The trailer for the 1964 musical Viva Las Vegas claims that the film has the “most exciting road race ever filmed.” That’s a bold statement to make, and in fact the hokey ’60s back-projection effects that attempt to put star Elvis Presley behind the wheel of an Elva Mk6 racer do kind of take you out of the moment.
Of course, people didn’t go to Viva Las Vegas for the racing, they went for co-star Ann Margaret’s legs. She plays a Las Vegas swimming instructor while the King plays a waiter trying to earn enough cash to buy a new motor for his race car. Singing and dancing ensue, and then there’s that most exciting road race ever filmed.
The race was filmed on the Lake Mead Parkway, a stretch of Nevada road that, at the time had no posted speed limit. The race scenes are pretty good, and feature a slew of great cars – including a Jag 120 that meets an untimely end. Yikes! Other notable iron in Viva Las Vegas include Max Balchowsky’s Ol’ Yaller MKIII, a C2 Corvette, 250 GT Ferrari, a Cobra and a TVR 200. You can get a gander at a lot of them in the trailer, plus both skinny Elvis and Ann Margaret are pretty easy on the eyes. Enjoy the whole thing, right after the jump.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/DMsBFFvh8Zo[/youtube]
It looks like streaming Viva Las Vegas isn’t an option right now, but it is pretty cheap on Blu-Ray. It’s also pretty likely to show up on TMC or AMC at any time so keep an eye out.

Image: YouTube