Carnival Rock

Carnival Rock (1957)

** (out of 4)

Christy Cristakos (David J. Stewart) runs a hip nightclub, which features a lot of rock and roll talent including the beautiful Natalie Cook (Susan Cabot) who Christy has a thing for. The only problem is that she has the hots for Stanley (Brian Hutton), a younger and more hip guy. Soon Christy loses his club to Stanley and this sets him off down a dangerous path.

Roger Corman's CARNIVAL ROCK is not a good movie but it's hard not to recommend it because of how strange it is. At first the film starts off in a rather good, fun mood and then, pretty much out of nowhere, it turns into a dark and overly bleak film with an incredibly strange character taking us through all of it.

From the title, the poster and the set-up this here just appears to be another one of those rock and roll films from the 1950s where you saw cool people dancing and rocking out. The story itself is pretty basic as the less attractive guy wants the hot girl but she's into the hotter guy. This all changes because the Christy character's mental state is a complete mess and it turns into some sort of dark stalker tale.

What's so strange is the fact that the lead performance and character are just downright bizarre to say the least. I'm really not sure if Stewart is really awful in the picture or really great. Remember how some people think Jack Nicholson in THE SHINING is terrific whereas others feel he's over-acting? Well, the same is true here. I really don't know what to make of Stewart's performance but it's really out there and bizarre to say the least. Both Cabot and Hutton are decent in their roles but it's actually Dick Miller who steals the picture with a very good supporting performance.

CARNIVAL ROCK was obviously cheaply produced and the rock music in it is rather weak. There's certainly nothing really good about this film but at the same time it's lead character is just so weird and the story takes such a dark turn out of nowhere that you can't help but recommend it.

This film essentially begins with an inept nightclub owner by the name of "Christopher 'Christy' Cristakos" (David J. Stewart) becoming obsessed with an attractive singer working there named "Natalie Cook" (Susan Cook). For her part, although she likes Christy, Natalie has developed a romantic interest with a local businessman named "Stanley" (Brian G. Hutton) who is equally interested in her. Yet, because she feels somewhat indebted to Christy for giving her the opportunity to sing in his nightclub, she cannot seem to adequately convey to him the fact that she simply doesn't feel the same for him. So, Christy continues to lavish her with affection while neglecting his business. And it's because of his inattention to his business that Stanley sees an opportunity to acquire the nightclub in an underhanded way. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this movie started off a little slow but managed to pick up a bit around the halfway point and finished with a nice little twist at the end. Admittedly, it is also quite dated but even so it managed to pass the time fairly well and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

'Carnival Rock' is different from usual Corman movies than most of us have used to. This is melodrama padded with many musical numbers. David J. Stewart stars as out of luck club owner Christy Cristakos, a naive and disillusioned in his blind love against the club's star singer Natalie Cook (Susan Cabot) who has hots for gambler and business man Stanley (Brian G. Hutton). Christy's club, although with great musical numbers, is still in debts, and when he finally learns the woman he loves can't pay back with mutual feelings, the man loses his club to Stanley in a card game.

In it's entirety the film is nothing special - not enough quality neither enough cheese. Although the script is quite strong (for Corman's movie) it flows along very familiar path without offering any surprises. Generic melodramatic love triangle and generic rockabilly songs. Nonetheless 'Carnival Rock' is still entertaining and engaging enough that sitting through the film is everything but suffering.

It is easy to pass this film, but if you are really interested in versatility of Roger Corman, then 'Carnival Rock' is recommended by here writer.

I chose to watch "Carnival Rock" because it's a film directed and produced by Roger Corman. This is because although nearly all his hundreds of films were very low budgeted, they also were incredibly successful and usually very entertaining. Amazingly, only ONE of his films apparently lost money ("The Intruder")...and, oddly, that's actually one of his best films! And, as I was about to watch "Carnival Rock", I knew it would NOT be dull!

The film has a lot of rock 'n roll music...which is pretty typical of many of Corman's films of the era. Most of the numbers are very good (particularly the instrumental song early in the movie) and there even is an appearance by The Platters! Now don't get the idea that the film is just rock 'n roll. No, it actually has a very good story...a sad one, too.

Natalie (Susan Cabot) is a singer at Christy's night club. However, there is an obvious problem...the boss, Christy, is smitten with Natalie and she doesn't seem to reciprocate at all. She even goes so far as to say she doesn't want him...but he simply won't listen. He is an older and very deluded man and is also a bit scary due to his insistence they will marry. But Natalie has a boyfriend...and they both want to marry. What's next? See this film.

The acting is generally good, the music very good, and the story pretty good as well. While it's no award winner, it is entertaining and dollar-for-dollar, a very good movie that actually offers a few surprises...particularly at the end.

Just watched this Roger Corman drive-in movie on YouTube. It's about a carnival owner named Christy (David J. Stewart) who's in over his head in debts and is also in love with the young girl singer Natalie Cook (Susan Cabot). But Natalie prefers Stanley (Brian G. Hutton) who manages to buy the place after beating Christy at cards. The only one who even stays friends with Christy is longtime associate Benny (Dick Miller). I'll stop there and just say I quite enjoyed all the players I cited especially Ms. Cabot, whose alluring presence also was the highlights of other Corman films like Sorority Girl and The Wasp Woman. And here she's a very good singer. It's too bad her career ended after leaving him. And it was good to know that the ending wasn't a predictably tragic one. But the real reason that I decided to watch this now was since Black History Month is tomorrow, I thought I'd cite The Platters' appearance here. They sing "Remember When" in their only scene. Seeing members Paul Robi-who's a native of New Orleans which is a two-hour drive from where I live, David Lynch, Herb Reed, Zola Taylor, and Tony Williams was a treat to watch when warbling that song. Other musical acts that appeared include Bob Luman and David Houston of which one of his songs "Teenage Frankie and Johnny" was a rocking remake of an old tune that I immediately recognized and liked highly. So on that note, Carnival Rock is highly recommended.