Carnival Rock

source: Carnival Rock

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I chose to watch "Carnival Rock" because it's a film directed and produced by Roger Corman. This is because although nearly all his hundreds of films were very low budgeted, they also were incredibly successful and usually very entertaining. Amazingly, only ONE of his films apparently lost money ("The Intruder")...and, oddly, that's actually one of his best films! And, as I was about to watch "Carnival Rock", I knew it would NOT be dull! The film has a lot of rock 'n roll music...which is pretty typical of many of Corman's films of the era. Most of the numbers are very good (particularly the instrumental song early in the movie) and there even is an appearance by The Platters! Now don't get the idea that the film is just rock 'n roll. No, it actually has a very good story...a sad one, too. Natalie (Susan Cabot) is a singer at Christy's night club. However, there is an obvious problem...the boss, Christy, is smitten with Natalie and she doesn't seem to reciprocate at all. She even goes so far as to say she doesn't want him...but he simply won't listen. He is an older and very deluded man and is also a bit scary due to his insistence they will marry. But Natalie has a boyfriend...and they both want to marry. What's next? See this film. The acting is generally good, the music very good, and the story pretty good as well. While it's no award winner, it is entertaining and dollar-for-dollar, a very good movie that actually offers a few surprises...particularly at the end.

There's melodrama and songs aplenty in this Roger Corman number from the late 50's. Set in a carnival, the misguided lovesick owner falls in love with his (much younger) star singer, but she's not too interested and bunks off with a smooth gambler instead. It all ends in tears. This one stars Corman regular, the Wasp Woman herself, Susan Cabot. And she is as good value as ever as the girl who all the drama pivots around. And she even gets to sing a couple of songs. She's not the only one either, as Corman has wisely decided to punctuate the melodramatics with a selection of tunes performed onstage in the club - we have rockabilly numbers, some doo-wop action from special guests The Platters and the title song sung over the end credits by The Blockbusters (who?). And the result is a great deal of fun, with the added bonus of having bit-part legend Dick Miller featuring in an actual proper sized part for once as the daft club owner's best friend.

Yes, Roger Corman made the original Little Shop of Horrors. But he also made such losers as The Undead; The Day the World Ended; The Beast with a Million Eyes; It Conquered the World; and Teenage Caveman. In those movies, Corman used his trademark padding technique -- lots of walking. The only difference is that here he pads his movie with singing. Different padding, same director, same horrifying results. Rock tells the story of a Greek carnival show owner named "Christy" who is deeply in love with Natalie. This would be a nice story except for one thing: it's an imagined May - September romance on Christy's part and Natalie has the hots for another. In fact, Christy ends up being unlucky at love and at cards. Christy portrays a happy-go-lucky attitude even when creditors threaten to take his club away. However, this attitude gives him a sense of delusion that prevents him from seeing things as they really are. The Platters make a cameo in this film, but this is essentially a love story with rockabilly music well packed in throughout. Strangely, Natalie starts out singing Mel Torme-like songs after the viewer is subjected to these Jerry Lee Lewis-wannabes. The music is passable, but Natalie's bouncing neck can make you seasick. One definite highlight is Mamie Van Doren's appearance on the 1987 video release of this movie. She still looks good. Sterno says ignore the carnies sit in for a set.

Just watched this Roger Corman drive-in movie on YouTube. It's about a carnival owner named Christy (David J. Stewart) who's in over his head in debts and is also in love with the young girl singer Natalie Cook (Susan Cabot). But Natalie prefers Stanley (Brian G. Hutton) who manages to buy the place after beating Christy at cards. The only one who even stays friends with Christy is longtime associate Benny (Dick Miller). I'll stop there and just say I quite enjoyed all the players I cited especially Ms. Cabot, whose alluring presence also was the highlights of other Corman films like Sorority Girl and The Wasp Woman. And here she's a very good singer. It's too bad her career ended after leaving him. And it was good to know that the ending wasn't a predictably tragic one. But the real reason that I decided to watch this now was since Black History Month is tomorrow, I thought I'd cite The Platters' appearance here. They sing "Remember When" in their only scene. Seeing members Paul Robi-who's a native of New Orleans which is a two-hour drive from where I live, David Lynch, Herb Reed, Zola Taylor, and Tony Williams was a treat to watch when warbling that song. Other musical acts that appeared include Bob Luman and David Houston of which one of his songs "Teenage Frankie and Johnny" was a rocking remake of an old tune that I immediately recognized and liked highly. So on that note, Carnival Rock is highly recommended.

source: Carnival Rock

Carnival Rock (1957) ** (out of 4) Christy Cristakos (David J. Stewart) runs a hip nightclub, which features a lot of rock and roll talent including the beautiful Natalie Cook (Susan Cabot) who Christy has a thing for. The only problem is that she has the hots for Stanley (Brian Hutton), a younger and more hip guy. Soon Christy loses his club to Stanley and this sets him off down a dangerous path. Roger Corman's CARNIVAL ROCK is not a good movie but it's hard not to recommend it because of how strange it is. At first the film starts off in a rather good, fun mood and then, pretty much out of nowhere, it turns into a dark and overly bleak film with an incredibly strange character taking us through all of it. From the title, the poster and the set-up this here just appears to be another one of those rock and roll films from the 1950s where you saw cool people dancing and rocking out. The story itself is pretty basic as the less attractive guy wants the hot girl but she's into the hotter guy. This all changes because the Christy character's mental state is a complete mess and it turns into some sort of dark stalker tale. What's so strange is the fact that the lead performance and character are just downright bizarre to say the least. I'm really not sure if Stewart is really awful in the picture or really great. Remember how some people think Jack Nicholson in THE SHINING is terrific whereas others feel he's over-acting? Well, the same is true here. I really don't know what to make of Stewart's performance but it's really out there and bizarre to say the least. Both Cabot and Hutton are decent in their roles but it's actually Dick Miller who steals the picture with a very good supporting performance. CARNIVAL ROCK was obviously cheaply produced and the rock music in it is rather weak. There's certainly nothing really good about this film but at the same time it's lead character is just so weird and the story takes such a dark turn out of nowhere that you can't help but recommend it.

Only the music helps save this from being a complete bomb. It's a trashy tale of a trashy life, a sinking beach front amusement park with a nightclub that hasn't changed its tune in decades. That is until they brought on a new headliner, Susan Cabot who infuriates past her prime one time headliner Iris Adrian, not even able to stick out a cat fight. She's jealous that owner David J. Stewart prefers Cabot over her and informs him that Cabot is two timing him with local gangster Brian Hutton who soon cheats Stewart out of the business. He keeps Stewart on as the carnival clown which further adds to his downfall. Laughable outside of the musical guest appearances (which includes the Platters), this has been directed to have the cast completely overacting, and Adrian (who looks like Vivian Vance's much older sister) seems to be able to open her mouth wider than even Joe E. Brown, and bellows every line she has as if this would be her last film ever. Cheesy in every way, I'm surprised that Roger Corman didn't bring a monster into it. There's a reason why the two leading actors names are not familiar. Neither one is a sympathetic character, yet neither is Cabot. Creative credits makes the audience think they'll be getting something artistic or clever. As Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute." Trash can be fun, but there's definitely a place for it once you're done.

This film essentially begins with an inept nightclub owner by the name of "Christopher 'Christy' Cristakos" (David J. Stewart) becoming obsessed with an attractive singer working there named "Natalie Cook" (Susan Cook). For her part, although she likes Christy, Natalie has developed a romantic interest with a local businessman named "Stanley" (Brian G. Hutton) who is equally interested in her. Yet, because she feels somewhat indebted to Christy for giving her the opportunity to sing in his nightclub, she cannot seem to adequately convey to him the fact that she simply doesn't feel the same for him. So, Christy continues to lavish her with affection while neglecting his business. And it's because of his inattention to his business that Stanley sees an opportunity to acquire the nightclub in an underhanded way. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this movie started off a little slow but managed to pick up a bit around the halfway point and finished with a nice little twist at the end. Admittedly, it is also quite dated but even so it managed to pass the time fairly well and I have rated it accordingly. Average.