Why Ann-Margret Still Refuses To Watch This One Scene She Filmed With Elvis In 1964 | HO

HOLLYWOOD, CA — For over half a century, the romance between Ann-Margret and Elvis Presley has been the subject of rumors, speculation, and enduring fascination. Their chemistry onscreen in 1964’s Viva Las Vegas remains the gold standard for Hollywood musicals, but behind the dazzling choreography and playful banter was a real-life love affair that changed both stars forever.

Yet, there is one scene—an intimate duet filmed but never released—that Ann-Margret, now in her 80s, still refuses to watch. The reason, she says, is simple: “Some things are too beautiful to look at twice.”

This is the untold story behind the forbidden duet, the romance that shaped two icons, and the emotional legacy that keeps Ann-Margret from revisiting the most authentic moment of her Hollywood career.

A Meeting of Equals

By the early 1960s, Ann-Margret Olsson was already being hailed as “the female Elvis.” Born in Sweden and raised in the American Midwest, she exuded a raw, magnetic energy that electrified every stage and screen she touched. Signed to RCA Victor—the same label as Elvis—she was quickly rising through the Hollywood ranks, earning acclaim for her singing, dancing, and undeniable screen presence.

Elvis Presley, meanwhile, was at the height of his fame but increasingly dissatisfied with the formulaic films his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, insisted he make. When MGM cast Ann-Margret opposite Elvis in Viva Las Vegas, studio executives expected a standard-issue musical. What they got was lightning in a bottle.

From their first day on set, the connection between Ann-Margret and Elvis was undeniable. Both shared a passion for music, motorcycles, and performing. Both were instinctive, untrained talents who could set a room alight with a glance. As director George Sidney later recalled, “I barely had to direct their romantic scenes. The camera just captured what was already happening.”

Onscreen Chemistry, Offscreen Romance

As filming progressed, the professional chemistry between the two stars quickly blossomed into a personal relationship. They spent long hours together, both on and off set—riding motorcycles through the Nevada desert, sharing quiet dinners, and talking late into the night about their dreams and fears. To the cast and crew, their growing intimacy was the worst-kept secret in Hollywood.

Their connection spilled over into their performances. Dance sequences, such as the now-legendary gymnasium scene, crackled with a synergy that felt almost telepathic. Ann-Margret’s wild, instinctive dancing perfectly complemented Elvis’s natural rhythm. They moved together with the ease of lifelong partners, their bodies responding to each other in perfect harmony.

But it was a quieter, more intimate scene—one that never made the final cut—that would become the most significant and, for Ann-Margret, the most haunting.

The Duet Too Real for Hollywood

Hidden in the MGM archives is a duet between Elvis and Ann-Margret, filmed to the ballad “Today, Tomorrow, and Forever.” The setting was simple: Elvis at a piano, Ann-Margret entering the room, drawn to his music as if by fate. The lyrics, a promise of eternal love, became a vehicle for the real emotions simmering between the two stars.

Unlike the film’s other musical numbers, this duet was not choreographed or staged. It was, by all accounts, spontaneous and deeply personal. Elvis’s voice, stripped of bravado, quivered with genuine vulnerability. Ann-Margret’s gaze, fixed on him, spoke volumes. Their voices intertwined, their hands brushed, and for a few minutes, the line between character and actor vanished completely.

Studio executives, upon viewing the footage, immediately recognized its power—and its danger. This was not movie magic; this was a real couple exposing their hearts to the world. The scene was deemed “too intimate” and cut from the final film. Only a handful of people have ever seen it.

The Weight of Authentic Love

For Ann-Margret, that scene captured something she has never been able to revisit. In later interviews, she described her relationship with Elvis as “very strong, very serious, and very real.” The duet, she said, was a document of that reality—a moment when both stars dropped their professional masks and sang, not as characters, but as lovers.

“During that song, we weren’t acting,” she once confided. “We were just… us.”

The lyrics—“Today, tomorrow, and forever, you have my love”—took on a devastating poignancy when sung by two people who believed, if only for a moment, that their love could overcome any obstacle. The emotional honesty of the performance left Ann-Margret feeling exposed and raw. Watching it now, she says, would be like reopening an old wound.

The Collision of Hearts and Careers

As the romance deepened, so did the complications. Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, saw Ann-Margret as a threat to his carefully constructed image of Elvis as America’s wholesome heartthrob. Meanwhile, Ann-Margret’s own team worried she would be overshadowed, reduced to “just another Elvis girlfriend.”

But the real obstacle was Priscilla Beaulieu, Elvis’s longtime companion, who was living at Graceland while he filmed in Las Vegas. The love triangle was impossible to ignore. Ann-Margret, torn between her feelings for Elvis and her respect for Priscilla, later described this period as the most emotionally challenging of her life.

Despite the pressures, Elvis and Ann-Margret continued to see each other, sneaking away for stolen moments of privacy. But the strain of public scrutiny, professional obligations, and personal guilt eventually became too much. As filming wrapped, the couple parted ways—slowly, painfully, and for good.

The Scene That Said Too Much

The decision to cut the “Today, Tomorrow, and Forever” duet was not made lightly. Executives, directors, and even the stars themselves agreed that the scene was simply too revealing. It was not just a performance; it was a confession. For Ann-Margret, the footage became a private shrine to a love that could never be.

“Elvis would send me flowers for years after,” she later recalled. “Always yellow roses, always with a simple card. It was his way of saying he remembered.”

In the years that followed, both stars channeled their heartbreak into their work. Elvis retreated into safer, more formulaic roles, never again displaying the vulnerability he showed with Ann-Margret. She, in turn, brought a new depth to her performances, but never allowed herself to become so emotionally invested in a co-star again.

A Memory Too Sacred to Revisit

Today, Ann-Margret remains one of the few people alive who has seen the duet in its entirety. She refuses to watch it again. “It’s too beautiful,” she has said. “That scene captured something that was ours alone, and I want to keep it that way.”

For her, the duet is not just a piece of lost Hollywood history. It is a memory of the greatest love she ever knew—a love that was real, if only for a year, and that left her forever changed. Watching the scene would mean confronting not only the memory of Elvis, but the memory of who she was when she loved him: open, vulnerable, and hopeful.

In an era when every moment is recorded, replayed, and dissected, Ann-Margret’s refusal to revisit the duet is a rare act of self-preservation—and a testament to the enduring power of authentic love.

The Legacy of a Lost Love

The forbidden duet between Elvis and Ann-Margret has become the stuff of Hollywood legend. Bootleg copies circulate among die-hard fans, but Ann-Margret has never sought them out. For her, the true magic lies not in the footage, but in the memory of a time when anything seemed possible.

She has called their bond “a meeting of souls,” and acknowledged that no subsequent relationship ever measured up to the intensity of what they shared. “He was a great man, and he was my friend,” she has said, her voice tinged with both love and sadness.

As the years pass, the story of Ann-Margret and Elvis remains a poignant reminder that some moments—no matter how beautiful—are too precious to revisit. For Ann-Margret, the scene in the MGM vault is not just a lost performance. It is the silent testament to a love that defined her youth and haunted her ever after.