"I'm Just a Devil With Love to Spare" - Viva Las Vegas

It's time for a road trip! Pack your bags, we're going to Las Vegas! 

via tumblr, vinceverett

This is my entry for the Celluloid Road Trip Blogathon, hosted by Hometowns to Hollywood. Make sure you click through to read the rest of the entries over the next few days!

Let's dive in. 

Right off the bat: I'm obsessed with mid-cenutry neon signs like the kinds that light up in the opening credits of Viva Las Vegas. Indulge me here...

In Viva Las Vegas, Elvis plays Lucky. He's a race car driver who wants to win the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and he's about to earn the last little bit of money he needs to buy the engine for his car.

Back in Los Angeles, after Lucky wins the last little bit of money, he calls his mechanic friends and tells them he wants to buy the engine. The head mechanic says he'll only hold it for so long, and that if another buyer comes in, he'll sell it. 

At the garage in Las Vegas, he meets Count Elmo Mancini, an Italian racer who wants to win the Las Vegas Grand Prix after conquering Europe, and he wants Lucky to drive for him. Lucky turns him down because he only drives for himself and wins for himself. 

While they're talking, a beautiful young woman comes in with a simple car problem that sounds easily solvable, but Lucky and the Count are both totally smitten and exaggerate the issues as a way to drag out spending time with her. 

Unfortunately, Ann-Margret gets away before they find out who she is, so the Count proposes that they visit all the nightclubs along the Strip: surely she performs at one of them. 

Insert prolonged montage of various Vegas clubs here: 

At their last stop, The Swingers Club, Lucky even performs 'The Yellow Rose of Texas' and 'The Eyes of Texas'...

But she's not there...

The next morning, Lucky and the Count are commiserating, and the Count tells him that she'll show up. Lucky looks out the window, and... 

...there she is: she's a swimming instructor at the hotel. Her name is Rusty. 

Lucky goes out with his guitar and serenades her. 

They duet on a song called 'The Lady Loves Me'

The chemistry between Elvis and Ann-Margret, by the way, is off the charts. They had an affair in the pre-production of Viva Las Vegas but it didn't last long after filming began. 

You can guess what happens next, right? Rusty keeps advancing until Lucky's at the edge of the diving board and he goes straight into the pool... 

...and all of his money was destroyed in the process, so now he doesn't have any money to buy his special engine, and he needs to take a new job to earn back some money. 

Back at the pool, Rusty's just finishing up a swimming lesson when she's approached by... 

...Lucky the waiter. She feels bad that he lost his money, but he's nonchalant: he won it, after all. Rusty reminds him that it takes a long time to earn money, and after a fashion, he asks her if she'll go dancing with him. 

Lucky feels guilty for destroying his money, so she agrees, however, her idea of dancing doesn't exactly match up with his.

Cue one of the most iconic dance sequences on film, in my opinion. In fact, before I'd ever seen Viva Las Vegas, this is the image that was in my head. 

Then Lucky takes over for his own singing and dancing scene. He performs 'C'mon Everybody.'

From there, Lucky and Rusty spend all their time together...

At the end of the day, Lucky meets Rusty's father and finds out they came to Las Vegas from Ohio. Neither one of them want the day to end, and Lucky sings yet another song... 

Then they go out dancing to a nightclub. 

Of course Lucky has to sing a song (and Elvis probably had a set amount of songs in his contract), so while he performs 'What'd I Say', Rusty dances all around him. 

And, because nothing gold can stay, Lucky and Rusty have to start fighting. Rusty doesn't want racing to be his whole life; Lucky knows nothing else. 

And when he finds out that the Count paid off his hotel debts, he's even more enraged because he doesn't want to be bought. Rusty, also furious, agrees to dinner with the Count that evening. 

Guess who's waiting on them? 

Anyways, it's now time for the talent show, where Lucky hopes to win the remaining money he needs. Rusty's also entered... 

And she performs a saucy routine called 'Appreciation.' 

And after she's finished, Lucky comes out with the titular song, 'Viva Las Vegas'

Naturally, the audience is split between Rusty and Lucky for who had the best performance, so the host offers to flip a coin. Rusty chooses heads and tails wins. Lucky, who's hoping to get the last little bit of money he needs, is annoyed to find out that there's no cash prize. 

After Rusty's gone, Lucky sings yet another song: 'I Need Somebody to Lean On.'

Race day arrives, and Lucky can get in the race if they work on a new car for him. It's all hands on deck!

Even Rusty's going to help...

...after she goes home to make some lunch (and the grossest looking sandwiches I've ever seen. Cheese and ketchup?) and sings her own song, 'My Rival.'

Back at the garage, she dons a jumpsuit to help out, even though she's not very good. Lucky even tells her not to touch anything, or do anything, unless he tells her to or he's there to help. 

Finally, it's time to race! I'd be too distracted by all the neon to actually drive anywhere.

And despite some shenanigans out on the course... 

...of course Lucky wins! 

And he makes good use of the honeymoon package he'd won at the talent show! I love Rusty's wedding dress. 

And with a reprise of the title song, the movie wraps up!

THE END!

___

I'd never seen a single Elvis Presley movie until this past summer (don't tell my grandmother - she's obsessed with him and used to go see his movies multiple times in theatres), but they're campy fun. I'm most partial to Viva Las Vegas because of the afore-mentioned love of neon signs and caper flicks; but I also love Blue Hawaii. 

On Ann-Margret's films: I love what I've seen so far (not that I've exhausted her filmography either). 

Do you like Viva Las Vegas? Or what's your favourite Elvis film? Your favourite Ann-Margret film? I've only seen the two Elvis films mentioned above, recommend me new ones! I've seen Bye Bye Birdie and Made in Paris from Ann-Margret's films!