Hootenanny Hoot (1963) User Reviews

Sam Katzman-produced 60's-folkie rewrite on "Don't Knock The Twist"

[django-1 · 6/10 · 2 October 2004]

This plot goes back AT LEAST to the big-band era. A promoter or reporter or minor producer who is under pressure at his radio network/TV network/record label/newspaper/etc.to come up with a blockbuster new concept or show discovers a new trend in music, helps some deserving up-and-coming performers get a break, and often finds (or rekindles) romance. In Don't Knock The Twist, Lang Jeffries played the promoter--here it's Peter Breck. In some of the Ron Ormond-produced "Jubilee" pictures it was Don Barry or Jimmy Ellison. In Good to Go it was Art Garfunkel. Like the Bill Haley rock'n'roll movies of the mid-50s or the Chubby Checker twist movies of the early-60s, this is a Sam Katzman production, meaning it will be shot on a few cheap sets and will feature a number of semi-talented unknowns along with the better artists, but also it will have a number of excellent supporting actors to carry the "plot" elements. Here we have Peter Breck, Ruta Lee, Joby Baker, and Bobo Lewis as the female comic relief. Not surprisingly, this film and Don't Knock The Twist AND the Bill Haley vehicle Rock Around The Clock were all written by Robert E. Kent, but he's working from a template that was old at the time. So how's the music? Well, the title song by Sheb Wooley (in its full version, heard later in the film) as a fine rockin' number, Johnny Cash's version of Frankie and Johnny is solid, Judy Henske does an intense version of Wade In The Water with the support of avant-garde male dancers, the black gospel-folk duo Joe and Eddie do a fantastic anthemic number, and George Hamilton IV does his hit Abilene. The "humorous" clean-cut folk of the Brothers Four doesn't really work for me, and some of the lesser acts have not dated well and seem to have somewhat shallow roots. Don't expect to see Dave Van Ronk, Phil Ochs, Ramblin' Jack Elliott or Dylan here--there's a line of dialogue about how the show they are producing will not include any of those coffeehouse, beatnik types!! Gene Nelson, an actor and dancer before becoming a director, has helmed a number of excellent films, but he must have been given few resources and a very limited number of days' shooting time here as the mismatched close-ups and casual framing of shots are not what one expects in an MGM release, even a bottom-of-the-bill drive-in release such as this one. Overall, a historical artifact of interest to Johnny Cash completists and popular culture fanatics who would actually want to see a "Rock Around the Clock"-type movie about the 1960s pop-folk revival scene (recently depicted nostalgically in A MIGHTY WIND). I'm glad I saw this once, but I don't think I'll be putting it on again unless I live to be 150!

The Last Summer of Folk Music

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 23 May 2010]

Enterprising New York producer Peter Breck (as Ted Grover) discovers the combination of folk and country music is taking the Midwest by storm, so he goes to Missouri for a "Hootenanny Hoot!" There, college-aged crowds groove to several music acts. Aiming to sign some of the popular singers, Mr. Breck summons chum Joby Baker (as Steve Laughlin) to assist. Breck watches Mr. Baker to pursue a romance with shapely blonde Pam Austin (as Billie Jo Henley) while he tries to get over leggy ex-wife Ruta Lee (as A.G. Bannister). The "Hootenanny" TV series was on the air before the movie premiered; some musical guests appeared in both.

At the time, the biggest act appearing in this cast was arguably folk favorites The Brothers Four, who sing their hit version of the novelty song "Frogg" (from 1961). In hindsight, the enduring star is certainly a gauntly appearing Johnny Cash, reaching back for his version of "Frankie's Man Johnny" (from 1959). The biggest hit from the time of this film's release was George Hamilton IV's pretty pop version of John D. Loudermilk's "Abilene" (a #15 pop hit for him, in August 1963). The Brothers Four had a "Hootenanny" hit (from the then airing ABC-TV folk music variety show), but Sheb Wooley does it here, helped by some attractive young dancers.

Gospel duo Joe (Gilbert) and Eddie (Brown) do a rousing "There's a Meeting Here Tonight" and the humorous "The Frozen Logger" is sung by Cathie Taylor. It's unfortunate to see The Gateway Trio singing "Foolish Questions" on a trampoline, and downright embarrassing that Gary Crosby and Judy Henske were asked to perform in their bathing suits. Mr. Crosby's "Sweet Love" is more like recent Rick Nelson recordings. By the way, Ms. Henske singing "Wade in the Water" may make you wonder why you haven't heard her fine voice more often. The movie is truly mediocre, but director Gene Nelson allows his dancers to strut their stuff.

**** Hootenanny Hoot! (8/63) Gene Nelson ~ Peter Breck, Joby Baker, Ruta Lee, Pamela Austin

Did you hear about the owl who married a goat?

[ptb-8 · 6/10 · 4 November 2007]

They had a Hoot-Nanny.

...and the film about their life is a hoot... HOOTNANNY HOOT in fact from 1963 and filmed TV style on the MGM back lot one Tuesday afternoon before the bulldozer tore through the Andy Hardy street. One other comment on this site correctly identifies the same storyline as ROCK AROUD THE CLOCK and the remake TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK and now this remake... (stray TV Producer wanders into isolated rural utopia and - gasp - discovers it to be chock full'o new performers and their dancin pals all set to be ruthlessly exploited as their 'new music style' sweeps the nation) ....now as a bumpkin drive in spectacular with a trolley full of plunkin pickin groups. All that is missing is Merle Haggard and Jayne Mansfield in a caftan (now available on DVD in LAS VEGAS HILLBILLES) ... HOOTNANNY must be well respected in Australia as we saw it at 8.30pm TCM time slot which for some misguided reason made it the most watched program of the night. Not that we couldn't have switched stations... why would you? HOOTNANNY HOOT is exactly that... trios of banjo fun with people who look dressed for church, matched by angular dance moves by young'uns who look like Barbie and Ken. Now if I can only see COUNTRY MUSIC JAMBOREE starring that Queen Of Outer Space: Zsa Zsa Gabor. I am soooo excited.

Don't want any of that coffee house jazz with Beatniks flopping all over the place

[glen_esq · 25 March 2006]

Honestly I'm not sure how to rate this movie. I was laughing so hard at times I had tears in my eyes.

Any movie that tries so hard to be hip, but has a banjo in every other song, is doomed to the ridiculous.

The Hootenany circus, the grand finale of the movie, is maybe the most bizarre staging of musical numbers I have ever seen in a movie. The Gateway Trio singing "Foolish Questions" while bouncing up and down on a trampoline is the epitome of square.

On the other hand, Judy Henske torches her two songs in the movie. Wow! There's several other really strong songs as well, and also a few that are snooze inducers. The choreography is a strange mix of early Rock n' Roll, Broadway, and Hee Haw. All rolled together, the dancing is kind of great.

The plot and acting are awful, the sets cheap as can be. But if you're in a silly mood and like folk music, it's quite a movie, and I'll recommend it to you.

Hootenanny Hooters!

[jadedalex · 3/10 · 24 May 2010]

An attempt by Hollywood to cash in on the early folk music craze of the sixties, "Hootenanny's" cheap budget makes it look much like a television episode.

Let's talk about the good things of this movie first:

1. A young Johnny Cash does his version of "Frankie and Johnny". It's great to see The Man In Black looking so good.

2. Pamela Austin (who went on to become "The Dodge Girl"). She is in the prime of her beauty at this time and she reveals a smoking body in her many dances.

3. Ruta Lee is also quite attractive to look at. Still, a movie career that went from "Witness for the Prosecution" to "Hootenanny Hoot" is not going well. Lots of TV game shows were to be in Ms. Lee's future.

4. Appearances by Vickie (baby got back) Dougan and an uncredited Maureen Reagan (daughter of Pres. Ronald Reagan). Ms. Dougan was a pretty gal who made a name for herself by wearing dresses in the fifties that revealed anal cleavage. Ms. Reagan shows up for a brief moment to call Joby Baker "a square".

Um, that's about it.

The folk music is innocuous for the most part. Although by the end of the movie, I found myself really disliking Sheb Wooley, who gets to do three songs, including the title theme. Would have been nice to see Johnny Cash showcased more. The Gateway Trio made me nauseous jumping on a trampoline in the chorus of one of their amusing (?) songs. For token's sake, they throw in two black guys, Joe and Eddie (no, not Flo and Eddie) doing a rousing hand-clapping version of "There's A Meeting Here Tonight". Hopefully, it's not a KKK meeting.

Pretty silly film in the end. I can only recommend it for a look at a young Johnny Cash, the marvelous legs of Ms. Austin and Ms. Ruta Lee showing some attractive décolletage and gams.

Aah, the Classics!

[Hitchcoc · 3/10 · 28 March 2006]

There are a few musical numbers which have now become curiosity. When my friends and I went to this movie in high school, we got ourselves thrown out of the theater. We were a bunch of nerds, not troublemakers. The Mullins family, who owned the little theater, didn't take kindly to disrespectful behavior. When my friend Bob asked if he could have his money back, he was banned for an additional month. This is one bad movie, not because we got thrown out, but it typifies the vapidity of this era in our history. We decided among ourselves that this was the worst movie ever made and it became legend. It has that silly let's do a show mentality that has been done over and over. There's a little romance and a little betrayal here and there. The music is pretty bad. Most of the people performing are unrecognizable, but it it a little campy. Like one reviewer, I don't really know how to evaluate it and if I am too harsh, I may get banished by the Mullins' for a month.

Country Music 'Musical'

[walneto · 1/10 · 18 November 2001]

My number 1 worst film of all time. Absolute crap. If I died and went to Hell, it would be the only movie showing. It has no plot. It hasn't even got an ending. The music sucks. The actors suck. The photography sucks. Anyone who sees it is forever damaged.

People watch these kind of movies to see the entertainers not a good story

[non_sportcardandy · 7/10 · 3 October 2010]

It's hard to understand why other reviews are hung up about a plot to this movie.Back in the 1950's and 60's when these sort of movies came out with various singers people wern't saying " I hope the movie has a good story" or "Gee the story wasn't very good".Persons went to see the entertainers in this movie not a plot.When this movie came out I didn't care for folk music so I didn't go see it,simple,the thought never entered my mind maybe the movie has a good story and maybe it should be viewed.With a name like Hootenanny it's easy to figure this was no J.D. flick with cats and chicks boppin.Only recently have I viewed this movie and it was what I expected ...people singing folk songs,no drama,no potential Oscar nominations just folk singers...Aside from that a point of interest would be Ruta Lee also Judy Henske.Not much of a fan of Janis Joplin,after hearing Henske sing her second song in this movie I'd say Joplin is a clone of Henske but was more popular for some reason.

A real hoot with or without the nanny

[rinoguy · 8/10 · 18 November 2005]

For just plain old laughs, this is great. This film my wife and I laughed at for most of the picture. I love it when a movie is SO cornie that it becomes laughable. What makes watching it more enjoyable is knowing that many of the actors probably saw this as their "big break" into the movies! Did people really dance like that? The music was good on the serious side, and it does serve as a period piece of film, though exaggerated.

I recommend this film for anyone who wants to have a light laugh. It isn't the best for a plot, and it really just tries to showcase the artists. If you like folk/country from the early 60s, this has some really good music.

Perfect!

[jklarch · 21 June 2004]

This was a great movie! The guys wear suits/ties, and, when everyone was at the beach in their swimming suits, along comes this guy in full dress with his sweater on! The camera work was great too, lots of weird low-angle and high-angle face shots like Hitchcock would do. The music and "dancing" was really great. A real slice of the time we were in limbo, after too much Presley and before the Fab Four. Check this one out and yell a lot at it, it's fun! And don't take these other reviews too seriously, they just like reading what they wrote. That's All Folks

Upbeat Workout Music!

[JenExxifer · 10/10 · 21 November 2021]

I give this movie 10 stars for all the upbeat music that made my elliptical workouts a hoot!

I watched this movie over five days in five segments; there was lots of music in each segment; the story was light and didn't weigh me down, it had good clean humor and a happy ending.

I enjoyed the music acts the most and seeing Peter Breck in something other than The Big Valley and TV westerns; I'd recommend this movie for fans of the music and the actors!

Thanks to TCM for showing it; #87 on my Miles of Movies 2021 IMDb list!

watched on TCM

[jochsner00 · 21 June 2004]

I watched this bit of harmless nonsense on TCM. I remember the "hootenanny fad" and oddly did not recall this movie at all. Seeing a young Johhny Cash was a treat, although I'd hardly classify his music as part of the hootenanny craze. Likewise for Sheb Wooley, what no "Purple People Eater", and George Hamilton IV or whatever number he was. The Brothers 4 I recall, but other performers I do not remember at all. The format reminded me of the rock and roll movies with Alan Freed and a few others. Extremely corny, but a record of some of the music of the times !

Strictly for the Music

[BobLib · 20 May 2002]

Forget the plot. As far as that goes, be prepared for another Sam Katzman exploitive quickie designed to cash in on whatever was hot at the moment. In this case, it was the pop-folk boom that effectively began with the Kingston Trio's "Tom Dooley" in 1958 and lasted roughly about five years, until just before the start of the British Invasion.

The music, however, is another matter, and you'd do best to just fast forward through the droning dialogue to catch solid early performances by Johnny Cash, the Brothers Four (looking and sounding good even when bouncing on trampolines during one number), George Hamilton IV (singing his # 1 hit, "Abilene") and Judy Henske, among others. Everyone gives good performances despite, or perhaps in reaction to, the overall cheesiness surrounding them.

In short, musically I give this film an 8, otherwise one half of one.

Worth Watching for the Music

[Michael_Elliott · 25 May 2010]

Hootenanny Hoot (1963)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Slight but entertaining musical from MGM has a television director (Peter Breck) and a producer (Ruta Lee) whose marriage is breaking apart. He leaves town a soon finds himself in a small town in Missouri where he's introduced to a local "hootenanny". After seeing some of the musical acts he tries to get it produced and on television but guess who he'll after meet again? The actual "story" here isn't much as its poorly written and probably done so on purpose. There's no doubt that the main goal of this film was to show off some of the musical performers and as long as you like the music you should have an okay time going through the film. The film follows the same structure as stuff like ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK and TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK and that's to introduce new music to a wider range of people for acceptance. The music here just happens to be country and folk, which the film tries to say is one in the same. I'm sure many people would debate that but either way we get some very good numbers here with the highlight being an appearance by Johnny Cash doing Frankie's Man Johnny. Other numbers include Joe and Eddy's There's a Meeting Here Tonight, The Brothers Four doing Frogg and Little Cory and a strong Abilene by George Hamilton IV. There are a lot of banjos and old-fashion dances going around but I guess that's what a hootenanny is all about. If you hate country music and folk then there's really do reason to check this out as the story isn't strong enough to carry the thing. If you can put up with the music it's worth checking out, although I'm sure many will be hitting the fast-forward button to get to the music.