TV REVIEW : ‘ELVIS ‘56’: PELVIS HEARD ‘ROUND THE WORLD

John Lennon (who had a way with pronouncements like this) once said: “Before Elvis, there was nothing.” Wild overstatement? Hardly. In fact, after seeing “Crazy About the Movies: Elvis ‘56,” you understand exactly what Lennon was talking about. Premiering Sunday at 9 p.m. on Cinemax (it also airs Wednesday and Aug. 24, 26 & 31), “Elvis ‘56” is a mesmerizing documentary that offers the video equivalent of the fabled “Sun Sessions,” letting us relive the drama of Elvis’ breakthrough year.

Relying largely on rare TV footage, stills and home movies, film makers Alan and Susan Raymond provide a strikingly intimate glimpse of the Elvis juggernaut, beginning with Presley’s late-January TV debut on the Dorsey Brothers “Stage Show” and concluding with the last of three “Ed Sullivan Show” appearances 12 months later (the one made famous by Sullivan’s “waist-above only footage” edict).

In between, Elvis goes from hillbilly cult hero to authentic rock idol to packaged celebrity icon--giving a high-voltage shock to mid-’50s popular culture.

In one of the show’s shrewdest juxtapositions, the Raymonds first show a sweater-clad Perry Como on NBC, crooning his hit “Hot Diggety Dog Diggety.” Meanwhile, across the dial on CBS, Elvis is leering into the camera, thick lips curled and hips thrusting, blasting out “Baby Let’s Play House.” Elvis’ music is so raw, spontaneous and loaded with sexual frenzy that it’s no wonder the clips show Milton Berle ducking out of the way after introducing this new star--he looks like a man trying to jump clear of a runaway locomotive.

“Elvis ‘56” also captures the key role TV technology played in his catapult to fame. The early clips always frame Elvis in huge close-ups, emphasizing his sweaty excitement, heavy-lidded eyes and the erotic immediacy of his performances.

When TV footage isn’t available, the film makers make excellent use of photo stills. Some are more than just intimate--they’re almost voyeuristic. One batch captures Elvis backstage, romancing an unknown young lovely who first coyly keeps her distance, then entwines herself in his embrace, flicking her tongue along his lips.

The program’s narration, performed by musician Levon Helm, seems designed for a 6th-grade civics class. But no matter--the images here reveal far more than the words, reminding us what a thrill Elvis gave a country that was sleepwalking through the ‘50s. America may have been dozing, but it bounced back to life, thanks to a wake-up call from a 21-year-old ex-truck driver with a greasy ducktail and a pelvis that captured the imagination of a generation.