In A Little Less Conversation, one of hundreds of Elvis Presley songs that are missing from the 45-track set list that spans director Baz Luhrmann's sensational 90-minute concert film experience, The King memorably demands less talk and more action, beginning the first verse with the heartfelt plea, "Baby, close your eyes and listen to the music!"
His wish is granted with pelvis-thrusting gusto in EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert, an exhilarating restoration of presumed lost and previously unseen material that showcases the singer's charisma, showmanship and playful sense of humour, nearly 50 years after his death at his Graceland estate, aged 42.
During the making of his 2022 biographical drama Elvis, Luhrmann went in search of missing footage from the concert films Elvis: That's The Way It Is and Elvis On Tour.
Researchers descended into the Warners Bros film vaults, located in underground salt mines in Kansas, and stumbled upon a treasure trove comprising 59 hours of previously unseen film negative.
Over the next two years, this material and newly discovered Super8 footage from the Graceland Archives were lovingly restored by Peter Jackson's post-production and film restoration facility in New Zealand and paired with meticulously restored sound from various unconventional sources.
The result is dazzling picture quality and thunderous sound that shakes, rattles and rolls, especially in the gargantuan Imax format.
Unheard recordings of Elvis talking candidly about his life, music and the close relationship with his fans are beautiful gift-wrapping.
"If I do something good, they let me know. If I don't, they let me know that," he drawls.
Thrilling excerpts and renditions of tracks including That's All Right, (You're The) Devil In Disguise, Big Hunk O' Love and Suspicious Minds are interspersed with lively stage banter. Before a rendition of I Can't Stop Loving You, Elvis mentions he needs water. "It's like Bob Dylan just sat in my mouth!" he quips.
Luhrmann abides by the less talk, more action plea, but sometimes Elvis's words speak loudest. When an interviewer contemptuously asks if the showman considers himself a singer, Elvis politely responds, "Well, I sold five million records. Somebody calls it singing."
Later, as a physically gruelling schedule of up to three performances a day takes its toll, he reflects, "What a way to make a living - it's really tough."
"I've never been to Britain," he tells a journalist during a press conference. "I'd like to go to Europe. I'd like to go to Japan and all those places. I've never been out of this country except in the service," he adds.
At the time of his death, Presley never played outside of North America, including three concerts in Canada.
In some magnificent yet poignant way, Luhrmann's film feels like the glittering world tour the King always imagined. PA/AAP