Rolling Stone has put Ann-Margret’s gymnasium dance in Viva Las Vegas among the greatest rock ’n’ roll movie moments of all time, giving fresh attention to a 1964 scene that still moves with the force of a headline. The sequence, set to Elvis Presley’s “C’mon Everybody,” is the moment the magazine singled out as proof that even the King could not outrun Rusty Martin’s energy.
That is why people are searching for the scene now: the ranking is not about the film in general, but about one burst of motion that has outlasted the movie’s release in May 1964. Written by Sally Benson, directed by George Sidney and choreographed by David Winters, Viva Las Vegas pairs Presley as Lucky Jackson with Ann-Margret as a swim instructor named Rusty Martin, and the chemistry between them has long been part of the film’s appeal.
Rolling Stone framed the choice with a line that leaves little room for debate: “And this is why Elvis is the King.” But the magazine followed that by saying Elvis would be the first to admit that even the King can’t outwiggle Ann-Margret, a nod to the explosive, almost trance-like force of her dance in the gymnasium scene. The film’s own legend has always rested on that kind of balance — Presley’s star power against Ann-Margret’s speed, swagger and control.
That tension matters because Viva Las Vegas has endured not just as a commercial hit, but as what many still regard as the best film in Presley’s catalog. Its place in pop culture has only grown with repeated citations like this one, including Steven Spielberg’s public naming of the movie as one of his all-time favorites. The ranking does not reopen the old question of who dominates the scene; it answers it. In this sequence, Rolling Stone says, the wiggle belongs to Ann-Margret.
