Change of Habit

Change of Habit is a 1969 motion picture musical drama starring Elvis Presley and Mary Tyler Moore. It was Presley's final acting role in a film; his remaining two film appearances were concert documentaries.

Presley plays Dr. John Carpenter a physician in a ghetto medical clinic who falls for a co-worker, Sister Michelle Gallagher (Moore), unaware that she is a nun. Also appearing in the film was Ed Asner; a year after making this film Moore and Asner would work together again on the sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Primary cast

Elvis Presley: Dr. John Carpenter
Mary Tyler Moore: Sister Michelle Gallagher
Barbara McNair: Sister Irene Hawkins
Jane Elliot: Sister Barbara Bennett
Edward Asner: Lt. Moretti
Leora Dana: Mother Joseph
Regis Toomey: Father Gibbons

Soundtrack

The soundtrack song "Rubberneckin'" was recorded at American Sound Studios in Memphis, Tennessee in January of 1969, during the midst of the sessions that resulted in Presley's "comeback" album, From Elvis in Memphis. The remainder of the songs were recorded at Recording Studios in Universal City, Los Angeles, California between March 5th and 7th of 1969. Only "Rubberneckin'" was released to tie-in with the film (as the B-side of "Don't Cry Daddy"), with "Change of Habit", and "Have a Happy" appearing on the 1970 compilation album, Let's Be Friends and "Let Us Pray" not appearing until the 1971 compilation You'll Never Walk Alone. An additional song recorded for but not used in the film, "Let's Be Friends", appeared on the album of the same title. "Rubberneckin'" is also the only song from this film (or, indeed, any of Presley's recent films) that the singer agreed to perform in concert during his return to live performances that occurred around the time of the film's release. Some sources, such as Elvis: The Illustrated Record by Roy Carr and Mick Farren (Harmony Books, 1982) erroneously list "Let's Forget About the Stars" as a recording from Change of Habit; it was, in fact, recorded for a previous film, Charro!. Discounting songs later recorded for television and documentary productions, "Have a Happy" has the distinction of being the final soundtrack recording Presley made.