Elvis Presley: Why One Scene From His ‘Viva Las Vegas’ Movie Was Never Shown in Theaters

Viva Las Vegas is probably Elvis Presley’s most known movie. And that’s mostly because of its music. The city adopted the “Viva Las Vegas” tune as its unofficial anthem for years. But there’s actually more music in the film than viewers realize.

There’s a song that was edited out of the film that features Elvis Presley singing with his love interest Ann-Margret. It was likely cut to save time.

Viva Las Vegas hit theaters in 1964. In it, Elvis (Lucky Jackson) is in Vegas to win its annual Gran Prix race. But he needs to earn enough money to rebuild his engine. But after he does, he loses it after being pushed in the pool by Ann-Margret (Rusty Martin). Elvis takes a job as a waiter at the hotel to make up the cash he lost and falls for Ann-Margret’s character. They go on elaborate dates and madcap adventures as they fall in love.

The song producers edited out of the film, “Today, Tomorrow and Forever” was basically a clips package featuring all of their time together in the film. The duet shows most of what the audience has already seen, but it’s still a beautiful arrangement.

Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret Had Real Love Affair

If you’ve seen Viva Las Vegas, it’s clear he and Ann-Margret have genuine chemistry. That’s because they were reportedly having a love affair during filming.

Elvis Presley’s former bodyguard Sonny West wrote a book about his former boss called “Elvis, Still Taking Care of Business.” In the book, West wrote that Elvis had four great loves in his life. Besides Woods and Priscilla, he also loved Ann-Margret, his co-star in Viva Las Vegas, and Linda Thompson. In 1974, Presley met Thompson when she was Miss Tennessee.

Elvis and Ann-Margret sneaking around would have been scandalous at the time, but what made it into a massive story was the fact that Elvis was already dating Priscilla Beaulieu, who he’d marry three years later. Gossip columnists constantly reported on the secret fling. One newspaper wrongly printed that the two had gotten engaged.

Pricilla Presley wrote in her 1985 memoirs “Elvis and Me,” that seeing that fake story get picked up by other papers across the country was too much. Priscilla was so angry about the entire ordeal that she threw a vase at Elvis during a heated screaming match, demanding Ann-Margret should “keep her a** in Sweden where she belongs.”

In her memoir, Ann-Margret called Elvis Presley her “soulmate.”