ONLY a handful of the 31 movies Elvis Presley made between 1956 and 1969 are truly worth seeing – and they’re mainly from the beginning of his Hollywood career, before he settled into a comfortable rut. You’ll be able to catch most of them when TCM runs 24 hours of Elvis, starting at 6 a.m. Thursday. A rundown of some of the best:

1. “G.I. Blues” (1960): The King’s post-Army films are generally less interesting and more campy, but this vaguely fact-inspired musical boasts some big hits (“Blue Suede Shoes,” “Wooden Shoes”), nice European locations and the lovely Juliet Prowse.

2. “Jailhouse Rock” (1957): The King’s third film showcases a hip-swinging young singer who learns the value of friendship after he takes up singing behind bars. Co-stars Judy Tyler (Princess Summerfall Winterspring on “Howdy Doody”), who died before the film was released.

3. “Viva Las Vegas” (1964): By far the best of The King’s three race-car flicks, his last huge hit pits him against rival Cesare Danova for the hand of lovely Ann-Margret. No fewer than 12 songs are on the soundtrack, including the immortal title song.

To mark the anniversary of Presley’s death, Warner Home Video has released new special editions of “Jailhouse Rock” and “Viva Las Vegas,” as well as debuted two-disc editions of the excellent performance film “Elvis: That’s the Way It Is” and the posthumous documentary “This is Elvis.”

Warner also has a new five-disc set (“Elvis: the Hollywood Collection”) covering more obscure titles such as 4. “Charro” and 5. “Girl Happy” that have never been available on DVD.

Paramount has collected “King Creole” and “G.I. Blues” along with six of the King’s seven other titles for the studio (the not-bad “Loving You” is mysteriously out of print) in a blue-suede-covered box called “Lights! Action! Elvis!”

For completists, there are four additional titles, including “Kid Galahad,” in an “MGM Movie Legends” set devoted to the King.