Rock Around the Clock (1956)

Orchestra manager Steve Hollis realizes that big-band music is dead. People want something new, but what? On their way to New York, Steve and his companion Corny, stop at a motel in a small... See full summary »

Director:

Fred F. Sears

Writers:

Robert E. Kent (story and screenplay), James B. Gordon (story and screenplay)

Stars:

Bill Haley and the Comets, The Platters, Ernie Freeman Combo

Cast

Credited cast:
Bill Haley and the Comets	...	Bill Haley and his Comets
The Platters	...	The Platters
Ernie Freeman Combo	...	Ernie Freeman Combo
Tony Martinez and His Band	...	Tony Martinez and his Band
Freddie Bell and the Bellboys	...	Freddie Bell and the Bellboys (as Freddie Bell and His Bellboys)
Alan Freed	...	Alan Freed
Johnny Johnston	...	Steve Hollis
Alix Talton	...	Corinne Talbot
Lisa Gaye	...	Lisa Johns
John Archer	...	Mike Dodd
Henry Slate	...	Corny LaSalle
Earl Barton	...	Jimmy Johns
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Christopherson	...	Dancer
Lenny Smith	...	Dancer
Freda Angela Wyckoff	...	Dancer

Storyline

Orchestra manager Steve Hollis realizes that big-band music is dead. People want something new, but what? On their way to New York, Steve and his companion Corny, stop at a motel in a small place called Strawberry Springs. It's Saturday evening, and a huge number of young people are going to the Town Hall to listen to a local band called Bill Haley and His Comets, playing a new kind of music called rock'n'roll. It is accompanied by a new way of dancing, led by the siblings Lisa and Jimmy Johns. Steve immediately recognizes that this could be what all America is waiting for. He convinces the band and the dancers to let him organize their nationwide breakthrough, and goes to New York to arrange bookings with the top agent Corinne Talbot. Corinne has for a long time tried to get Steve to marry her, but in vain. She now realizes that Steve is in love with the young dancer Lisa Johns, which makes her change her strategy. Corinne tries to stop the rock'n'roll group everywhere, but despite ...

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Plot Keywords:

small town | manager | band | dancer | agent | 

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Taglines:

It's the whole story of rock and roll!

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Genres:

Comedy | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 March 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Al compás del reloj

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$4,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Clover Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first full-length rock'n'roll movie.

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Goofs

The poster for the Rock and Roll Jamboree later in the movie lists Lisa and Jimmy James as an act. Their names should be Lisa and Jimmy Johns.

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Quotes

Tony Martinez: [singing] Rocking and rolling the cha cha cha, Rocking and rolling, Rocking and rolling the cha cha cha...

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Crazy Credits

Instead of "The End," the movie concludes with THE LIVING END

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Connections

Featured in Rock 'n' Roll America: Sweet Little Sixteen (2015)

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Soundtracks

Sad and Lonely (Solo Y Triste)
Written by Tony Martinez (uncredited)
Performed by Tony Martinez and His Band (uncredited)
Recording through the courtesy of Mercury Record Corporation:

User Reviews

Silly but a time capsule of the 1950s

Promoter Steve Hollis (Johnny Johnston) is looking for a new act for teenage audiences. He comes upon Bill Haley and the Comets playing in a small town. They drive the teenagers wild and feature a brother/sister team (Earl Barton/Lisa Gaye) who do some incredible dancing to the music. He signs them up and immediately falls in love with Gaye (and vice versa). However the evil Miss Talbot (Alix Talton) loves Hollis herself. He spurns her so she sets out to to make sure that Haley, the Comets, Gaye and Barton can't get a job.

Really silly stuff with lousy dialogue chockful of 50s slang that just sounds ridiculous now. Everybody is so polite and nice to each other--even the "evil" schemes of Talbot are pretty mild. Also Johnston and Gaye fall in love in seconds! It's pretty creepy though--Johnston is easily old enough to be her father! None of this matters though. This shows Bill Hlaey and the Comets and the Platters performing and that alone makes this a valuable time capsule of the 1950s when rock and roll was starting to get popular. The groups ARE lip syncing to their songs (and pretty badly in the case of The Platters) but still... When the Platters sang "Only You" and "The Great pretender" this movie is just magic. The acting is pretty terrible (Bill Haley especially) but the songs are good, the movie is short and the dance routines between Barton and Gaye are really pretty impressive. Hard to believe that this was banned in some cities in the US when it first came out. In other cases some theatre owners told the projectionist to cut the sound when the music numbers came on! Check out the ending which says "The Living End"! Harmless and kind of fun. I give it a 6.