King Creole (1958) on Netflix

A troubled youth's singing sets New Orleans rockin'. With a sweet girl to love him and nightclubbers cheering, it seems he will shake off his past and head for the top. But will a mobster and his man-trap moll snare him in a life of crime?

Having flunked graduation for a second time and needing cash to support his crabby (and thus unemployed) father, Danny Fisher takes a job as a singer in the King Creole nightclub - about the only joint around not run by smarmy crook Maxie Fields who wants him for his own place. He gets on pretty well with Fields' floozy though, and all this plus his involvement with Fields' hoods and with innocent five-and-dime store assistant Nellie means Danny finds his world closing in on him all ways round.

—J-26

Working multiple odd jobs to support his bachelorette sister Mimi (Jan Shepard) and over-qualified and under-employed father, Danny Fisher (Elvis) is too distracted to graduate. While working as a busboy at one of New Orleans' KingPin Maxie's (Walter Matthau) numerous joints, he encounters the mobster's kept mistress - fading singer Ronnie (Carolyn Jones) - and the two spark a dangerous connection. Desperate to stop scraping by, Danny can't help but attract short cuts to better dough and falls in with hoodlums looking to capitalize on Danny's golden pipes. Despite his attempts to scare off dime store angel Nellie (Dolores Hart), she falls for Danny and attempts to sell him on a straight life. On the up, he's handed a steady gig and an opportunity to shake his past if he can manage to avoid selling his soul to Maxie.

—Mae Moreno

A gifted teen with a good heart has an unfortunate knack for attracting trouble. He's given a shot at the straight life after lucking into a singing gig in the French Quarter. As his star rises, he struggles to avoid the unwanted attention of the local kingpin.

—Mae Moreno

Elvis Presley brings a new beat to Bourbon Street in KING CREOLE. Directed by Michael Curtiz, Elvis plays a troubled youth whose singing sets the French Quarter rockin'. Drawn to trouble like a magnet, Danny (Elvis Presley) is saved from a jail term by New Orleans saloon-keeper Charlie Le Grand (Paul Stewart), who gives the boy a job as a singer. It isn't long, however, before local gang boss Maxie Fields (Walter Matthau), a shadowy figure from Danny's criminal past, puts the muscle on the boy, insisting that Danny sing at his establishment. To lure Danny to his side of the fence, Maxie relies upon the seductive charms of his gun moll Ronnie (Carolyn Jones), while Danny's true love Nellie (Dolores Hart) suffers on the sidelines. In addition to the expected musical numbers (which are cleverly integrated into the story-line), the film's highlight is a brief exchange of fisticuffs between Elvis and Walter Matthau. Together with Jailhouse Rock, King Creole is one of the best filmed examples of the untamed, pre-army Elvis Presley. The picture was adapted from Harold Robbins' novel A Stone for Danny Fisher.

Danny Fisher, young delinquent, flunks out of high school. To make ends meet he works as a busboy in a nightclub until one night when he gets the chance to perform as a singer. Success is imminent and the local crime boss Maxie Fields wants to hire him to perform at his night club The Blue Shade. Danny refuses, but Fields won't take no for an answer...

—Mattias Thuresson