King Creole is a 1958 American musical drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and based on the 1952 novel A Stone for Danny Fisher by Harold Robbins. Denied his high school diploma because of a schoolyard fight, Danny Fisher (Elvis Presley) is unsure how he’s going to support himself and his unemployed father (Dean Jagger). He briefly flirts with a life of crime before a club owner (Paul Stewart) hears him singing and offers him a job. Things look promising until rival club owner and Danny’s former boss, Maxie (Walter Matthau), tries to lure him back with threats and the charms of his sometimes-girlfriend, Ronnie (Carolyn Jones).