Let's Rock

Before rock stars went on huge concert tours and before teenagers had enough disposable income to attend such spectacles, Hollywood tried to offer recording stars exposure through cheap movies. LET'S ROCK is typical of the genre--the central idea (that mellow crooner Julius LaRosa could become a rock star) is ludicrous and the acting by LaRosa and Phyllis Newman close to amateur standards. But there are a couple of hits--Danny and The Juniors doing "At the Hop" is the highlight. Every time LaRosa tries to sing, you might as well fast forward. "Rock Around the Clock" remains the best of a bad lot.

Julius LaRosa portrays Tommy Adane, an acclaimed singer of ballads whose popularity has passed with the recent rock and roll craze. His manager (Conrad Janis) desperately tries to get his career recharged by having the apprehensive Tommy give in and record some rock music. The first question I have is: if this is a movie that's promoting the new rock and roll music, why do we have to suffer through a few of LaRosa's schmaltzy ballads? Anyway -- there's still the famous "Short Shorts" song, one tune from Paul Anka, some cool stuff by Roy Hamilton, and the choice moment of the film where Danny and the Juniors perform their classic hit, "At the Hop". I also liked some nice shots of New York's Central Park in the '50s. **1/2 out of ****

Obviously this isn't a rock and roll movie except for rare exceptions. More like a Frank Sinatra wanna be and couldn't be. Check out Phyllis Newman anyway. Most of the real rock is buried under a morass of retro "ballad" stuff. And don't miss Wink Martindal as a young Dick Clark lookalike;)

This fun little movie has many young singers performing in various scenes and as enjoyable as that is, it's the (all too brief) role of Joy Harmon that makes this film worth watching. What a body! Even though Joy wears a long dress it's still easy to see what a tremendous figure she had. Of course, later in her career viewers could get a better look in films like Village of the Giants and Cool Hand Luke. Everyday I wish that selfish husband of hers (Jeff Gourson of Adam Sandler's production company) would have not convinced her to quit acting. What a shame!

Anyway, everyone enjoy this little film and I promise you won't forget Miss Harmon's unforgettable presence.

If I hadn't previously known about his radio on-air firing by show host Arthur Godfrey, I would never have heard of Julius LaRosa. Years ago, I saw him on an old kinescope of Godfrey's show and now I just watched him in what turned out to be his only movie appearance. As the title implies, it has some Rock music in it which his singer character is trying to avoid recording since he always made it with ballads, but as his manager Conrad Janis keeps telling him "Rock 'n' Roll is not going away" as LaRosa can't make it with ballads anymore. Phyllis Newman is an aspiring songwriter whose B-side he recorded and they have a nice initially platonic romance. There's also a fine number by Della Reese and a couple by Roy Hamilton. The Rock 'n' Roll acts presented here are Danny and the Juniors (who I just watched as their mature selves in the documentary Let the Good Times Roll) singing "At the Hop" and The Royal Teens' "Short Shorts". The last one is interesting to mention because one of the members as well as a co-songwriter of that song was one Bob Gaudio who'd later became a member of a more famous group called The Four Seasons as well as write some of that group's biggest hits. Oh, and a couple more interesting points to make: The host of a dance show in the movie is Wink Martindale who I knew as the host of the game show "Tic Tac Dough" back in the late '70s. And teen singing idol Paul Anka, who was sixteen when he made his film debut here, had a hit song after making this: "Diana" which started a string of his hits throughout the rest of the '50s and early '60s. So on that note, Let's Rock is worth a look for anyone interested in these vintage things.