United States, 1964. Starring Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova, William Demarest, Nicky Blair. Directed by George Sidney. Available on DVD from Amazon.

By this point, after reviewing the "Elvis Hawaii Trilogy," we've covered most of the finer points of his film career and what it meant, so for the sake of not repeating myself, if you're new to the site or to Elvis movies, cruise on over to our trilogy feature and learn all you need to learn, then come on back. Although I think of Viva Las Vegas as one of Elvis' best movies, that isn't to say it doesn't follow the typical Elvis formula. Once again, Elvis is a sassy-but-golden-hearted down-on-his-luck average Joe who must win the heart of a girl, earn some money, and beat the rich guy in a big showdown while belting out a fistful of mostly unmemorable songs. This time around, the big showdown is a car race, Elvis works as a waiter (a singing waiter, of course), and the girl is the legendary Ann-Margret. She's one of the two things that really set this film apart from pretty much every other Elvis film, including Blue Hawaii. The other thing, to get to the other thing first, is that this is one of the only Elvis musical comedies where he doesn't get to bust someone up with his judo.

But Ann-Margret is more noticeable than the lack of judo action. Dames in Elvis movies are usually there to look pretty, pout, and in an uppity explosion at some point, perhaps smack Presley or push him in a pool with accompanying wacky "fallin' in the pool" music. You know the music. It's usually a bunch of strings rising in pitch very quickly, then finishing off with a "wah wah" bit of brass. If, at any point in an Elvis film, you see a pool, then you can pretty much figure on him being pushed into it at some point. Well, the divine Ann-Margret does indeed get to push Elvis into a pool, but she also gets to do a lot more. She is by far the feistiest and most independent of all Elvis movie women, and the kitten with a whip is able to go toe-to-toe with the King in fire, charisma, and suggestive dancing. As she does in the Dean Martin Matt Helm movie Murderers' Row, A-M go-go dances so wildly out of control that you expect her head to go flying off at any second. And if there are finer sights in this world than Ann-Margret go-go dancing while Elvis does his hip swaying, finger pointing magic, then you have to climb to the top of the world's highest peaks with Nicole Kidman to experience them.

There's not much to the plot, of course. Elvis wants to win the big race out in Las Vegas, but in order to afford to enter and get his car in shape, he has to take a job at a resort where A-M happens to be the swimming instructor. Hey, I took swimming instructions, and I never had anyone like Ann-Margret for an instructor. I guess I should have taken them in Vegas. Most Elvis movies are, of course, old-fashioned morality tales about the virtues of an honest hard day's work. The villain of the piece is Count Elmo Mancini. I didn't know counts were allowed to be named Elmo. I thought they all had to be named Sigfried or Maximilian or Chocula. Anyway, like many of the other rich guys in Elvis movies, he coasts along on his inherited wealth and has never understood what it means to truly fight for something. Elvis, on the other hand, as the improbably lamed Lucky Jackson, must fight and claw for every scrap he's ever earned. Elvis movies always like to play off Elvis' real-life background as a poor Mississippi boy, and in doing so give us a grand vision of the achievable American Dream.

The usual skeletal plot has just enough bones on which to hang a nice series of scenes in which Elvis sings, or Ann-Margret sings (or pretends to sing, I reckon), or Ann-Margret go-go dances, or Elvis engages in verbal sparring with the rich guy (or with Ann-Margret), or Elvis gets pushed into a pool. To fill in the blanks, the movie takes the Blue Hawaii approach and indulges in some lovely travelogue footage of Vegas before huge entertainment conglomerates moved in and turned everything into a sad parody of what it used to be back when the Mafia and Frank Sinatra were in control. Since I'm a sucker for everything in the world before 1970 or so, it's a real treat to take in.

Part of the fun of any Elvis movie, at least for me, is seeing which exotic locales are going to be featured in rear-projection as Elvis pretends to ski or surf or ride a moped around. He has a wonderful water skiing scene here, but the real treat is watching the King in his big auto race. Naturally, every five seconds someone's car is spinning out of control and flipping end over end into a fiery oblivion in a race that is to actual auto races what a Rocky boxing match is to a real boxing match. Elvis had a real thing for car races though. He had a whole slew of movies in which he had to win the big race. I think this was the first.

Elvis is in pretty good form here, thanks in no small part I would imagine to being paired with a co-star with some real talent and seemingly boundless energy. He shows none of the fatigue and weight gain that would make watching him in the following year so uncomfortable. His comic timing as sharp here as it was back in Blue Hawaii, and like I said, he has a spectacular leading lady off which to play. Elvis was always at his best when, since the material hardly ever challenged him, he could be challenged by talented co-stars. Blue Hawaii is so much fun in part because I think being on screen with an actress as experienced as Angela Lansbury pushed Elvis. Like I said in my earlier reviews of some of his films, despite what people say, Elvis wasn't a bad actor; he just wasn't allowed to be the good actor he obviously had in him. At least not very often. Here, in one of his two best comedic roles, he's quite sharp and obviously having a good time - something he just as obviously wasn't having a year or two later with films like Harum Scarum and Paradise, Hawaiian Style.

Ann-Margret was pretty much stepping into the big time with this movie. Along with Viva Las Vegas, Kitten with a Whip (also 1964) made her a cult star, and she went in the coming years to roles in films like Once a Thief with Alain Delon, The Cincinnati Kid with Steve McQueen, a misguided and needless remake of the classic Stagecoach, The Who's equally misguided feature film version of Tommy, and of course Dean Martin's Murderers' Row. Viva Las Vegas is probably my favorite of all her performances. She gets to go wild, dance like mad, and the movie surrounding her is quite enjoyable. It's a shame The Colonel didn't see a good thing and pair the duo up again, but I guess in his reckoning, that wouldn't be what people wanted to see. After all, if young girls saw Elvis romancing the same gorgeous woman in multiple films, it would crush their dreams. Or something like that. Their scenes together have an actual sexual charge to them that almost lets you remember the Elvis of the 1950s. This is one of the only Elvis movies that has not just silly boyish charm, but also drips with sex appeal. They're two hot people who are hot together, as opposed to just about every other film where you get two hot people who are cute enough, but simply do not sizzle. Although there would be other good leading ladies in Elvis movies, none of them would even come close to the vivacious Ms. Ann-Margret.

This was director George Sidney's first and only Elvis film. In fact, it was one of his last films, period, as his career wound down a few years later in 1967. He'd worked with Ann-Margret before on 1963's Bye Bye Birdie, and also directed a pocketful of historical hellraisers during the 1950s like Kiss Me Kate, Scaramouche (will he do the fandango?), and Annie Get Your Gun. He brings a swift pace and keen eye to Viva Las Vegas, something that was sorely lacking in Kissin' Cousins, also released in 1964, which was helmed by a director whose primary experience was in television. Directing historical films doubtless gave Sidney the skills he needed to open up and really take advantage of the Vegas strip and widescreen format. He's aided in this endeavor by cinematographer Joseph Biroc, who had worked with Sidney previously on Bye Bye Birdie and has cinematography credits dating as far back as 1929. In 1946 he worked with Frank Capra on It's a Wonderful Life, and filled in his resume with a ton of adventure film work that undoubtedly encouraged him, like director Sidney, to be a bit wilder and richer with the shots. He also went on to do cinematography for Kitten with a Whip, and in 1967 shot the Sinatra caper Tony Rome and its 1968 sequel, Lady in Cement - both well worth seeing. He also did Blazing Saddles, The Longest Yard, and the two Airplane! films (sorry for the long list, but I'm a bit of a cinematographer nerd). When you hang so much of a movie on travelogue footage, its nice to have a man who knows what he's doing, and Biroc makes his Las Vegas confections every bit as gorgeous as the sweeping island scenery from Blue Hawaii.

This is also an Elvis film written by a woman (Sally Benson), which might explain why the female character has a bit more to her than usual.

And let's not forget the songs. Blue Hawaii had a pretty good soundtrack, though it was hardly the parent-enraging, girl-impregnating rock 'n' roll for which he became famous. Subsequent films featured wildly uneven soundtracks, with each one offering up one or two bona fide good songs and lots and lots of forgettable filler and show tunes. Viva Las Vegas has its share of so-so songs, but no real bad ones (certainly nothing on the level of, say, "Song of the Shrimp" from Girls! Girls! Girls!), and the title track is one of The King's biggest hits of all time. Ann-Margret sings a number or two, though her voice was, I believe dubbed. Could be wrong on that, but it doesn't much matter to me since, while her duet with Elvis is top notch (and ends with Elvis getting pushed into a pool), her solo number leaves a fair amount to be desired. Just keep go-go dancing, A-M!

Viva Las Vegas is, in many ways, the last hurrah for Elvis movies. 1964 saw the release of a whopping three Elvis titles. Kissin' Cousins was the first and least of the movies, though you can forgive any film featuring so much of Yvonne Craig in skimpy outfits. Roustabout was a decent Elvis musical, but nowhere near as enjoyable as Viva Las Vegas. From there, it all went downhill fast. 1965's Harum Scarum is where a lot of people place the marker for when things really went sour, though I myself rather enjoy that one. Viva Las Vegas is possessed of such beautiful cinematography, boundless energy, goofy charm, and spirited performances that you'd never expect things were about to get derailed so monumentally.

But let's not worry about that here. It's best, for now, to simply sit back and have fun. If nothing else, Viva Las Vegas is a lot of fun, and like I said, it's probably the best film for people who don't particularly care for Elvis movies. Even non-fans can enjoy it. As for me, I have a hard time deciding between this and Blue Hawaii. Elvis is good in both films, and the scenery is good in both films. In the end, though, pairing Elvis with Ann-Margret just might help Viva Las Vegas edge out Blue Hawaii by a cute little upturned nose.

Labels: Netflix Diary, Stars: Elvis, Year: 1964