"Inside Loving You"

by Ger Rijff

(Running Wild Productions, 2003)

Ger Rijff has done it again! His latest photo-journal is a high quality product with superb design and chock full of rare, interesting photos and historical items. As the title implies the focus is on the making of Elvis Presley's second motion picture, Loving You.  It follows Rijff's similarly titles books, Inside King Creole and Inside Jailhouse Rock.

The photos in Inside Loving You are from the Chris Giles collection. The photo collection, a combination of color and b&w shots, is impressive. Staged and movie stills are neatly contrasted by fabulous "off camera" candids that show a relaxed, handsome young man obviously enjoying the fruits of his success. Female fans will relish the sight of a topless Elvis, rifle in hand, while glorious publicity stills in full color hit you right in the face.

Other notable visuals are Elvis with Liberace (both stars with beaming smiles) and Elvis off-camera with director, Hal Kanter and co-stars, Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey.  Another shot of a topless Elvis shows him flexing his physique and there are several photos of Elvis relaxing with his parents between takes.

The narrative is an interview between producer/director Hal Kanter and Trevor Cajiao. Canter directed Loving You and wrote the screenplay for Blue Hawaii. The interview provides a valuable behind-the-scenes account of the young rock & roll King. From meals at the Presley home to teenage mass hysteria and Elvis' ability to recite, verbatim, General MacCarthur's farewell speech to Congress, the reader's knowledge about Elvis is significantly expanded.  Cajiao is to be congratulated on conducting an intelligent, satisfying interview.

One of the reasons Ger Rijff's books are so highly regarded is their careful design which accommodates both the visual and textual aspects. Each visual is showcased so that it can shine. Beside each visual, the text is deliberately larger than normal with greater than single spacing and strategic use of 'white space' (which at times acts like a highlighting border around the photo). The result is that the text and white space complement each of the pictures rather than detracting from them.

The only negative with Inside Loving You is its softcover format, which means extra care needs to be taken to preserve the book.  It is unfortunate that the high cost of publishing in hardback is seeing less and less photo-journals released in the format best designed for their content.

For some reason, photo journals of Elvis in a white jumpsuit seem to sell better than photo journals of a young, vibrant performer caught on and off camera in the halcyon days of the 50's. Personally I don't understand this, as the 1950's photo journals offer much more in terms of rarity, interesting candids and higher quality narrative.

Verdict: Inside Loving You is simply one of the best Elvis Presley book releases of 2003. Full of visual treats and insightful narrative that adds appreciably to our knowledge and understanding of The King, this release is a must for the serious Elvis collector.

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