Turner Classic Movies (www.turnerclassicmovies.com) will celebrate Elvis Presley's birthday with the exclusive world television premiere of the completely re-mixed and re-edited letterbox version of ELVIS: THAT’S THE WAY IT IS (SPECIAL EDITION) on Jan. 15, 2001, at 8 p.m. (ET)/5 p.m. (PT). The king-sized tribute will also include new interviews with former band members, a 22-film festival, a commemorative Now Playing guide and a special Elvis section on the newly designed TCM web site.

ELVIS: THAT’S THE WAY IT IS (SPECIAL EDITION), which documents Presley’s celebrity-attended August 1970 Las Vegas concert series, shows him at his peak, revealing a seldom-seen personal side of the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Rare, behind-the-scenes footage shows Elvis interacting with the TCB Band, his back-up singers - the Sweet Inspirations and The Imperials - as well as his off-stage antics, such as ripping his pants, falling off a chair and joking around with the Memphis Mafia.

The 97-minute concert film is comprised of 40 percent new material, including 10 never-before-seen musical numbers highlighted by a spur-of-the-moment yodel and nine songs from his concert performances. Among them is a version of “Love Me Tender,” during which he walks through the audience – an action he took only during this concert series. The recent discovery of 50,000 feet of original film negative shot by six cameras that were granted unlimited access during the span of rehearsals and performances, as well as 12 original 16-track audio recordings, provided the opportunity to restructure the film. ELVIS: THAT’S THE WAY IT IS (SPECIAL EDITION), represents the first time a film has been completely re-edited from start to finish using only original elements. This new version will also be presented with a new Dolby Digital 5.1 stereo soundtrack.

The 1970 version of the movie was designed largely as a promotional vehicle for Elvis and focused on his showmanship and fans rather than his musical talents. Filmmakers, who didn't want to discourage fans from buying tickets to Elvis' concerts, assembled takes from the rehearsals and Vegas concerts. In contrast, the new version is a carefully crafted narrative, which builds from early rehearsals to the excitement of the final number. Like a modern, long-form concert film, it includes close-ups of Presley’s famous footwork and guitar work, cut-aways of the band and shots of the audience responding to Elvis' performance.

ELVIS: THAT’S THE WAY IT IS (SPECIAL EDITION) was commissioned by TCM and edited by award-winning filmmaker Rick Schmidlin (Touch of Evil, Greed, The Doors: Live at the Hollywood Bowl) at a cost of more than $1 million. Roger Mayer, current president and COO of Turner Entertainment Co. (TEC), was an MGM Studios executive when the original film was made and facilitated the current project.