Review of Viva Las Vegas (1964) by Tammie D — 15 Aug 2007

So bad it's actually fun to watch, especially with a group of friends. Elvis (as Lucky) is not bad per se, but it's a stinker of a film that happens to have a few slick 1960s Hollywood production numbers that are the film's sole raison d'etre - Elvis singing the title song, for example, and Ann-Margret (as Rusty) earning her "female Elvis" nickname.

Oh - Elvis also gets to drive race cars, and Ann-Margret squirts garage mechanics with a grease gun - after all, she's a girl in a garage who doesn't know what she's doing. Oh - and they both look great.

The movie is packed tightly with plenty of corn, such as a jealous Ann-Margret spelling out Lucky's name in ketchup on bread, while singing "My rival is a baby blue racing caaaaaaaar!" No real ending is possible or necessary, so instead there's a crazy montage of the Las Vegas Grand Prix (Lucky wins!), a honeymoon prize (Lucky & Rusty get married!), and a nonsensical songburst and split-screen (a la Pillow Talk) encore of the title song, with Elvis singing on one side, and Ann-Margret on the other side, wearing a lilac bathing suit and doing a full-body shimmy.

In vibrant Technicolor.