 Elvis Presley's fifteenth movie was
'Viva Las Vegas', which was filmed July 15 - September 11, 1963. It
opened nationwide on June 17, 1964 and became Elvis' highest
grossing film ever. It co-starred
Ann-Margret.
Location filming took
place in Las Vegas area locations including: the parking
lot of the Sahara Hotel, Lake Mead Marina, a drag strip
in the suburb of Henderson, the old Vegas Amusement Park
in Henderson, a skeet shooting range at the Tropicana
Hotel, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas gymnasium,
McCarran Airport and the swimming pool at the Flamingo
Hotel. The wedding scene was shot at the Little Church
of the West, which is a famous wedding chapel in Las
Vegas listed on the U.S. National Registry of Historical
Places as the oldest existing structure on the Las Vegas
Strip. It has been the scene for many real celebrity
weddings since the first one, the 1943 marriage of Betty
Grable and Harry James.
Sporting the impossibly
comic-book perfect names Lucky Jackson and Rusty Martin,
the two stars forge a romance against the backdrop of
the Vegas Grand Prix, which Elvis, naturally intends on
winning.
Lucky Jordan
arrives in Las Vegas for the big Grand Prix race, but
has engine trouble. He also falls in love at first
sight, with a girl, Rusty Martin. Not knowing her name
or address and assuming she is one of the showgirls in
Las Vegas, Lucky and his racing rival, Count Elmo
Mancini, search various nightclubs for the girl. Unable
to find her, they return to the hotel and Lucky spots
the girl again. She is the swimming instructor at the
hotel pool. He starts singing and romancing her, while
repairing his engine and finally winning the Big Race.
Ann-Margret
was Elvis' leading lady, playing Rusty Martin to his
Lucky Jackson in the movie. They had a brief romance and
then remained friends throughout Elvis' life. The
Swedish born singer/actress was raised in Illinois and
was discovered by George Burns. She had appeared in
'Pocketful of Miracles', 'State Fair', and the
Elvis-inspired musical "Bye, Bye Birdie" prior to being
cast in "Viva Las Vegas". She went on to receive
numerous accolades including ten Golden Globe
nominations with five wins and five Emmy Award
nominations. She also received two Academy Award
nominations, one for her work in "Carnal Knowledge" and
the other for 'Tommy'.
Elvis' rival for
Ann-Margret's affection in the film was Cesare Danova,
who had a long career as a character actor in film as
well as on television.
William Demarest played
Ann-Margret's father. Demarest's show business career
began in vaudeville. His first film role was in the 1927
movie 'The Jazz Singer'. He earned an Academy Award
nomination as Best Supporting Actor in the 1946 'The
Jolson Story'. He is best remembered for his long time
role as Uncle Charley O'Casey in the TV series 'My Three
Sons'. He joined the cast after the death of William
Frawley, who had played Bub O'Casey in the show.
 Elvis' long-time movied stand-in/double Lance LeGault
played a Son of the Lone Star State in "Viva Las Vegas".
And in the scene in which Ann-Margret's character pushes
Elvis' characther off the diving board it's Lance who
actually takes the fall, standing in for Elvis. He can
be seen in the Elvis films 'Girls!
Girls!Girls!' , 'Kissin'
Cousins' and "Roustabout" and ringside with a
tambourine in the
1968 TV special 'Elvis'. He can be heard today
as the narrator in Graceland Mansion's audio tour
presentation. Lance is a popular character actor and
voice artist with a seemingly endless list of credits.
 George Cisar played the manager at the
Swingers nightclub in 'Viva Las Vegas'. He also appeared
in other Elvis movies : as a bartender in 'Jailhouse
Rock', a craps shooter in 'It
Happened At The World's Fair', the bartender at
the Kit Kat Club in 'Girl
Happy', and as a portly bald-headed man in "Speedway".
He went on to play a recurring role on television as
Cyrus Tankersley in "The Andy Griffith Show " and
'Mayberry RFD'.
Kent McCord played bits in the
Elvis films 'Viva Las Vegas', 'Kissin'
Cousins', 'Roustabout'
and 'Girl Happy'. McCord had planned on a career as a
physical education instructor and football coach when he
met and became friends with singer/actor Rick Nelson. He
was soon making guest appearances on the "Ozzie and
Harriet" show, starring the Nelson family. McCord was
eventually was cast as officer Jim Reed in the popular
'Adam-12' television series.
Teri Garr
played a showgirl in 'Viva Las Vegas'. The
dancer/actress can also be seen in the Elvis films 'Fun
In Acapulco', 'Kissin' Cousins', 'Roustabout' and 'Clambake'.
She was nominated for an Academy Award as Best
Supporting Actress for her role in the film 'Tootsie'.
Among her notable film credits are "Oh God!" and 'Mister
Mom'.
 Jack Cummings was the producer of 'Viva
Las Vegas' and had previously produced such movies as
'Kiss Me Kate', 'Teahouse of the August Moon', and
'Seven Brides For Seven Brothers' for which he received
an Academy Award nomination in 1955. He won a Golden
Globe 'Honor Award' in 1954 for his 30 years as a
producer for MGM. Although a nephew of MGM studio head
Louis B. Mayer, Cummings started his career as an office
boy and worked his way up to script supervisor, to
assistant director and eventually a producer of many of
MGM's famous musicals.
George Sidney was the director and he too had a
long career directing musical productions. Some of them
were 'Anchors Aweigh', 'Ziegfeld Follies', 'Annie Get
Your Gun', 'Showboat', and 1963's 'Bye, Bye Birdie'
which starred
Ann-Margret. Sidney was the innovator who paired
Gene Kelly's live acting with the animated mouse Jerry
in 'Anchors Aweigh'.
The screenplay was written
by Academy Award nominated writer Sally Benson, who also
wrote such movies as 'Meet me In St. Louis', 'The
Singing Nun' and 'Anna and the King of Siam'.
The cinematographer was Joseph F. Biroc, who
later won an Academy Award for his work in 'The Towering
Inferno'. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for
his work in 'Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte'.
The
costumes were by Don Feld, who also worked on Elvis'
movies 'Wild In The
Country' and 'Double
Trouble'. Feld received Academy Award
nominations for his designs in 'Days of Wine and Roses',
'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?', "Tom Sawyer", and
'Prizzi's Honor'.
 Soundtrack
Viva Las Vegas
What'd
I Say
If You Think I Don't Need You
The
Lady Loves Me (with Ann-Margret)
I
Need Somebody To Lean On
C'mon
Everybody
Today, Tomorrow And Forever
Santa
Lucia
Do The Vega
Night Life
Yellow Rose Of Texas / The Eyes Of Texas
Recorded at:
Radio Recorders Studios, 7000, Santa
Monica Boulevard, Hollywood. July 1963.
Musicians:
Elvis Presley (vocals),
Scotty
Moore, Tiny Timbrell, Billy Strange, Alton
Hendrickson, Glen Campbell (guitars), Bob Moore, Ray
Siegal (bass),
D.J.
Fontana, Buddy Harman, Frank Carlson (drums),
Roy Hart (percussion), Floyd Cramer, Artie Cane, Calvin
Jackson (pianos), Oliver Mitchell, James Zito
(trumpets), Randall Miller, Herb Taylor (trombones),
Boots Randolph, William Green, Steve Douglas (sax),
The Jordinaires,
the Jubilee Quartet and the Carole Lombard Quartet
(vocals)
Elvis was surrounded by the largest
number of musicians he had ever worked with for part of
the sessions. For a number of the tracks Elvis
overdubbed his vocals separately. This was the first
time he had done this which considerably enhanced the
quality of the recording. Among the guitarists at this
session was Glen Campbell, later to become a famous
recording star in his own right.
Viva Las Vegas
(aka Love In Las Vegas) - MGM 1964
Directed
George Sidney
Writing Credits Sally Benson
Producers Jack Cummings and George Sidney
Music by George Stoll
Assistant Director
Milton Feldham
Choreographer David Winters
Hair Styles Sydney Guillaroff
Recording
Supervisor Franklin Milton
Panavision and
Metrocolor
Cast Overview
Elvis Presley .... Lucky Jackson,
Ann-Margret
.... Rusty Martin, Cesare Danova .... Count Elmo
Mancini, William Demarest.... Mr. Martin, Nicky Blair
.... Shorty Fansworth.
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