Rock Around the Clock (film)
Encyclopedia
Rock Around the Clock is the title of a 1956 Musical film
that featured Bill Haley and His Comets along with Alan Freed
, The Platters
, Tony Martinez and His Band, and Freddie Bell and His Bellboys. It was produced by B-movie
king Sam Katzman
(who would produce several Elvis Presley
films in the 1960s) and directed by Fred F. Sears
.
The film was shot over a short period of time in January 1956 to capitalize on Haley's success and the popularity of his multimillion-selling recording "Rock Around the Clock
" that debuted in the 1955 teen flick Blackboard Jungle
, and is considered the first major rock and roll musical film.
reportedly requested a special screening of the film; her reaction to it is not known.
Despite the movie being named after it, the song "Rock Around the Clock
" - although heard three times during the picture - is never actually performed in its entirety on screen. At the end of the picture, the director decides to show the two dramatic leads having a conversation while Haley and the Comets are shown performing the song in the background, the music muted to allow dialogue. It has been suggested that the decision to have people talking over this climactic performance "Rock Around the Clock", a song people came to the film to hear, might have been a contributing factor in reported theater violence.
Featuring the musical talents of:
No soundtrack album was ever released for the film. The performance of "Rudy's Rock" is the only Haley song performed live on camera and while an off-air recording taken from the film would be released in Germany in the 1990s (as part of the Hydra Records Haley compilation album, On Screen), a proper studio-quality recording from the set has yet to be released. The band also performs live on camera during a brief rehearsal prior to lip-synching to the Decca recording of "R-O-C-K".
"Rock Around the Clock" is heard three times in the film - once over the opening credits, again in a brief rendition of the opening verse during a montage, and again at the end where only the last verse is heard.
A few months prior to shooting the film, the Comets had undergone a major change in personnel, with several members leaving the group. As a result, most of the songs lip-synched in the film actually feature a different line-up of musicians than those shown performing. The only songs on which all musicians shown on screen were also involved in the recording session are "See You Later Alligator" and "Rudy's Rock". During the performances of "Rock Around the Clock", Franny Beecher
is shown playing the guitar for Danny Cedrone
, who had originally been on the recording session, and who had died 18 months earlier. Cedrone's guitar work can also be heard on "ABC Boogie", the opening bars of which are performed off-camera.
) would be produced. Within a year, Elvis Presley
(whose first film, 1956's Love Me Tender
, was a western, not a rock and roll movie) would soon appear in the most popular films of the genre, including Jailhouse Rock
and King Creole
.
Rock Rock Rock, The Big Beat, The Girl Cant Help It,
, also directed by Sears and produced by Katzman. Rushed into production in order to capitalize on the success of Rock Around the Clock, the sequel failed to duplicate the earlier film's success.
starring Chubby Checker
, which was very similar in basic plot to Rock Around the Clock and is often referred to as a remake of the Haley picture. Like Rock Around the Clock, it was also followed up with a sequel, Don't Knock the Twist
.
or laserdisc
in North America. On January 23, 2007, Sony Pictures (current owners of the Columbia catalog) released the first Region 1 DVD edition of the film alongside Don't Knock the Rock
.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
that featured Bill Haley and His Comets along with Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
, The Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, Tony Martinez and His Band, and Freddie Bell and His Bellboys. It was produced by B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
king Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
(who would produce several Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
films in the 1960s) and directed by Fred F. Sears
Fred F. Sears
Frederick Francis Sears was an American film actor and director. Though a marginalized figure in 1950s cinema, he created 52 feature films in a number of genres for Columbia Pictures from 1949 to 1957, before his death at the age of 44....
.
The film was shot over a short period of time in January 1956 to capitalize on Haley's success and the popularity of his multimillion-selling recording "Rock Around the Clock
Rock Around the Clock
"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
" that debuted in the 1955 teen flick Blackboard Jungle
Blackboard Jungle
Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.-Plot:...
, and is considered the first major rock and roll musical film.
Plot
Rock Around the Clock told a highly fictionalized rendition of how rock and roll was discovered, but moviegoers didn't care about the plotline; they wanted to hear the music. The film was blamed for inciting rowdy behavior in theaters across America and Great Britain, and was banned in some parts of the world. Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
reportedly requested a special screening of the film; her reaction to it is not known.
Despite the movie being named after it, the song "Rock Around the Clock
Rock Around the Clock
"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
" - although heard three times during the picture - is never actually performed in its entirety on screen. At the end of the picture, the director decides to show the two dramatic leads having a conversation while Haley and the Comets are shown performing the song in the background, the music muted to allow dialogue. It has been suggested that the decision to have people talking over this climactic performance "Rock Around the Clock", a song people came to the film to hear, might have been a contributing factor in reported theater violence.
Cast
- Alan FreedAlan FreedAlbert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
as Himself - Johnny Johnston as Steve Hollis
- Alix Talton as Corinne Talbot
- Lisa GayeLisa GayeLisa Gaye is a former American actress, singer and dancer.She was born Lezlie Gae Griffin in Denver, Colorado. The family moved from Denver to Los Angeles in the 1930s to be close to the developing film industry. Her mother, actress Margaret Griffin, was determined that Gaye and her siblings would...
as Lisa Johns - John ArcherJohn Archer-People:*John Archer *John Archer *John Archer , British politician, first person of African descent elected to public office*John Archer , former U.S...
as Mike Dodd - Henry Slate as Corny LaSalle
Featuring the musical talents of:
- Bill Haley and His Comets
- The PlattersThe PlattersThe Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
- Ernie Freeman ComboErnie FreemanErnie Freeman was an American pianist, organist and arranger.In 1935 he began playing in local Cleveland area nightclubs, and also formed a classical music trio for local social functions with his father and his sister Evelyn...
- Tony Martinez and His Mambo
- Freddie Bell and His Bellboys
Songs performed in the movie
- "Rock Around the ClockRock Around the Clock"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
" - Bill Haley and His Comets - "See You Later AlligatorSee You Later Alligator"See You Later, Alligator" is the title of an iconic rock and roll song of the 1950s.Originally entitled "Later Alligator", the song, based on a 12-bar blues chord structure , was written by Louisiana songwriter Robert Charles Guidry and first recorded by him under his professional name "Bobby...
" - Haley - "Rock-A-Beatin' BoogieRock-A-Beatin' BoogieRock-A-Beatin' Boogie is a 1952 song composed by Bill Haley and first recorded by The Esquire Boys in 1952. Bill Haley and the Comets recorded the song in 1955 for Decca. The song was featured in the 1956 movie Rock Around the Clock....
" - Haley - "A.B.C. Boogie" - Haley - first verse only
- "Cuero (Skins)" - Tony Martinez and His Band
- "Mambo Capri" - Martinez
- "Solo Y Triste (Sad And Lonely)" - Martinez
- "Razzle-Dazzle" - Haley
- "Teach You to Rock" - Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys
- "Bacalao Con Papa (Codfish And Potatoes)" - Martinez
- "Only You (And You Alone)Only You (And You Alone)"Only You " is a pop song composed by Buck Ram. It was recorded most successfully by The Platters, with lead vocals by Tony Williams, in 1955....
" - The Platters - "R-O-C-K" - Haley
- "Happy Baby" - Haley - first verse and chorus only
- "Mambo Rock" - Haley - chorus only
- "Giddy Up a Ding DongGiddy Up a Ding DongGiddy Up A Ding Dong is a rock and roll song which rose to prominence in 1956, when it was featured in the film, Rock Around the Clock starring Bill Haley...
" - Bell - "The Great PretenderThe Great Pretender"The Great Pretender" is a popular song recorded by The Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single on November 3, 1955. The words and music were created by Buck Ram, the Platters' manager and producer who was a successful songwriter before moving into producing and...
" - Platters - "Rudy's RockRudy's RockRudy's Rock is a 1956 instrumental composed by Bill Haley and Rudy Pompilli and released as a Decca single. The song appeared in the 1956 movie Rock Around the Clock....
" - Haley
No soundtrack album was ever released for the film. The performance of "Rudy's Rock" is the only Haley song performed live on camera and while an off-air recording taken from the film would be released in Germany in the 1990s (as part of the Hydra Records Haley compilation album, On Screen), a proper studio-quality recording from the set has yet to be released. The band also performs live on camera during a brief rehearsal prior to lip-synching to the Decca recording of "R-O-C-K".
"Rock Around the Clock" is heard three times in the film - once over the opening credits, again in a brief rendition of the opening verse during a montage, and again at the end where only the last verse is heard.
A few months prior to shooting the film, the Comets had undergone a major change in personnel, with several members leaving the group. As a result, most of the songs lip-synched in the film actually feature a different line-up of musicians than those shown performing. The only songs on which all musicians shown on screen were also involved in the recording session are "See You Later Alligator" and "Rudy's Rock". During the performances of "Rock Around the Clock", Franny Beecher
Franny Beecher
Francis "Franny" Beecher , also known as Frank Beecher, was lead guitarist for Bill Haley & His Comets from 1954 to 1962, and is best remembered for his innovative guitar solos combining elements of country music and jazz...
is shown playing the guitar for Danny Cedrone
Danny Cedrone
Danny Cedrone was an American guitarist and bandleader, best known for his work with Bill Haley & His Comets on their epochal "Rock Around the Clock" in 1954.-Biography:...
, who had originally been on the recording session, and who had died 18 months earlier. Cedrone's guitar work can also be heard on "ABC Boogie", the opening bars of which are performed off-camera.
Integration
The movie advanced the cause of integration by showing white musicians performing on the same venue as black performers.Rock and roll musicals
Rock Around the Clock was one of the major box office successes of 1956, and soon many more rock and roll musical films (notably the big-budget "A" picture The Girl Can't Help ItThe Girl Can't Help It
The Girl Can't Help It is a 1956 comedy musical film starring Jayne Mansfield, Tom Ewell, and Edmond O'Brien. It was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenplay adapted by Tashlin and Herbert Baker from an uncredited novel Do Re Me by Garson Kanin...
) would be produced. Within a year, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
(whose first film, 1956's Love Me Tender
Love Me Tender (1956 film)
Love Me Tender is a 1956 American black-and-white CinemaScope motion picture directed by Robert D. Webb, and released by 20th Century Fox on November 21, 1956. The film, named after the song, stars Richard Egan, Debra Paget, and Elvis Presley in his film debut. It is in the Western genre with...
, was a western, not a rock and roll movie) would soon appear in the most popular films of the genre, including Jailhouse Rock
Jailhouse Rock (1957 film)
Jailhouse Rock is an American musical film directed by Richard Thorpe for MGM. The film stars Elvis Presley in his third film and MGM debut, Judy Tyler, and Mickey Shaughnessy....
and King Creole
King Creole
King Creole is a 1958 American film directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The story was adapted from the Harold Robbins novel A Stone for Danny Fisher and featured Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, and Walter Matthau. The film tells the story of a nineteen-year-old who gets mixed...
.
Rock Rock Rock, The Big Beat, The Girl Cant Help It,
Sequel
Later in 1956, Bill Haley and His Comets headlined a loose sequel, Don't Knock the RockDon't Knock the Rock
Don't Knock the Rock is a 1957 rock and roll film starring Alan Dale as a rock star who returns to his hometown to rest up for the summer only to find that rock and roll has been banned there by disapproving adults...
, also directed by Sears and produced by Katzman. Rushed into production in order to capitalize on the success of Rock Around the Clock, the sequel failed to duplicate the earlier film's success.
Twist Around the Clock
In 1961, Katzman produced the similarly titled, Twist Around the ClockTwist Around the Clock
Twist Around the Clock is an American musical film released in 1961. It was a remake of Sam Katzman and Robert E. Kent's Rock Around the Clock. Like Rock Around the Clock, which was followed by a sequel titled, Don't Knock the Rock, this film was followed by a sequel titled, Don't Knock the...
starring Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
, which was very similar in basic plot to Rock Around the Clock and is often referred to as a remake of the Haley picture. Like Rock Around the Clock, it was also followed up with a sequel, Don't Knock the Twist
Don't Knock the Twist
Don't Knock the Twist is a 1962 film starring Lang Jeffries. It is the sequel to the 1961 film Twist Around the Clock-Plot summary:Many twist dancers' meet in preparation for the TV variety show called "The Twist." While the special is still in the production stages, jealousies lead to problems -...
.
Home video release
Rock Around the Clock was never released officially on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
or laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
in North America. On January 23, 2007, Sony Pictures (current owners of the Columbia catalog) released the first Region 1 DVD edition of the film alongside Don't Knock the Rock
Don't Knock the Rock
Don't Knock the Rock is a 1957 rock and roll film starring Alan Dale as a rock star who returns to his hometown to rest up for the summer only to find that rock and roll has been banned there by disapproving adults...
.
See also
- Don't Knock the RockDon't Knock the RockDon't Knock the Rock is a 1957 rock and roll film starring Alan Dale as a rock star who returns to his hometown to rest up for the summer only to find that rock and roll has been banned there by disapproving adults...
1956 film - Twist Around the ClockTwist Around the ClockTwist Around the Clock is an American musical film released in 1961. It was a remake of Sam Katzman and Robert E. Kent's Rock Around the Clock. Like Rock Around the Clock, which was followed by a sequel titled, Don't Knock the Rock, this film was followed by a sequel titled, Don't Knock the...
1961 film - Don't Knock the TwistDon't Knock the TwistDon't Knock the Twist is a 1962 film starring Lang Jeffries. It is the sequel to the 1961 film Twist Around the Clock-Plot summary:Many twist dancers' meet in preparation for the TV variety show called "The Twist." While the special is still in the production stages, jealousies lead to problems -...
1962 film