Reel Deep Dive

Viva Las Vegas (1964)


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Shortly after his ascent to pop superstardom and teen idol status, Elvis Presley ventured into filmmaking with Love Me Tender (1956). The strong profits of that feature led to lightweight musical comedies becoming the central focus of Presley's career. He appeared in over 30 movies between 1956 and 1969, most of which are forgettable trash made to promote mediocre, hastily-written songs that Presley was openly disinterested in performing. Elvis' movies are frequently blamed for the career decline that Presley endured in the 1960's, but just about every film turned a profit and some of them are presently embraced as campy pleasures.


This episode focuses on the relatively early entry Viva Las Vegas, often argued as one of the better Elvis movies. Ryan is joined by Rachel, who isn't a huge Elvis fan and had no idea that Elvis even made movies until very recently. Discussion topics for this one include the assembly line production for Viva Las Vegas, how Ann-Margaret's charisma props up the movie's goofball atmosphere and barely-there story, the unambiguous trend-chasing in the movie, and Elvis Presley's curious stature as a cultural icon in the present day. 

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Reel Deep DiveBy Ryan Valentine

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