Rock and roll

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.

A lively, but not a factual description of the birth of rock 'n' roll. A couple of small time promoters break away from the big band way of life and stumble across a hot combo that packs a small dance hall.

Johnny Johnston, John Archer, Lisa Gaye and Alan Freed star. On screen musical performances by Bill Haley and his Comets, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys and the Platters make this one of the first feature films that concerns the beginnings of rock 'n' roll.

Enjoyable and fun to revisit. This has earned a cult following status in Europe.

Though it wasn't the first film to mention "rock and roll," this is known as the "first real rock film" and it's a mixed bag. Basically it's a vehicle for rock and roll pioneer Bill Haley and his band, The Comets. In the very thin story, two square music managers realize that their old type of traditional dance music is dying out in favor of the latest "rock 'n' roll" fad. When they see Haley and the Comets perform their classic "See You Later Alligator" at a small town dance and witness all the kids dancing up a storm, they decide to try and get this group to play full-time and make it big. The film's not very interesting when it veers away from the music, but along the way we get several more Bill Haley songs (the famous title hit itself, plus "Razzle Dazzle," "Rock Rock Rock" and others), and we're also treated to The Bellboys. But the main attraction is easily The Platters, who expertly perform two of their big hits - "Only You" and "The Great Pretender". The latter is so fabulous it sends chills up the spine. **1/2 out of ****

Entertaining, albeit completely fictional, story about the early days of 'rock'n'roll'. The diaphanous plot finds band manager Steve Hollis (Johnny Johnston) having an musical epiphany while attending a small town dance in 'Strawberry Springs', where the kids are rocking and rolling to local band 'Bill Haley and His Comets'. Recognising the potential of the new sound, Steve plans to take the band to the top but has to contend with conniving agent Corinne Talbot (Alix Talton), who is carrying a torch for him and doesn't want him fraternising with "Young. Fresh." dancer Lisa (Lisa Gaye ). Haley and crew lip-sync a few good tunes including the titular classic, as do the Platters (including the standard "The Great Pretender") and the Bellboys (a somewhat less remembered act). There is lots of hip slang, keen music, a bit of S.E.X., and some crazy dancing (especially by Lisa Gaye and Earl Barton). Good, light-weight fun daddy-o!

Band leader Steve Hollis sees the end of the big band era. He decides to head off to New York and bassist Corny LaSalle joins him. Along the way, they encounter young kids heading to a Saturday night dance. Steve is intrigued and finds them dancing to the new Rock N Roll with Bill Haley & His Comets. He signs up the band and dancer Lisa Johns. He sweet talks high powered agent Corinne Talbot but she rejects the new sound for personal reasons.

This is one of the first Rock N Roll films. It's the start of a new subgenre. Certainly, this is dated to some extend especially the dialogue. The premise is simplistic. It turns into a woman scorned story. One can't expect it to be ground breaking in every way. It's enough to have The Platters perform on the same stage as other non-black performers. It's good enough to be good enough. The music is great and iconic performed by the real bands. Everything else is filler and they are functional in that light. It's a solid start of this sub-genre and a great slice of music history.