Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (2022) Best Movie Quotes

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Starring: Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge, Yola Quartey, Luke Bracey, Natasha Bassett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dacre Montgomery, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Xavier Samuel, Kodi Smit-McPhee

OUR RATING: ★★½

Story:

Bio-musical drama directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. Elvis (2022) centers on the life and music of Elvis Presley (Austin Butler), seen through the prism of his complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). The story spans over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, his marriage to Priscilla Presley (Olivia DeJonge), against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America.

Read the movie review here.

Our Favorite Quotes:

'There's a lot of people saying a lot of things. Of course you got to listen to the people that you love. But in the end, you got to listen to yourself.' - Elvis Click To Tweet

Best Quotes

Colonel Tom Parker: I am the man who gave the world Elvis Presley. Without me, there would be no Elvis Presley. And yet, there are some who’d make me out to be the villain of this here story.

Colonel Tom Parker: No. No, I didn’t kill him. I made Elvis Presley. Nothing all those muckrakers said in their books was true. Me and Elvis, we was partners. It was Elvis the Showman, and the Colonel the Snowman.

Colonel Tom Parker: I always knew I was destined for greatness. As an orphan, I ran away to the carnival, where I learned the art of the “snow job”, of emptying a rube’s wallet while leaving them with nothing but a smile on their face. But a carnival act that would get you the most money, the most snow, had great costumes, and a unique trick, that gave the audience feelings they weren’t sure they should enjoy. But they do. And I knew if I could find such an act, I could create the greatest show on earth.

'Are you born with destiny? Or does it just come knocking at your door?' - Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis, Trailer) Click To Tweet

Colonel Tom Parker: It don’t matter if you do ten stupid things, as long as you do one smart one.

Gladys: The Lord gave us music to bring people together. We’re like a family, and family is the most important thing of all.

Colonel Tom Parker: But that boy had a big imagination. He really believed he was the hero in one of them comic books.

Colonel Tom Parker: Them comic book heroes all have them super powers. His was music.

'It don't matter if you do ten stupid things, as long as you do one smart one.' - Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis) Click To Tweet

Colonel Tom Parker: [seeing Elvis on stage for the first time] Greasy hair, girly makeup. I cannot overstate how strange he looked.

Colonel Tom Parker: In that moment, in a flash of lightning, I watched that skinny boy in the pink suit transform into a superhero.

Elvis: [during his concert, referring to the women in the audience] What are they hollering at?
Bill Black: It’s the wiggle.
Elvis: The what?
Bill Black: Them girls want to see you wiggle. Move, man!

Hank Snow: [as they watch the audience lose their minds over Elvis] What were you thinking, Jimmie?
Jimmie Rodgers Snow: I don’t know what I’m thinking.

'To achieve truly great things, one must make truly great sacrifices.' - Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis) Click To Tweet

Gladys: [referring to the audience] Please, Lord, don’t let them hurt my baby.
Vernon: Hurt him? Looks like they want to…

Colonel Tom Parker: Now, I don’t know nothing about music, but I could see in that girl’s eyes, that she was having feelings she wasn’t sure she should enjoy. Yes. He was a taste of forbidden fruit. She could have eaten him alive.

Colonel Tom Parker: It was the greatest carnival attraction I’d ever seen. He was my destiny. Right under my nose, in Memphis.

Colonel Tom Parker: He was crazy for that Beale Street music. Beale Street style. He had Beale Street stars in his eyes.

'The way you sing and move, it's God-given. So there can't be nothing wrong with it.' - Gladys (Elvis) Click To Tweet

Colonel Tom Parker: No, I didn’t take my boy away from nothing. He was running from the day he was born. I just opened the door to our destiny.

Elvis: Mama, I’m just trying to take care of you and Daddy. That’s all I have ever cared about.

Elvis: I just got to be making the most of this thing while I can. It’s like Daddy says, this could all be over in a flash.

Elvis: [to Gladys] You’re my girl. My Satnin. You’ll always be my bestest girl. Nothing but nothing, is going to come between us.

'If I can't move, I can't sing.' - Elvis Click To Tweet

Hank Snow: [to Parker, referring to Elvis] Well, you warn him plenty. None of those lewd gyrations, or sudden, jerky movements.

Hank Snow: Is that a pair of young ladies intimates I see upon the stage?
Colonel Tom Parker: Yes, I believe it is, Hank.
Hank Snow: Best not happen when he sings one of my songs.
Colonel Tom Parker: I’m sure it won’t.

Colonel Tom Parker: That night, I happened to see him. Alone. Lost. A snowman is only as good as his attraction. It was all, or nothing.

Colonel Tom Parker: [to Elvis] I saw you. Apart from all the others. Burdened. Like you don’t know how to get out of this. But I do. Allow me to show you.

'If you don't do the business, the business will do you.' - B.B. King (Elvis) Click To Tweet

Colonel Tom Parker: Creatures of the carnival. And I am one myself. It’s where I learned the art of the snow job.
Elvis: Snow job?
Colonel Tom Parker: Yes. It’s like the trick you do with the wiggling, getting all the girls hyped up, empty their wallets, and leave them with nothing but the smiles on their faces.
Elvis: I’m no trickster.
Colonel Tom Parker: Oh, yes, you are. All showmen are snowmen. It’s a wonderful place.

Colonel Tom Parker: Your future, Mr. Presley, blazing before you. Recording contracts, television, even Hollywood.
Elvis: You’re great, Colonel. You are the best person I could ever hope to work with. You know, this is something I ain’t never said to nobody before. But I believe I can be great too.
Colonel Tom Parker: Oh, no doubt. But we could be even greater together.

Colonel Tom Parker: Every man has his price.

Colonel Tom Parker: It’s just business. Show business. To achieve truly great things, one must make truly great sacrifices. You will have to be free of any entanglements. You see, my boy, show business is snow business. And the fans need to believe that you are always available.

'When you're lost, people take advantage.' - Elvis Click To Tweet

Colonel Tom Parker: Mrs. Presley, your son has a unique gift. It’s as though he has the strength of two men inside of him.

Elvis: You know, Colonel, I would do anything to make sure my mama and daddy never have to live in no poverty ever again.

Colonel Tom Parker: Well, what about you, Mr. Presley? Are you ready to fly?
Elvis: Yes, sir. I’m ready. Ready to fly.

Elvis: If I can’t move, I can’t sing.

'When things are too dangerous to say, sing.' - Elvis Click To Tweet

Colonel Tom Parker: Them know-it-alls said I’d backed the wrong horse. But my boy knew teenagers. And that first record changed everything.

Colonel Tom Parker: I took my boy’s wiggling and put it in the movies. I took his name, and face, and put it on all sorts of toys and knick-knacks, and called it “Merchandise”.

Colonel Tom Parker: [referring to the “I Hate Elvis” merchandise] In my way of thinking, “I love Elvis”, that’s an easy sell. Those who hate your son will do so, whether we profit from it or not. After all, what is hate worth if it’s free?
Vernon: Oh, yeah. I get it.
Elvis: Snowman strikes again.

'We are the same, you and I. We are two odd, lonely children, reaching for eternity.' - Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis) Click To Tweet

Colonel Tom Parker: Behold, tomorrow, all of America will be talking about Elvis Presley. My wiggling boy.

TV Host: Your style of gyrating while you sing has been bitterly criticized.
Elvis: I don’t feel I’m doing anything wrong.

Senator Eastland: Colonel, you put an end to your boy’s animal behavior, or we will.
Colonel Tom Parker: Don’t worry, Senator, my boy does what he’s told.

Elvis: “Elvis the Pelvis”. That’s one of the most childish expressions I’ve ever heard coming from an adult.

'The truth about the Rock of Eternity, it is forever just beyond our reach.' - Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis) Click To Tweet

Gladys: Those New York people were using you to poke fun at the whole South. Getting a laugh out of putting a hillbilly in a tailcoat and singing to a dog.
Elvis: Goddamn it, Mama, it was either that or I get canceled.

Gladys: [to Elvis] The way you sing and move, it’s God-given. So there can’t be nothing wrong with it.

Elvis: Got my mama going on about the Hound Dog, and the Colonel’s got me wearing tails, and everybody wants something different.
B.B. King: Hey, listen, man. If you’re sad, and you want to be sad, you’re at the right place. If you’re happy, and you want to be happy, guess what? You’re at the right place. So just do me a favor, let it all hang out. Let it all hang out, EP!

'Without a song, the day would never end. Without a song, a man ain't got a friend. Without a song, the road would never bend, without a song. So I keep singing a song.' - Elvis Click To Tweet

B.B. King: [to Elvis] You’ve got to be in control, man. You should have your own label, like me. If you don’t do the business, the business will do you.

See more Elvis Quotes

Elvis: I just got to lay off the moves, is all. Colonel says if I don’t, they’re going to put me in jail.
B.B. King: Come on, man. They’re not going to put you in jail. They might put me in jail for walking across the street, but you’re a famous white boy. Too many people are making too much money off of you to put you in jail.
Elvis: You think so?
B.B. King: I know so.

Colonel Tom Parker: [as Elvis is about to go on stage] Just sing the nice song. Smile the nice smile. No wiggling. Then we can get back to our show business. And have fun, my boy! Fun!

Elvis: There’s a lot of people saying a lot of things. Of course you got to listen to the people that you love. But in the end, you got to listen to yourself. So I want you to know, those New York people ain’t going to change me none. I’m going to show you what the real Elvis is like tonight!

Colonel Tom Parker: My dear boy had chosen. You, his audience, his fans. He had no idea what he had done to both of us.

Colonel Tom Parker: [to Elvis] We may never book another date, or sell another record again. And my way of thinking, the army could be a brand new start for all of us. Let them cut your hair. Prove to the world that you are a clean-cut, all-American boy. You do your two years, and when you come back, I promise you, I will have done everything I can to make you the biggest actor in Hollywood.

Colonel Tom Parker: [to Elvis, after Gladys’s death] No one could never replace her. But you listen to me. From this moment on, anything she would have done, I will carry out, in her name. When you are overseas, I will stay here at home. And I will work, and I will worry. Trust me.

Elvis: [to Parker] No matter what happens, you stay with me through thick and thin, okay? You’re like a father to me.

Colonel Tom Parker: I needed to protect him. Even from himself. My plan, Elvis Presley would return a clean-cut, all-American boy. But I did not consider the most dangerous thing of all. Love.

Elvis: I’ve never met anyone like you.
Priscilla: Well, I hope not.

Priscilla: You know, I think if you dream it, you’ll do it.
Elvis: You do?
Priscilla: Yeah.

Colonel Tom Parker: He was as good as Brando. But you didn’t want to see him in movies where he didn’t sing.

Colonel Tom Parker: Thanks to me, his life became one big Hollywood movie! Starring Priscilla, and a cast of his “buddies” and “cousins”. His Memphis Mafia.

Colonel Tom Parker: There was that fairytale wedding. And the honeymoon on Frank Sinatra’s jet. And introducing Baby Lisa Marie. I made him the highest paid actor in Hollywood history. We had a lot of fun! But Elvis was a young man, and of course, he got distracted. So we made them faster and cheaper.

Reporter: Beatlemania sweeps America, as teens turn their attention to the teenage rockers.
Colonel Tom Parker: Is it my fault the world changed?

Colonel Tom Parker: It don’t matter how hard I worked, how many snow jobs I came up with, how much snow I made them. My boy loved to spend. And with them hillbillies around him, the money would just melt away.

Elvis: Christmas special. Is this the best we can do, Admiral?
Colonel Tom Parker: Well, we took the Hollywood phonies for every nickel they had, and now it is time for us to pack up our tents, and move on to even greener pastures. We’ve seen “Elvis the Rebel”. We’ve seen “Elvis the Movie Star”. Now we will see “Elvis the Family Entertainer”.

Elvis: I’m so tired of playing Elvis Presley. Too many people rely on me.
Priscilla: I love you. And your daughter loves you. We don’t care about the money, or anything else. We just want you to be happy. You’re only really happy when you sing the music you love.

Elvis: [sat on the Hollywood sign] When I first came to Hollywood, I’d come up here and sit for hours. Right over there, the observatory, that’s where they shot Rebel Without a Cause. Man, I used to dream of being a great actor like Jimmy Dean. This sign was beautiful then. And now, it feels as though lots of things are like that these days. Broke down. Beat up. Rotten.

Elvis: You know, back when I was starting out, some people wanted to put me in jail, even kill me, because of the way I was moving. So they cut my hair, they put me in uniform, and they sent me away. That killed my mother. And ever since then, I’ve been lost. And when you’re lost, people take advantage.

Elvis: I need you fellas to help me get back to who I really am.
Steve Binder: And who are you, Elvis?
Elvis: Well, I sure as hell ain’t somebody who sings Christmas songs by a fireplace for an hour.

Elvis: Well, that’s one thing about this TV special that I’m doing, they’re going to let me do what I want to do. Sing the music that I want. Music that I love. Music that makes me happy.

Colonel Tom Parker: Those know-it-all hippies had brainwashed Elvis, acting like he was one of them radicals, throwing his career away to sing spirituals with a bunch of longhairs.

Colonel Tom Parker: [after Robert Kennedy’s shooting] Poor Mrs. Kennedy. This tragedy, a tragedy. But it has nothing to do with us.
Elvis: It has everything to do with us.

Elvis: Dr. King was shot eight miles from Graceland while I was out here singing to turtles. And now this, and all you can think about is how many goddamn sweaters I can sell?
Colonel Tom Parker: I am a promoter. That is what I do.
Elvis: And I’m Elvis Presley. That’s what I do.

Elvis: A reverend once told me, “When things are too dangerous to say, sing.”

Colonel Tom Parker: I was always said, when it came to music, my boy knows best. But the special was my idea. It was a tremendous hit. We was back on top. But some people were putting ideas into his head that he didn’t need me no more.

Priscilla: [referring to Parker] You know what he’s like. The second that you’re near him, you’ll be under ten feet of snow before you know what’s happened.
Elvis: My mind’s made up. Business is business. He and I are done. But I owe it to him to tell him to his face.
Priscilla: Well, just make sure he doesn’t clip your wings, honey.

Elvis: Snowman strikes again.
Colonel Tom Parker: Oh, yeah. We’re going to make it snow. It will snow.

Elvis: This ain’t no nostalgia show. We’re going to do something different.

Colonel Tom Parker: [to Elvis] Tremendous triumph. The greatest show on earth. My dear boy, this brainchild came from you and me, but you alone rose above it all, and it worked with your talent, and your dedication. We did it. We did it!

Elvis: I can’t wait to show the world what you and I can do.
Colonel Tom Parker: The world will see this show. Whatever it takes, I guarantee it. Whatever I have to do.

Colonel Tom Parker: It was life on the road, just like the old days. We were making so much snow, we did it again. And again. And again. All in the safety of the US of A. Eventually, he lost interest in going overseas. Why would you? But I still kept my promise. I brought the world to him.

Colonel Tom Parker: But it wasn’t enough. He was addicted to the love he felt from you onstage. Ordinary love just didn’t compare. So, in the lonely moments between shows, he turned to them pills.

Elvis: Goddamn, I’m in the best shape of my life.
Priscilla: Best shape of your life. The only time you’re happy is when you’re on that stage. And in between that, you’re a ghost.

Priscilla: I gift you my life, and I have nothing left in me to give you.
Elvis: Do you still love me?

Elvis: [to Priscilla] When you’re forty and I’m fifty, we’ll be back together. You’ll see.

Elvis: Will you please stay?
Priscilla: I have to go. Okay? If I stay, I’ll never leave. You have to let me go.
Elvis: Please, Priscilla.
Priscilla: You have to let me go.

Mahalia Jackson: You are a man, Mr. Presley. And a man don’t make up his own mind about matters of conscience.

Jerry Schilling: [to Elvis, referring to Parker] He lied. There wasn’t going to be an international tour because he can’t leave the country. He’s got no citizenship, no official identity. He doesn’t exist. There never was a Colonel Tom Parker.

Elvis: [referring to Parker] Somebody call the FBI and tell them that he has abducted me, that he has locked me in this golden cage, to keep me here forever with you, ladies and gentlemen.

Elvis: [to Parker] Eight hundred shows! You don’t have a goddamn passport, you son of a b**ch! You’re fired!

Elvis: You bloodsucking, old vampire. You bled me dry, and you still want more?
Colonel Tom Parker: I’m not an uncaring man, Mr. Presley.
Elvis: Don’t you “Mr. Presley” me, you toad.

Elvis: I ought to shoot you in your fat, goddamn face!
Colonel Tom Parker: Who are you? I am you. And you are me.
Elvis: Cut the horses**t! Everything I’ve ever known about you has been a lie.

Colonel Tom Parker: My past is the least of your problems, my boy. Everyone else you associate with lives from you, Mr. Presley. Even Vernon. That’s right, even your own daddy has looked after himself before he’s looked after you. Yes, I have lived from you too, but the difference is you have also lived from me. We have supported each other. Because we shared a dream.

Colonel Tom Parker: We are the same, you and I. We are two odd, lonely children, reaching for eternity. Maybe you should fly away, my boy. Away from all of this. But if you do choose to leave, then I, for one, will be very lonely. So would your father. But I think you may be lonely too. Oh, you see, my boy, the truth about the Rock of Eternity, it is forever just beyond our reach.

Elvis: I’m going to be forty soon, ‘Cilla. Forty. And nobody’s going to remember me. I never did anything lasting. I never made that classic film that I could be proud of.

Priscilla: [referring to going to rehab] Please go. For Lisa? If you dream it, you can do it, baby.
Elvis: I’m all out of dreams.

Elvis: [to Priscilla] I will always love you.

Colonel Tom Parker: What killed my boy? Them doctors say it was his heart. Others, the pills. Some say it was me. No. I’ll tell you what killed him. It was love. His love for you.

Colonel Tom Parker: You know, a few weeks before he died, I saw him sing for the very last time. He could barely stand up. But that night, he sang as he always did. With all his heart and soul. That old voice rang out, and he sang with all his life.

Elvis: [real footage] When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream that I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times. I learned very early in life that, “Without a song, the day would never end. Without a song, a man ain’t got a friend. Without a song, the road would never bend, without a song.” So I keep singing a song.

Stage Presenter: Elvis has left the building.

Trailer: