In 1958 Presley released the third and arguably best film of his career. Set in New Orleans, Presley plays 19-year-old Danny Fisher (a role originally intended for James Dean), who is struggling to graduate from high school when he accidentally stumbles into a singing career. Directed by Michael Curtiz and co-starring Walter Matthau, the film was primarily shot on location and is embroiled in the criminal underworld behind the cabaret scene of the French Quarter. It has an atmosphere of otherness, a pervading aura of the old world in a new land.