Turner Classic Movies will commemorate the life and career of film and music legend Elvis Presley beginning in August with an eight-film festival, short-form documentaries, a look inside Graceland with network host Robert Osborne and a king-sized sweepstakes. TCM also will celebrate the King of Rock and Roll’s birthday on January 8, 2001, with the world television premiere of a completely re-edited release of ELVIS, THAT’S THE WAY IT IS (SPECIAL EDITION) including never-before released footage.

Scheduling the tribute to coincide with Graceland’s "Elvis Week" activities Aug. 10-16, TCM will rock Sunday nights throughout the month by airing Elvis Presley double features introduced by network host Robert Osborne and Elvis’ long-time friend George Klein from inside Graceland. The fun begins with JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957, Aug. 6, 8 p.m.) and continues with other favorites like VIVA LAS VEGAS (1964, Aug. 13, 8 p.m.), GIRL HAPPY (1965, Aug. 20, 8 p.m.) and LIVE A LITTLE, LOVE A LITTLE (1968, Aug. 27, 10 p.m.).

The films will be accompanied by original short-form pieces about Elvis, hosted by Klein. Klein will talk with two members of Elvis' original band, The Blue Moon Boys - Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana - from the home of many of his recordings, RCA Studio B in Nashville. These candid discussions will touch on everything from comparisons of Elvis’ public and private personas to the effect of Hollywood on Elvis' career. The discussions will be interspersed with clips from some of Elvis' best performances, providing a unique context for appreciating the films in the festival.

Klein, who was the best man at Elvis’ wedding and accepted Elvis’ award into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, produced and hosted the TV special "Elvis Memories." Moore began as Elvis' guitarist in 1954 when the promising young singer recorded his first songs for Sun Records in Memphis. He continued as Elvis' sideman until 1969 and was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fontana was Presley's original drummer, from 1955 until 1968, and was one of the first drummers to be seen on stage with the rest of the band. Both men still have active music careers playing with Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney.

In January 2001, TCM will celebrate Elvis’ birthday with a 20-film festival, highlighted by the world television premiere of ELVIS, THAT’S THE WAY IT IS in letterbox format on Jan. 8; a Star of the Month spot; and a special commemorative Elvis cover of TCM’s Now Playing guide.

The restored version of the MGM Elvis concert film will feature many of the same performances seen in the original version, but presented in a totally new way made possible by the multiple cameras which filmed Presley's famous August 1970 Las Vegas concerts. The film, much of which was recently discovered, offers rare, behind-the-scenes footage of Elvis and Cinemascope concert footage. The new material, including eight songs and two other musical selections, will represent approximately 40 percent of the film, and was culled from more than 50,000 feet of original negative and 12 original 16-track audio masters, all recently discovered. The new edition will feature a new Dolby Digital 5.1 stereo soundtrack, whereas the original theatrical release was monaural. The re-edit was overseen by award-winning filmmaker Rick Schmidlin (Touch of Evil, Greed, The Doors: Live at the Hollywood Bowl).