WITH FOOD, ELVIS BECAME KING KONG : CINEMAX SHOW SERVES SINFULLY RICH DETAIL ABOUT ALL-CONSUMING APPETITE FOR FOOD THAT WAS BORN OF HIS LEAN CHILDHOOD.

Byline: Ed Bark Dallas Morning News

Elvis Presley's early death may have deprived us of a few more memorable songs, but it undeniably denied the King a chance to tear into an Arch Deluxe, a stuffed-crust pizza and myriad other heartfelt fast foods invented after his time.

It's our loss, his weight gain. For the gory, caloric details, watch Cinemax's one-hour ``The Burger and the King: The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley.'' It's an alternately sickening, insightful, cruel and humorous look at the man and his prodigious food intake. Suggested subtitles: Love My Tenderloin. A Hunka, Hunka Burnin' Bacon. You Ain't Nothin' But a Hot Dog. Frying in the Chapel. Return to Blender.

Originally telecast abroad last year on the BBC, ``Burger and the King'' traces Elvis' eating habits to his upbringing in poverty-stricken Tupelo, Miss., during the Depression-era 1930s.

``Everybody was poor,'' says childhood friend Becky Martin, pronouncing it ``purr.''

Great Aunt Annie Presley offers seconds. ``We got meat once a week, we done good,'' she agrees.

Little wonder, or so we're told, that Elvis grew into a gorger for whom money was no object and cholesterol merely a means to make his beloved fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches taste all the better. In short, he never wanted to be hungry again.

The King's favorite foods are paraded before us in roughly chronological order. Many of the proud original preparers pose as veritable death merchants brandishing their plates or trays of ``mmmm good'' artery assaulters. A heretofore innocent school cafeteria Sloppy Joe becomes a big, greasy ball of suet on a bun. And the theme from ``2001: A Space Odyssey'' heralds a panoramic close-up of an enormous peanut butter, bacon and jelly sandwich that lured the King all the way to Denver on a particularly impulsive night.

Delivered to his private plane, this late-night treat for Elvis and friends weighed in at 22 pounds of bacon, 22 french loaves, 16 jars of peanut butter, 16 jars of strawberry jam and an estimated 45,000 calories, give or take a heart attack.

``Burger and the King's'' humans largely take second billing to all the food at hand. One notable exception is Mary Jenkins, who was Elvis' Graceland cook for 26 years. Filmmaker James Marsh delights in showing recurring footage of Mary pushing a grocery cart through a supermarket. It's an increasingly comical sight, although no seeming effort is made to demean Mary or her unswerving efforts to keep Elvis from having the munchies.

``He said that the only thing he got any enjoyment out of was eatin','' Mary says. ``And he liked his food real rich.''

The King sorely missed Mary on his trips to Hollywood to make forgettable movies. Occasionally, he'd call to summon her on the next plane. Mary knows one thing for sure: ``Them people out there really can't cook.''

Nurse Marian Cocke is another featured attraction. She ministered to Elvis during his hospitalization in 1975 for a colon problem. Affixing a rapturous gaze, Nurse Cocke asks, ``How many of you have dreamed of lathering his coffee for him, putting in the cream and sugar and stirring it for him? ... I have lived your dream, because I've done it all.''

Besides that, she made him banana pudding. A big ol' mini-vat of it.

``He didn't even ask me if I wanted any. I mean, he ate it all,'' she says.

But Nurse Cocke later seems to contradict herself. ``I have never ever at any point seen him overindulge in anything,'' she swears. You make the call.

``Burger and the King'' overeats at times. No need to show the queasy preparation of squirrel after a hunter holds the poor little guy by the tail and says, ``This is lunch, yeah. We're gonna fry 'im up.''

No need to supply a graphic description from a medical examiner of how Elvis ``underwent his terminal event'' 19 years ago in his upstairs bedroom.

And no need to pile on the symbolism by having seven jump-suited Elvis impersonators eat cheeseburgers by candlelight in memory of the original Whopper.

One more thing, though. ``Burger and the King'' has a delicious anecdote about the time a bulbous Elvis went incognito to a Memphis steakhouse to watch a talent show while eating. The King eventually was talked into performing himself, says proprietor Lil Thomson.

No one recognized him, she says. ``He came in third place.''

Acolytes of Elvis no doubt will say this entire enterprise is in very bad taste. They have a case. But the view from here is one of morbid fascination. ``Burger and the King'' goes down like a Jumbo Jack, tasting like a guilty pleasure. Would you like an order of fries with that?

THE FACTS

The show: ``The Burger and the King: The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley.''

When: 7 p.m. Friday on Cinemax.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: By the time of this 1970 photo, Elvis' eating habits were evident in all his extra body padding.