both the light
45:45and the dark,
45:46and someone who was able
45:47to look after Elvis,
45:49but also control him.
45:54Elvis Presley
45:55came from nothing
45:56and became everything.
45:59Vegas was both his kingdom
46:00and his undoing.
46:02The stage gave him new life,
46:05but also helped drain it away.
46:08And yet his presence
46:09changed the city,
46:11helping to sweep aside
46:13the old crime-riddled Vegas,
46:15transforming it
46:16into the capital of spectacle.
46:19I think Elvis may have contributed
46:22to the diminishment
46:23of the mob influence
46:25in Las Vegas
46:26because it was Elvis
46:27and nobody else
46:28who drew those crowds.
46:30That did contribute
46:31to the gradual disappearance
46:34of the mob.
46:35Half a century
46:36after his death,
46:38Elvis is still everywhere
46:39in Las Vegas,
46:41from street names
46:42and wedding chapels
46:43to the endless parade
46:45of rhinestone-studded impersonators.
46:49His show was the blueprint
46:51for everything that followed.
46:53The mega residencies,
46:55the arena scale productions,
46:57the billion-dollar strip,
46:59a new kind of Vegas,
47:02bigger, brighter,
47:03and far beyond the reach
47:05of the famous
47:06and infamous figures
47:08who once ruled it.
47:15Support information
47:16for the issues raised tonight
47:17can be found online
47:18at channel4.com
47:20slash support.
47:21Next, gritty drama.
47:23Kiefer Sutherland's got
47:23what looks like
47:24a quick and easy money job
47:25for ex-soldier Chris Pine
47:27and the contractor.
47:35I'll see you next time.
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