Rock, Rock, Rock! (film)

Rock, Rock, Rock! is a 1956 black-and-white motion picture conceived, co-written and co-produced by Milton Subotsky and directed by Will Price. The film is an early jukebox musical featuring performances by established rock and roll singers of the era, including Chuck Berry, LaVern Baker, Teddy Randazzo, the Moonglows, the Flamingos, and the Teenagers with Frankie Lymon as lead singer. Later West Side Story cast member David Winters is also featured. Famed disc jockey Alan Freed made an appearance as himself.

Rock, Rock, Rock!
One-sheet for the film
Directed byWill Price
Produced byMax Rosenberg
Milton Subotsky
Written byPhyllis Coe
Milton Subotsky
StarringTuesday Weld
Chuck Berry
Alan Freed
Teddy Randazzo
Music byMilton Subotsky
Frank Virtue
Ray Ellis
Production
company
Vanguard Productions
Distributed byDistributors Corporation of America
Release date
December 7, 1956
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$75,000 plus $25,000 in deferments[1]

The movie has a fairly simple plot: teenage girl Dori Graham (played by then 13-year-old Tuesday Weld, with a credited Connie Francis dubbed in as Dori's singing voice) can't persuade her dad to buy her a strapless gown and has to get the money together herself in time for the prom. Jack Collins plays the frustrated dad.

Valerie Harper made her debut in a brief appearance as an extra seated at the center table during the performance of "Ever Since I Can Remember" by Cirino and the Bowties and can be seen after the performance of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. This was also Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' film debut.

Almost every member of the cast was signed to a record label at the time, which was credited along with each star. In 1984, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication. The film's numerous musical numbers may have been copyrighted separately, however.[2]

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album, also titled Rock, Rock, Rock!, was released in December 1956 by Chess Records, labeled LP 1425.[4] The soundtrack compilation featured four songs each from only three artists, Chuck Berry, The Moonglows, and The Flamingos. Only four songs on the album ("Over and Over Again," "I Knew From the Stars," "You Can't Catch Me," and "Would I Be Crying") actually appear in the film. Rock, Rock, Rock! is regarded as the first rock and roll movie to have had a soundtrack album issued.[5]

The Connie Francis songs "I Never Had a Sweetheart" and "Little Blue Wren" appeared in the film and were also released by MGM Records in 1956 as a Connie Francis single. "Baby, Baby" and "I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent" by The Teenagers also appeared in the film and were subsequently released as a single by Gee Records.

Production

This was the first feature film collaboration between Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg.[1]

Reception

The film was a success at the box office.[1]

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See also

References
  1. Ed. Allan Bryce, Amicus: The Studio That Dripped Blood, Stray Cat Publishing, 2000 p 7
  2. Pierce, David (June 2007). "Forgotten Faces: Why Some of Our Cinema Heritage Is Part of the Public Domain". Film History: An International Journal. 19 (2): 125–43. doi:10.2979/FIL.2007.19.2.125. ISSN 0892-2160. JSTOR 25165419. OCLC 15122313.
  3. from the movie
  4. Chuck Berry's Collector Guide
  5. Fred Dellar, "What was the first rock soundtrack album?", Mojo, #312, November 2019, p.126

Sources
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