Trailer
Plot summary
Lucky Jackson's race car, an Elva Mark VI, needs a new engine before he can enter Las Vegas's first Grand Prix, so he gambles to raise the money. In the garage he meets Count Elmo Mancini, a wealthy Italian driver with a Ferrari, and both declare that each means to win. A young woman brings in a car that needs fixing; both men are drawn to her, and she leaves before either learns her name. Mancini wonders if she is a showgirl, and the two watch revues looking for her. The following morning Lucky finds her at their hotel: Rusty Martin, a student at the University of Nevada who teaches swimming there. He tries to court her with a song, and she throws him in the pool, where his money is lost.
Cast
- Robert Aikenas Driver
- Larry Bartonas Son of the Lone Star State
- Herman Bodenas Casino Patron
- William Burnsideas Son of the Lone Star State
- Carl Carlssonas Juggler
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Viva Las Vegas (1964)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The chemistry between Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret was real: they began an affair during filming that drew heavy attention from gossip columnists and reportedly led to a showdown with Presley's girlfriend Priscilla Beaulieu.
- Director George Sidney said the project began as something about an Arabian and that he and his team had no script, so they rewrote it in about eleven days and changed the setting to Las Vegas.
- Making the film reportedly produced unusually heated exchanges between director George Sidney and Elvis Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, over the time cinematographer Joseph Biroc gave to Ann-Margret's song-and-dance numbers.
- Because Viva Las Vegas ran over budget, Colonel Tom Parker cut the budgets of every remaining film in Elvis Presley's career.
- Elvis Presley's performance of the song "Viva Las Vegas" was filmed in one single unedited shot, the only known use of that technique in any of his films.
- Ann-Margret recommended her own dance teacher, David Winters, to be the film's choreographer, and it was his first job in that role.
- The theme song "Viva Las Vegas" sold well that year and has since become a theme song for the city itself.
