Viva Las Vegas

For other uses, see Viva Las Vegas (disambiguation).

Viva Las Vegas
File:VivaLasVegasElvis.jpg
Directed by	George Sidney Milton Feldman (Ass't) Otto Lang (2nd unit)
Written by	Sally Benson
Produced by	Jack Cummings & George Sidney
Starring	Elvis Presley Ann-Margret
Cinematography	Joseph F. Biroc
Edited by	John McSweeney Jr.
Music by	George E. Stoll
Distributed by	MGM
Release dates	May 20, 1964 (USA)
Running time	85 min.
Language	English

Viva Las Vegas (1964) is an American romantic musical motion picture co-starring American singers Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. The movie is regarded as one of Presley's best and is noted for the on-screen chemistry between Presley and Ann-Margret.

The chemistry was apparently real during the filming. Presley and Ann-Margret began an affair which received considerable attention from gossip columnists and led to a showdown with a worried Priscilla Beaulieu. In her 1985 book, Elvis and Me, Priscilla described the difficulties she experienced when the press announced that Ann-Marget and Elvis were engaged to be married.

In addition, the filming produced unusually-heated exchanges between Colonel Tom Parker, Presley's manager, and the movie's director, the highly experienced George Sidney, concerning the time and effort allotted by the cinematographer, ostensibly on Sidney's orders, to the musical scenes involving Ann Margret, which included views from many different angles, re-takes and the use of several cameras for each shot.

Presley's screen charisma was nevertheless there for anyone to see. The scene in which he delivers the title song remains the only one in his career to depict him performing an entire song, in one uncut take, and as shot by the lens of a single camera.

Plot summary

Lucky Jackson (Elvis Presley) goes to Las Vegas, Nevada to participate in the city's first annual Grand Prix. However, his race car is in need of a new engine in order to compete. Jackson raises the money but mislays it when distracted by Rusty Martin (Ann-Margret). Soon, Jackson's main competition, Count Elmo Mancini (Cesare Danova), enters the picture to steal both the race and Rusty.

Cast

• Elvis Presley  : Lucky Jackson
• Ann-Margret  : Rusty Martin
• Cesare Danova  : Count Elmo Mancini
• William Demarest  : Mr. Martin
• Nicky Blair  : Shorty Fansworth
• Jack Carter  : Himself
• Teri Garr  : Showgirl

Soundtrack

The soundtrack songs were recorded in July of 1963 at Radio Recorders Studios in Hollywood, California and are regarded by some as among Presley's best. In addition to Presley's vocals, Ann-Margret performs two solos in the film. Three songs, "Night Life", "Do The Vega" and "You're The Boss", were recorded for the film but never used. "You're The Boss" is a duet by Elvis and Ann-Margret.

RCA Records has been heavily criticized (in Elvis: The Illustrated Record and other retrospectives) for mishandling what was considered by critics to be the best set of songs recorded for an Elvis film for years. None of the vocals involving Ann-Margret was released at the time, although she was a successful RCA recording artist in her own right and had performed two solo numbers in the film ("Appreciation" and "My Rival"). The only recordings released simultaneously with the film were the theme song plus a cover version of "What'd I Say?" on a single; and a few additional songs on an EP. Additional songs recorded for the film would appear scattered about later album compilations, while the Ann-Margret duets with Presley - "The Lady Loves Me" and the deleted "You're the Boss" - would not be officially released until after Presley's death. The version of "C'Mon Everybody" released on record is a different version than the one used in the film, lacking Ann-Margret's backing vocals, a whistling interlude, and the closing bars.

Although bootleg LP's began to appear in the 1970s, purporting to contain the complete soundtrack, RCA did not officially release anything approaching a full soundtrack until the late 1990s, when it reissued Presley's film soundtracks on a series of "Double Feature" CDs which paired the Viva Las Vegas soundtrack with that of Roustabout. These CDs do not include the solo Ann-Margret performances or "The Climb" by the The Forte' Four. An almost complete soundtrack from the film was released on Follow That Dream Records (the Danish division of BMG) in 2003. It includes all master takes plus alternate versions. "The Climb" is also included, but the Ann-Margret solo tracks are not. At present, the Ann-Margret solos are available only on the 5-CD box set: Ann Margret 1961-1966 from Bear Family Records in Germany, but her "You're the Boss" duet with Elvis is on her otherwise solo cd album, "Lovely Ann-Margret: Hits and Rarities," digitally remastered and released 1995 by Marginal Records MA 022, Brussels, Belgium. .

Recording musicians

File:Viva Las Vegas.jpg

Ann-Margret & Elvis in a promotional image for the movie

• Elvis Presley (vocals)
• The Jordanaires (background vocals)
• The Jubilee Quartet (background vocals)
• The Carol Lombard Quartet (background vocals)
• Scotty Moore, Tiny Timbrell, Billy Strange, Glen Campbell, Alton Hendrickson (guitar)
• Bob Moore, Ray Siegal (bass)
• Floyd Cramer, Artie Cane, Calvin Jackson (piano)
• Oliver Mitchell, James Zito (trumpets)
• Boots Randolph, William Green, Steve Douglas (sax)
• Randall Miller, Herb Taylor (trombones)
• D.J. Fontana, Buddy Harman, Frank Carlson (drums)
• Roy Hart (percussion)
• Ann-Margret - co-lead vocals on "Lady Loves Me", "You're the Boss"; lead vocals on "Appreciation", "My Rival". She also sings backing vocals on "C'Mon Everybody" (film version only). In addition, a version of "Today, Tomorrow and Forever" was recorded as a duet as well.

Tracks (songwriter)

• Yellow Rose of Texas/The Eyes of Texas - (Fred Wise & Randy Starr)
• The Lady Loves Me - (Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett)
• What'd I Say - (Ray Charles)
• Viva Las Vegas - (Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman)
• I Need Somebody To Lean On - (Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman)
• C'mon Everybody - (Joy Byers)
• Today, Tomorrow and Forever - (Bill Giant, Bernie Baum, Florence Kaye)
• Santa Lucia - (Arrangement Elvis Presley)
• If You Think I Don't Need You - (Red West & Joe Cooper)
• Appreciation - (performed by Ann-Margret)
• My Rival - (performed by Ann-Margret)
• The Climb - (performed by The Forte' Four)
• Do The Vega (not in film) - (Giant, Bernie Baum & Florence Kaye)
• Night Life (not in film) - (Giant, Baum, Kaye)
• You're The Boss (not in film) - (Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller)

DVD Releases

1. Warner Home Video, August 1, 2000.

This was the first DVD release. It contains the movie in two formats on a flipper disc. One side contains the movie in the Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (4:3), the other side is in Widescreen (Letterbox). The soundtrack is presented in mono.

(Source: Amazon.com)

2. Viva Las Vegas Deluxe Edition, Warner Home Video, August 7, 2007.

Special Features:

- Commentary by Steve Pond, rock journalist and author of “Elvis in Hollywood ”

- Restored and Digitally Remastered in a 16x9 master, enhanced for widescreen televisions. Color/16x9 Anamorphic transfer 2.4:1

- New featurette Kingdom : Elvis in Vegas

- Remastered soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 from original production elements and original mono theatrical soundtrack.

- Theatrical trailer

- Subtitles: English & Français (feature film only)

(Source: ElvisNews.com - Details Warner and Paramount DVD releases)

See also

• List of Elvis Presley films
• Elvis Presley discography

External links

Movie reviews

• Review by Keith at Teleport City, July 03, 2004.

• Review by Graeme Clark at The Spinning Image (UK).

• Comprehensive review by Chad Plambeck at 3-B Theater

• Review by J. Bannerman at Stomp Tokyo, 2003.

DVD Reviews

• Review by Erich Asperschlager at DVD Verdict, September 17th, 2007.

• Review by John J. Puccio at DVDTOWN.com, Aug 3, 2007.

• Review by Emanuel Levy at Emanuel Levy.com.

Blu-ray reviews

• Review by John Sinnott at DVD talk, September 26, 2007.

• Review by Peter M. Bracke at High-Def Digest, September 26, 2007.

• Review by Pat Wahlquist at Home Theater Forum, 09-21-2007.

• Review by Dean Winkelspecht at DVDTOWN.com, Sep 19, 2007.

• Review by David Vaughn at HomeTheatherSpot.com, 09-17-07.