Viva Las Vegas (1964)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The TCM introduction advises this is the most profitable Elvis movie ever made!Elvis is a race car driver and Ann-Margaret is a swim instructor. Every opportunity is given to showcase Elvis singing and Ann-Margaret's legs and dancing savoir faire!An enjoyable movie with great music and dancing! I can't believe it's taken me this long to see it.

Elvis Presley was a hugely influential performer with one of the most distinctive singing voices of anybody. He embarked on a film career consisting of 33 films from 1956 to 1969, films that did well at the box-office but mostly panned critically (especially his later films) and while he was a highly charismatic performer he was never considered a great actor.'Viva Las Vegas' is proof that most of his earlier films were pretty good ('Kissin' Cousins' and 'Girls! Girls! Girls!' were the closest the period came to misfires but neither among his worst), some close to great even. Not only is 'Viva Las Vegas' Elvis' best 60s film along with 'Flaming Star' and the best since, but it's also one of his best films overall with 'King Creole', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Flaming Star' and 'Loving You'.Its weak links are a story that's narratively minimal but also rushed and disjointed and a simplistic and corny script. Then again these two elements rarely were strengths in Elvis' films, far from it. A couple of the travelogue-like scenes drag the film down tad slightly too.Otherwise, there is not much in 'Viva Las Vegas' that's wrong. Elvis is at his most confident, enthusiastic and charismatic in a few years, and he has a more than worthy partner in Ann-Margret, whose vivacious and snappy turn is one of his best leading lady performances and actually comes close to stealing the show under him. Their chemistry is superb, and there's little to fault the solid supporting cast that includes William Demarest.Further strengths are the wonderful Panavision cinematography, adroit direction by George Sidney, boundless energy and charm, scenery that never looks cheap and impeccable choreography that has so much kinetic energy and grace.It isn't an Elvis film without a soundtrack, preferably a good one and 'Viva Las Vegas' has more than a good one. It's one of the best of any of his films, while a few are more memorable than others they're well-used, well-placed and not forgettable and there isn't a disposable song in the lot. Along with the iconic title song, standouts are the gentle "The Lady Loves Me", the witty "Come On Everybody" and the Ray Charles classic "What'd I Say".All in all, very good and one of the best from the King of Rock and Roll. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This film would never get made today. At least not with intents this transparent. It serves to glorify Elvis Presley and his embodiment. But back in 1964, these types of B-movies were just accepted. Nowadays teen cinema consists of a post-apocalyptic love triangle. Much more realistic. Not quite as blatant.Elvis plays Lucky, a race car driver who's in Las Vegas to compete in the Vegas Grand Prix. He needs a new engine but is strapped for cash due to contrived reasons. He falls for Rusty (Ann- Margret) who seems to be abruptly against his racing ways.This movie is all over the place. About halfway through it becomes disjointed, making it obvious what its purpose is. For a pointless, plot less story, it's way too convoluted. For an 84 minute film, it takes its sweet time, attempting to thin itself out to cover the short runtime. But then, once it realizes it's home free, the story progresses ridiculously fast and things never get resolved. Elvis and Ann-Margret have undeniable chemistry, but their depth is almost non-existent. Lucky's motivations are unclear, and Rusty goes from a likable, independent worker woman at the beginning of the film to an incompetent bimbo by the end. The songs and dance numbers are impressively catchy, but that's all this movie is. The few glamorous Las Vegas shots are nice, but there aren't nearly enough in a movie with the city's name in the title. It almost seems like a blown opportunity to make a cool story about gambling or mobsters. Instead, it's about racing--something few of us think of when talking about Vegas.It's a dated movie, but that's perhaps the best thing this film has to offer. There are some cool shots of the Vegas of yesteryear. There's one in particular showing the front of the Flamingo as it used to be--alone, with nothing on either side. Contrastingly, we get a shot of Fremont Street in all its garish glory--busy and crowded, sans the 1,500 foot canopy movie screen overhead. While watching this, my fiancée turns to me and says, "You used to be able to drive down Fremont Street???" My, how things have changed.Twizard Rating: 57

Viva Las Vegas is so winning, so immediately alluring that it only takes about two seconds for it to work its delirious magic. To be fair, those two seconds only consist of lazily hitting the play button only to immediately hear Elvis Presley's iconic crooning of the title tune. After those two seconds end and we're lifted into a Technicolor cloud of 1960s pop art smoke, we are amazed by the aerial shots of a nighttime Las Vegas, all neons, all gaudy, and all fun. We feel welcomed. Presley has made plenty of vehicles, varying from godawful to brightly enjoyable, but it doesn't take long to realize that Viva Las Vegas won't be another It Happened at the World's Fair or a Change of Habit. Simply, you can't have Ann-Margret and George Sidney at your side and expect to fall down with an echoey thud.Few musicians have made it as big as Elvis Presley — there are only a handful that can admit that they've had a successful music career, a profitable acting streak, and have remained as globally recognizable as Marilyn Monroe, The Beatles, or, to be broader than broad, God himself. By casually uttering the word "Elvis," you evoke a tidal wave of feelings. For most, he's a hero, a connoisseur of jubilant sentimentality. We don't automatically think of 1977 Elvis, fat, pill- addicted, hopeless and dying — we think of Jailhouse Rock Elvis, Viva Las Vegas Elvis, In the Ghetto Elvis. In 1964, did people understand just how much of an impact he would still make 50+ years later? Viva Las Vegas is certainly his finest hour in film. It epitomizes everything we love about him, but it also stands alone as a better than average movie musical. It bursts with color and talent, and has a rock 'n' roll edge that makes it a hell of a lot less annoying than those clichéd romps than make sure to have at least one dramatic scene where a character sits by a windowsill and pours their heart out to no one.Presley plays Lucky Jackson, a race car-driver aiming to compete in the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Coming from Los Angeles, he has all the materials needed to become a champion except for (a) a new motor, and (b) a girl to wear on his arm when he receives the grand prize. But people named Lucky Jackson don't walk around only to discover that they are actually unlucky and should instead be referred to as Unlucky Jackson; since they look like Elvis and have Elvis' talent, they, more often than not, will find a way to buy a new motor and win an all-American girl.The skirt of Part B doesn't take too long to track down and ultimately chase. It belongs to Rusty Martin (Ann-Margret), a shapely swimming instructor who isn't just a swimming instructor but is also a singer, dancer, and, as we discover in a locale jumping courtship montage, an excellent shot. She has it all. Lucky wants Rusty, and Rusty wants Lucky. Could things be better?Enter Conflict #1: Lucky accidentally loses all the money that would have paid for his car engine, forcing him to become a waiter at the same hotel Rusty works for (though you would think that, at some point, Lucky would realize his immense singing talent and ditch his foremost ambitions). Enter Conflict #2: Rusty is so frightened by the idea of the dangers of race-car driving that she presents Lucky with an ultimatum — he can pick racing or he can pick her, but he certainly can't have both.If Viva Las Vegas' story sounds clichéd, then maybe that's a good thing. It isn't the story that matters. What matters is Presley and Ann- Margret, and the way Sidney frames them in every shot. Presley has acted with Nancy Sinatra, Mary Tyler Moore, and Ursula Andress, but no one matches his universal appeal as well as Margret. With her flaming red hair and larger-than-life personality, she is less of a love interest and more of a force of nature, sometimes so off-the-walls that she upstages Presley himself. Their chemistry is so powerful that if one is alone in a scene, it doesn't bear that same energy that fills the room when they're together. Sidney drenches Viva Las Vegas in a visual style that is almost deliberately artificial: the clothing is only ever hued with loud primary colors, the lighting sometimes resembles a stage show brightened by traffic lights, and the scenery looks like something out of a brochure. But all the glistening duplicity makes the film even more confident and self-aware — it doesn't feel like an average Elvis vehicle because it has a nailed down tone and look that gives it an irrepressibly specific temperament.With 12 songs on the soundtrack to boot, it's impossible for Viva Las Vegas to lose. Can anything this much fun, with Elvis Presley at its center, really lose? Repeat after me: No! No. Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com