Rock Around the Clock

source: Rock Around the Clock

Alan Freed was at the top of the world of rock & roll in 1956. In three years he would become part of the first payola scandal being accused & convicted of accepting bribes to play records on his popular radio show. Right now, this movie is his first one & he plays a sort of Dick Clark type emcee as himself. This would be the first of 3 films he would do in 1956. Johnny Johnston in his next to last screen role plays Steve Hollis whose real story as a rock & roll promoter is the loose basis of this movie. Alix Talton plays Corrine Talbot, a woman business person who is the bank roller for Hollis efforts to promote rock & roll. Alix voice reminds me of Eve Arden, but she is shaped differently than Eve. What is really great about this movie is the music. This is top shelf early rock & roll with Bill Halley & The Comets doing the title track 3 or 4 different times & a couple of other numbers. The Platters are here too in top form & doing the classic "The Great Pretender". The music really takes a front seat here, the Hollis story is here just to hold the music together. This movie is a little stronger than Rock, Rock, Rock which would be later this same year. Lisa Gaye is here as Lisa Johns, competing for the attention of Steve Hollis & actually winning the battle over Talbot. Johns would go on to do a lot of television roles after this film, her 10th on screen role. Her first appearance on screen was as one of the bobbysoxer's in Jimmy Stewarts Glenn Miller Story 2 years earlier.

This is a magic film that captures the excitement of early rock n roll and the people who played it. Bill Haley and his comets are outstanding in what should be officially recognised as part of Movie history. The first ever rock n roll film to be made maybe a bit thin on the plot line, but makes up for it with its exciting dance scenes and thumping jumping music. Some previous comments have said they found the Lisa Gaye and Johnny Johnston characters age gap to be creepy. I didn't have a problem with this at all, as lots of young women married older men during the forties and fifties. Lisa Gaye was over 21 and Johnston was in his early thirties when the film was shot. "Rock around the Clock" is now out on DVD (not sure about the UK yet) and looks splendid in a re-mastered and restored edition that is well worth buying. Check out Earl Barton as Lisa's brother and dancing partner. Barton actually choreographed all the dance scenes and at the time was a much respected Hollywood choreographer. I'm giving this film a ten out of ten Daddio as it was the first and the best of the rock and roll films made during the fifties.

The problem of the 50's Rock n Roll movies is that you have to suffer through so much pablum and propaganda to get to a few bona fide Rockers, R&B, and justified archival songs. This one has two songs from the Platters and two from Bill Haley. The rest is flatulent filler. Cringe inducing dialog and attempted hip talk from on and off screen squares. Unbearable performances from posers, wannabes, and opportunists. Historians and fans should be grateful for the 10 minutes of irreplaceable, iconic and cool footage. The other 70 minutes are the corporate trappings only fit for the completest and the masochistic. Some good jitterbugging from some professional teen-agers add some eye-candy but for the most part and this goes for all these types of films from the era, the movie studios and the adults just didn't get it and one doubts if they tried at all, except as a marketing mechanism.

The man who gave rock and roll its anthem Bill Haley and his group the Comets together with the man who was the first disc jockey promoting the new sound Alan Freed are the featured people in Rock Around The Clock, the title of Bill Haley's greatest hit. A year earlier it had made its debut in The Blackboard Jungle and now Bill was getting his own film with this title. As an actor Haley was a great musician, but he's not called for any heavy thespian lifting here. He and featured dancers Lisa Gaye and Earl Barton are discovered by Johnny Johnston who is a music booking agent who has realized the era of the big bands is dead and he's a loose ends. Seeing this and other groups at a local dance makes him realize what the new trend in music is and he looks to hook up with the biggest booking agent around who is an old flame of his Alix Talton. Talton has the most interesting role in the film. In a film with a bigger budget they would have gotten Eve Arden for the role. She gives the film whatever verve it has acting wise. But it's the musical acts that the movie-going public was putting down its money to see. This must have been a big drive-in movie attraction back in 1956. The young folk could just get out of their cars and dance and probably not pay attention to whatever plot the film has. Ironically the man who was searching for that new sound made his living with the old sound. Johnny Johnston was a much married singer who came up around the same time Frank Sinatra did, but with hardly as much success. He sings not a note in a film that marked the end of performers like him unless they had Sinatra like reputations. For fans of the early rock and roll era and rock and roll certainly proved it was here to stay.

Solid if not altogether dazzling rockumentary concerning Bill Haley and his Comets the subject of a surprisingly good-natured tussle between easy-going promoter (Johnston) and wily talent agent (Talton) who holds a unilateral affection for her old beau. Talton attempts to stymie the group's ascendancy as a ploy to win back Johnston, but his new girlfriend (the attractive and agile Gaye) is now firmly in the frame to take out marriage honours. "Rock Around the Clock" is one of the first of its ilk, documenting the rise of the rock'n'roll phenomenon, and showcasing full length tunes by The Platters and The Comets, loosely bound by the soap-opera storyline. More a sound stage than a movie as such, it's an opportunity to capture some of the essence of the era painting the music, dancing and stylings as a 'radical' snub of the conservative establishment. The cast is capable; leading lady Talton performs the female tycoon role well, Archer as her right-hand man is durable while affable singer/actor Johnston is a likable if light leading man. At barely 75 minutes it's compact, and would probably appeal to fans of Bill Haley's Comets or The Platters, both delivering several of their hits from the time.

Entertaining, albeit completely fictional, story about the early days of 'rock'n'roll'. The diaphanous plot finds band manager Steve Hollis (Johnny Johnston) having an musical epiphany while attending a small town dance in 'Strawberry Springs', where the kids are rocking and rolling to local band 'Bill Haley and His Comets'. Recognising the potential of the new sound, Steve plans to take the band to the top but has to contend with conniving agent Corinne Talbot (Alix Talton), who is carrying a torch for him and doesn't want him fraternising with "Young. Fresh." dancer Lisa (Lisa Gaye ). Haley and crew lip-sync a few good tunes including the titular classic, as do the Platters (including the standard "The Great Pretender") and the Bellboys (a somewhat less remembered act). There is lots of hip slang, keen music, a bit of S.E.X., and some crazy dancing (especially by Lisa Gaye and Earl Barton). Good, light-weight fun daddy-o!

this movie is really just an excuse for playing some music. The plot is thin bordering on non existent. A music promotor falls in love with one of Haleys dancers, and tries to win her by promoting Rock'n roll. We get Bill Haley, The Bellboys and The Platters to fill in while the plot unfolds. Ahh yes, there's also another promotor (female) who tries to prevent it all from happening. You really have to be a big fan of early Rock to sit through this rubbish. My 2 stars goes to the platters. These folks could really sing!!! But what were they doing in a rock'n roll movie ??? Those 2 songs seem completely out of place. Oh well, I guess something had to be done to save this piece of nonsense !

This has some great early music performances and really fun lively dancing. The story line is thin and can be skipped over. But what you get is each performer for from two to four songs. Bill Haley had the bad luck to look older. He was in his mid 20s but looked 40. But the band had a great sax player and drummer and was great live. The Platters had one of the great singers, an immortal voice. Bell and Martinez few have heard of, but both are worth listen and view.

Though it wasn't the first film to mention "rock and roll," this is known as the "first real rock film" and it's a mixed bag. Basically it's a vehicle for rock and roll pioneer Bill Haley and his band, The Comets. In the very thin story, two square music managers realize that their old type of traditional dance music is dying out in favor of the latest "rock 'n' roll" fad. When they see Haley and the Comets perform their classic "See You Later Alligator" at a small town dance and witness all the kids dancing up a storm, they decide to try and get this group to play full-time and make it big. The film's not very interesting when it veers away from the music, but along the way we get several more Bill Haley songs (the famous title hit itself, plus "Razzle Dazzle," "Rock Rock Rock" and others), and we're also treated to The Bellboys. But the main attraction is easily The Platters, who expertly perform two of their big hits - "Only You" and "The Great Pretender". The latter is so fabulous it sends chills up the spine. **1/2 out of ****