Change of Habit, the last Hollywood film starring Elvis Presley, hit theaters in the USA on
November 10, 1969.
The film was Presley's 31st theatrical movie.
While it's true that he did appear in several other films afterward, those appearances were
limited to concert documentaries.
Throughout Presley's prolific film career, which arguably rivaled his musical one, the
King of rock 'n' roll frequently appeared onscreen alongside female leads who typically
played his love interests.
These leading ladies were, more often than not, some of Hollywood's most attractive actresses.
Quite a few top-rated female stars appeared in Elvis's movies, including Dolores Del Rio,
Carolyn Jones, Angela Lansbury, Katy Jurado, and Joan Blondell – just to name a few.
While we could easily devote an entire video to covering all of Elvis' eye-catching female
co-stars, in this installment of Facts Verse we'll be focusing on the actress who bore
the singular honor of accompanying Presley in his last film.
That actress was none other than the late-great Mary Tyler Moore – best known for her roles
in iconic sitcoms such as The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Moore passed away in 2017 at the age of 80, but during her 60+ years working in the entertainment
industry, she was instrumental in presenting to the world a radically new vision of what
it meant to be a woman in the modern world.
In addition to being a triumphant voice for women's rights, Moore was also an advocate
for animal rights, vegetarianism, and diabetes prevention.
Although she successfully used her platform as a means to advance her social views, her
time spent as Elvis Presley's object of affection in Change of Habit isn't usually looked back
on as being one of her finest moments.
In fact, the film holds a dismal 10% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it Presley's worst-received
film on that review aggregating site.
Despite its many flaws and lackluster critical reception, Change of Habit is still a fascinating
film to reflect on given its significance in relation to Presley and Moore's respective
filmographies.
If you're a fan of either of these stars, keep watching to learn how Mary Tyler Moore
was Elvis' Leading Lady in His Final Film.
Change of Habit Marked A Turning Point In Elvis Career
Not only did Change Of Habit see the Blue Suede Shoes singer sharing the screen with
Mary Tyler Moore, but it also gave Elvis a rare opportunity to tackle a dramatic role.
Since it was his final film, unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see Elvis develop
this side of his acting chops more thoroughly, but it did give us a glimpse into his range
as an actor.
The film's script was penned by James Lee, Eric Bercovici, and S.S.
Schweitzer and was based upon a story by Richard Morris and John Joseph.
It followed the tale of three Catholic nuns preparing for their final vows when they are
shipped off to a rough inner-city neighborhood donning the garb of lay missionaries in order
to work for a young doctor at his clinic.
As these three nuns face the harsh realities of their new environment, their lives become
increasingly complicated.
In the process, the good doctor, played by Presley, falls in love with one of the nuns
– whom If you hadn't already guessed, was played by Moore.
At the time of the film's release, Moore was gearing up to appear in her titular sitcom,
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which premiered the following year.
After The Dick Van Dyke Show wrapped up in 1966, Moore appeared in a string of films,
including 1967s Thoroughly Modern Millie and 1968s What's So Bad About Feeling Good?
After co-starring in Change of Habit, Moore would take a break from the big screen for
11 years to focus on her television work.
She wouldn't appear in another Hollywood feature film until 1980 when she starred in the Oscar-nominated
coming-of-age drama Ordinary People.
By 1969, Elvis Presley was eager to set Hollywood films aside to concentrate on his music.
The previous year, he experienced a resurgence in popularity with his hit '68 Comeback special,
which resulted in him putting out a best-selling companion album.
Reluctantly, however, he decided to return back to Tinseltown one last time to appear
in one final major motion picture before bidding his film career goodbye.
At that point, despite his commercial success in the film industry, Elvis found himself
very disappointed in his movie career.
The only reason that he did Change of Habit was because of a standing deal that he had
made with NBC.
Basically, he was contractually obligated to appear in at least one more film.
That deal bound him to do two projects.
One of those was that previously mentioned Comeback special while the other was the Mary
Tyler Moore flick.
Little did any of his fans know at the time, Change of Habit would be the last film that
Elvis would ever appear in.
He knew that he wanted to exit from the film business, but his devoted fan base had no
clue that he was so over it.
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Anyway, back to the film in question.
After the nuns are sent off to the city to work at their assigned posts, they are surprised
to learn that the handsome man that they just saw taking part in a jam session with some
locals in an apartment above the clinic was actually the doctor they were slated to work
with.
The doc likewise initially mistakes the women for patients.
After each nurse learns what role they will be playing at the clinic given their area
of expertise, that's when the story takes a grittier turn as we see the difficulties
that the locals have to contend with on a daily basis.
Their living conditions are sub-par at best, and crime, abuse, and discrimination are just
facts of life for these people.
Michele, Irene, and Barbara do their best to try and improve the lives of the neighborhood
people while keeping the fact that they're nuns a secret.
This causes them a great deal of distress, and things are only made worse by the arrogant
and out-of-touch Father Gibbons, played by Regis Toomey, who seems to have no idea how
to serve his struggling parishioners.
He finds the three nuns wearing street clothes and their supposed wild lifestyle to be offensive.
Then there are these two snoopy 'Karen'-type old ladies from the neighborhood, Rose and
Lily, who make matters worse by running to Gibbons every chance they can get to gossip
about the nuns and their neighbors.
They end up slandering the nuns by telling the father that they're throwing wild parties
and having men over at all hours of the night.
In time, Gibbons demands that the nuns go back to the convent where he believes they
belong.
Gibbons ends up calling a father with the Mother Superior, played by Leora Dana, and
the Bishop, where it gets decided that the only way that the nuns can continue their
project is if they do so in their traditional nunnery habits.
Around this point in the film, we learn that not only has Dr. Carpenter fallen in love
with Michelle, whom he has no idea is a nun, but that Michelle has also fallen in love
with him!
At the end of flick, all three women have been thoroughly changed by their experiences.
Barbara ends up leaving the sisterhood as she feels too limited by her vows and desires
to keep working as an activist.
Irene ends up coming to terms with her identity as a black woman, which she spent the better
part of her life trying to hide.
Last but not least, Michelle faces the decision to either leave the order and pursue her romantic
feelings for Dr. Carpenter or stick to her vows.
The film concludes with Michelle and Irene entering a church where the Doc is singing
to pray for guidance in making that choice.
Elvis Didn't Stretch Himself
In their review of the film, Variety noted that Elvis was strongly cast as the 'understanding
medico'.
While that is largely true, Presley didn't stretch himself in the flick.
He stuck to his guns and presented himself in his customary strong and confident manner.
While he could have attempted to push himself a bit further in his delivery, given the fact
that this was one of his only dramatic roles, he seemed to fall back on his tried-and-true,
albeit somewhat overplayed, subued approach.
The Times pointed out that Elvis's performance was 'slightly unconvincing' and shallow.
In his defense, Elvis's somewhat lacking performance in the film could be blamed on the film's
writing.
The character of Dr. John Carpenter was a somewhat static one, whose temperament didn't
change much throughout the film.
The real star of the film when it came to its characters and their interactions with
others was Mary Tyler Moore.
Variety called her delivery 'spritely' and praised her for bringing a lot of life to
Sister Michelle, who was tormented by the difficult decision that she had to make.
Another point of praise for the film was how Presley and Moore's romance developed.
Their affection built slowly and tastefully without even needing to hint at sexuality
along the way.
This culminated in a scene in which even after learning that Michelle was a nun, Doc Carpenter
still speaks of marriage.
So, while it might not have been the most critically acclaimed film in Presley's repertoire,
it certainly wasn't a total bust.
Moore and Presley did their best to work with the script that they were handed.
It wasn't quite the perfect Swan Song to end Elvis' acting career, but there are still
many fans of the film out there that hold it dear to their hearts.
We're just about out of time for this video, but we'd love to hear from you.
Did you know that Mary Tyler Moore was the leading lady in Elvis Presley's final film?
If you've seen the movie, do you agree with the critics who thought that it was fairly
mediocre or do you have another take on it?
Let us know in the comments section down below.
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