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TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK, the first of two TWIST films produced by Sam Katzman and featuring the great Chubby Checker, is basically a remake of the old BIll Haley vehicle ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK, and like that film, the "star" here, Chubby Checker, is little more than a guest star in his own film. In the earlier film, Alan Dale is featured as the lead performer and his story is told, with Bill Haley merely being a "friend" who helps the lead character and who performs a handful of songs. Here, Clay Cole is featured, and Chubby Checker does three or four songs, has a few lines of dialogue, and performs in a group number at the film's finale. Checker is a fine performer, and he handles the dialogue well--the NEXT Twist movie he was in, DON'T KNOCK THE TWIST, was MUCH better in that Checker was given a lot more importance in the story, and had much more dialogue with star Lang Jeffries. As for TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK, it also has Dion do three songs, and the vocal group the Marcels do a nice Christmas twist song. However, the dramatic sections of the film are weak, especially so since they are a carbon copy of the same plot in the earlier Bill Haley movie. If you take the Dion and Chubby songs, and the Marcels' number, out of the film, there is really not much else worthwhile. Fans of DON'T KNOCK THE TWIST will recognize the same cheesy sets and tiny "stage" used as the TV studio in that film. Serious rock and roll fans should see this film ONCE so they can say they have seen ALL the pre-Beatles rock and roll films, but only the lip-synched Chubby Checker and Dion songs are worth keeping. This was aired a few years back on AMC, where I taped my copy and originally saw the film.
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