Viva Las Vegas

• Directed by George Sidney
• May 20, 1964 (US)

A racecar driver goes to Vegas to compete in the first annual Las Vegas Grand Prix but when his car needs a new engine to compete in the event he instead falls in love. Focus on the prize, man!

Viva Las Vegas is the first Elvis movie I have watched in several decades. Why? I just wasn’t one of those people enamored with Elvis and I bought into the falsehood that his films were automatically bad. The last one I saw was maybe 20 years ago when AMC still ran old movies commercial free. And I believe it was Elvis’s last movie Change of Habit in which his costar was Mary Tyler Moore. Not too bad of a movie as I recall but nothing special. Prior to that it had probably been the same amount of time since I last saw one.

And you know something? I rather enjoyed the movie. It’s not deep or complicated but rather well-done enjoyable fluff. Beyond “Viva Las Vegas” many of the songs featured in this film are absolutely great-most of which are performed by Elvis Presley. Other than “Viva Las Vegas” his duet which establishes the early part of his relationship with the stunning Ann-Margaret as his love interest Rusty Martin called “The Lady Loves Me” is probably the second highlight of the film. It’s one of those witty banter songs.

Elvis as Lucky Jackson has some real minor competition for the heart of Rusty in the form of Cesare Danova as Count Elmo Mancini. Mancini comes off as less interested in wooing Rusty and more interested in jerking Lucky around. Lucky takes the whole competition far more seriously than Mancini.

Most of the film’s problems arise when Lucky loses a few thousand dollars that’s intended for a high-powered engine for his latest car. Rusty pushes him into the pool, it falls out of his pocket, and a jerk kid purposely lets it get suck into a pool filter. What a dumb kid! Even if he had no concept of money he knew he had a lot of it and could spend it on junk food. This wasn’t some toddler still in diapers. This kid was at least in first or second grade bare minimum. I have trouble believing any kid out of diapers is THAT stupid. And a background joke of money in the filter would have been warranted.

Ann-Margaret and Presley had great chemistry. Supposedly they were romantically involved during the film and that certainly benefits things. They play well as two people who reluctantly fall in love. Rusty is very independent and has a mind to help her father while Lucky is a bit of a show boater who sees an attractive prize that he just wants to claim. And as I said before the Count is just jerking him around because every romcom needs a hindrance for the couple before they get together.

Viva Las Vegas heavily highlights Ann-Margaret’s sex appeal. It also does a good job of highlighting her talent. While Rusty does teach swimming at the hotel, they also include a few dance scenes which is her character’s real passion. And as I noted she has a scene where she and Presley perform together. She holds her own and is not outshined by Presley. Presley was a gifted showman and he could bring that same energy to film. For Ann-Margaret to not be overwhelmed in that moment is a credit to her talent.

That’s not to say his acting was bad. While Elvis wasn’t great, he was pretty good. And I dare say he had good comedic timing. The scene where he really shows it off is where he’s the waiter serving Rusty and the Count while she’s on a revenge date with the Count is done perfectly. I actually laughed at those moments. It was perfect silliness.

If there is another star to this movie, it’s the city of Las Vegas itself. The aura and ambience of early 60s Las Vegas certainly makes this feel like something special. There is a sense of excitement and a feeling that anything could happen or go there. It was a magical world, and with the shots of all of the signs and the lights. Viva Las Vegas movie brings that to the screen.

This is what a romantic film should be-light and fun with no dark notes. Charming leads and just an overall fun and light story that leaves you happy. And this has all that in spades. Plus, it has the added bonus of great music. You are left feeling good by the end.

Never thought there would be a day when I would recommend an Elvis film but here we are with Viva Las Vegas and I’m doing just that. It’s fun and entertaining with great music and just an all-around good time. You can’t go wrong here!