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As one of the biggest celebrities of all time, Elvis Presley was a showman on the stage and the screen. Fans swooned over his dulcet crooning and sensual hip-shaking, and in 1956, they began packing theaters for his movies. However, Elvis Presley’s last movie was a massive failure despite starring the King of Rock and Roll and one of America’s TV sweethearts. 

Elvis Presley’s last movie was ‘Change of Habit,’ co-starring Mary Tyler Moore

Elvis Presley's last movie: 'Change of Habit'
Elvis Presley in ‘Change of Habit’ (1969) | Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

Released in 1969, Change of Habit sees Elvis as Dr. John Carpenter, a doctor helping a low-income neighborhood of New York City. Joining him are three out-of-habit nuns on a mission from the church. While the social issues of the late ’60s stand front and center in their day-to-day work, Carpenter finds himself falling for one of the nuns, unaware she’s unavailable (per IMDb).  

TV darling Mary Tyler Moore stars opposite Elvis as Sister Michelle Gallagher. The character was based loosely on a real nun, Sister Mary Olivia Gibson, who worked at a speech clinic in New York, Elvis Australia reports. By the film’s end, Moore’s Sister Michelle finds herself in a crisis of faith, torn between her love for God and passion for Dr. Carpenter.   

Critics panned Elvis Presley’s last movie

Change of Habit was a dream come true for Elvis, who had long wanted to move into more meaningful, dramatic roles. However, critics hated the film. It has a measly 10% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers calling the film “atrociously conceived.”

Another critic writes that the movie “looks like a desperate reach, a blind attempt to do anything to connect with the audience.”

Change of Habit has only one decent review on Rotten Tomatoes, from Frank J. Avella of Edge Media Network. The critic gives Elvis’ last movie “props for wanting to be socially aware. And it’s a very watchable sit if you don’t mind a very mixed genre blend.”

In Avella’s full review, he says the film “meant well,” but the lack of strong direction and choices made Elvis Presley’s last movie miss its mark on social issues.  

Mary Tyler Moore dished on starring with the King of Rock and Roll

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An Elvis movie wouldn’t be an Elvis movie without the King’s leading lady swooning while he serenades her. That was also the case in Change of Habit, with Sister Michelle’s religious resolve predictably waning with every musical number. However, Elvis had quite a reputation with women behind the scenes and was later rumored to have said he “slept with every one of [his] leading ladies except one.”

“I don’t want to bust anyone’s cover,” Moore slyly told Chet Cooper in her interview with Ability in 1998, “but I know who the ‘one’ is.”  

Moore noted she was married while filming Change of Habit with Elvis. But there was also a lack of attraction, she said. The actor admitted that she didn’t think Elvis was interested in her and that she wasn’t interested in him either.

“He viewed me on a pedestal,” Moore told Cooper, noting Elvis wouldn’t look her in the eye when speaking to her on set. “And he kept calling me ma’am.”

A year after Change of Habit premiered, Moore starred in her smash hit The Mary Tyler Moore Show and continued a long and successful entertainment career. However, there would never be another Elvis movie, with Change of Habit being Elvis Presley’s last feature film before his tragic death eight years later in 1977.

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