Elvis Presley's fifteenth movie was 'Viva Las Vegas', perhaps his best musical comedy, Elvis Presley was finally teamed with a costar whose singing and dancing matched the intensity of his own performing style. As Rusty Martin, dynamic Ann-Margret perfectly complemented Elvis's character of Lucky Jackson. Lucky, a race-car driver whose car desperately needs a new engine, arrives in Las Vegas for the Vegas Grand Prix. 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.

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'.

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'.

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.

George Sidney was the director and he too had a long career directing musical productions.                                                          

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'.

Behind the Scenes of Viva Las Vegas                                                                                                                                                 

Elvis was not restricted to working only for Hal Wallis and Paramount, since the contract he signed with them was not an exclusive one. Elvis also worked for other producers at other studios, including MGM, United Artists, and Allied Artists. Interestingly, the producers from these other studios tended to follow the musical comedy formula that Wallis had developed for Elvis, and occasionally even improving on it. Though Viva Las Vegas follows the familiar formula of the 'Presley travelogue', the inclusion of dynamic Ann-Margret made it a cut above the rest. Shot predominantly in Las Vegas, the film made effective use of such locations as the Flamingo and Tropicana hotels and the drag strip at Henderson, Nevada.

Viva Las Vegas is perhaps best remembered for the romance between Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. The romance was played out on the front pages of the newspapers after the two were noticed attending restaurants and nightclubs together in Las Vegas.

The publicity surrounding the romance was a dream come true for the producers of Viva Las Vegas. Even Elvis' hometown newspaper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar, ran stories with such sensational headlines as 'It Looks Like Romance for Elvis and Ann-Margret' and 'Elvis Wins Love of Ann-Margret'.

Ironically, Elvis was not happy at first to be teamed with Ann-Margret, although he was flattered that she was known as 'the female Elvis Presley'. Supposedly, someone on the production team of Viva Las Vegas had dated her during an earlier film venture and was still smitten by her charm and beauty.

This crew member assisted with the photography on Viva Las Vegas and seemed to favor Ann-Margret with better lighting and camera angles. When Elvis complained to the Colonel, the big guns came to the rescue and the crew member was soon chastised. Elvis ultimately realized it was not the fault of Ann-Margret, and the two young performers quickly grew close. The obvious chemistry between them was an asset to their performances on-screen. The two generated an electricity during their musical numbers seldom matched in Elvis' later films. Ann-Margret shared many things in common with Elvis, including the pressures of a show business career. Both enjoyed similar activities, such as riding motorcycles, and she got along well with Elvis' group of buddy-bodyguards. They called her 'Rusty Ammo', or 'Ann-Margrock'.

The romance between these two high-profile stars did not survive the production of the film. Rumors abound as to what split them up, ranging from Elvis' relationship with Priscilla Beaulieu to Ann Margret' hasty confession to the press that she and Elvis were engaged. Though the relationship did not work out in the long term, Elvis and Ann-Margret remained friends for the rest of his life. Elvis would later marry Priscilla Beaulieu, and Ann-Margret would marry actor Roger Smith. According to Ann-Margret, Elvis sent her flowers in the shape of a guitar on the opening night of every one of her Las Vegas engagements.