Bop Girl Goes Calypso

Bop Girl Goes Calypso (1957)

* (out of 4)

Excruciating mix of drama and music has Robert Hilton (Bobby Troup) warning people that rock and roll is on its way out and that calypso is the next big thing. No one believes him except for singer Jo Thomas (Judy Tyler) and soon the two are dating while trying to make the newest thing work. BOP GIRL GOES CALYPSO was just one of many "rock" musicals to be released in the 1950s and it's perhaps the worst one I've seen. Now to be fair, none of these musicals were all that good but the majority of them at least featured some interesting acts and a decent story but that's really not the case here. Music wise, Nino Tempo is about the best thing in the film and sadly this music is on so early that it leaves you a long time remaining with many less interesting acts. I think the biggest problem with this thing is that there's really no story to speak of. Instead of any real story we've got a very silly and unbelievable love story that has no sparks and we also have two leads with very little chemistry for one another. Tyler, on her own, isn't too bad as she manages to carry a tune and the "performance" is better than average. For the most part the music isn't all that good and if rock was really on its way out then nothing here would make you believe that. The cinematography isn't that bad for such a low-budget film but this here isn't strong enough to where it's going to keep viewers interested. Music buffs might want to check it out as a curiosity but that's about it.

I've wanted to see this movie for years. Youtube can sometimes be a goldmine for hard to find movies that arent going to be streaming anywhere. It's not a lost film, TCM played it in 2008, but I don't think it's easy to find.

Back in the 80's a circle of underground artists stumbled on a VHS copy and used to play it at parties acting out scenes like Rocky Horror. And you'll understand why if you ever watch: it definitely deserves a place in the sun on MST3K. It doesnt really fit the "so bad its good," category, its more of a "what did I just watch...?"

The plot is exactly what you can read in the movie description. But the plot isn't what makes it a bizarre little gem, it's the band The Goofers that you have to see, especially the number "I'm gonna rock n roll 'till I die." To really nail this point home they have dark circles around their eyes and lie in coffins - the Goofers were early emo rock pioneers, really. They also perform instruments on the trapeze or jumping on Pogo sticks which is funny but also kinda impressive. They'd probably win AGT if they were around today.

One thing to note though - the movie and the music might be hysterically bad but Judy Tyler - both as an actor and singer - is not. She's got some serious singing chops - she was in the starring role of the musical Pipe Dream (Life did a story on rising Broadway talent with Tyler on its cover as an up and coming star) and after this, Jail House Rock. She's likeable and charming and doesnt speak in that stilted faux-British mamner most actresses affected back then. And she's pretty darn adorable too.

Sadly, she was in only one thing after JHR, an episode of Perry Mason which aired 6 months after she was killed in a car accident along with her second husband. She was 24. Who knows, she could have become another Ann-Margret or Rita Moreno. She had the talent.

I don't know how to score this movie. If you're like me, once you start watching it, you'll just sit back dumbfounded by the whole premise that Calypso music could have ever been a serious threat to rock and roll as a popular form of music. And how is this determined? Why, how else? A guy with a decibel meter goes to a club showing a rock and roll group, and another club with a calypso band, and he measures the volume of the applause! The applause registers higher at the calypso club so it's 'sorry, rock and roll, calypso's got you beaten'. Yeah, that's how I'd measure it.

Hmm. Does anyone remember any calypso bands? Any calypso hits? Ever been to a calypso concert? I can think of zero, zero, and zero respectively. (Well, actually, maybe that Harry Belafonte thing about 'daylight come and me wanna go home' would count....) However, if you give me a little time, I can probably jot down a couple hundred rock / rock & roll bands, just as many songs, and a couple dozen concerts that I attended. I have to say, I think that guy's decibel meter, scientific as it looked, was not a valid way to measure the popularity of a music form in a culture. Slightly wrong, it was.

Anyhow - this movie has a thin plot and plenty of excuses to make you listen to calypso bands to make sure you know how much you (are supposed to) like calypso music. Oh, yeah, mon! Not. I can almost feel myself blacking out, it's got to be like being violated in some way, letting this movie inflict this tropical racket on your ears! Ow, help.

This is an easy film to mock. The leads can't act. (Nor can the supporting players.) The plot -- something about scientific proof that Calypso was about to replace Rock n' Roll as the reigning pop music --could have been conceived by Ed Wood. The fact that our hero was about to marry a Eugenics professor (yes, they did call it "Eugenics") who was enthusiastic about the genetic make up of their future child was unintentionally creepy. And, agonizingly, the titular Bop Girl cannot sing either Rock or Calypso. (She doesn't try to sing Bop -- for which the shade of Charlie Parker was likely grateful.) But these music movies of the 50s were not about the plot. Plot was an interlude for the kids to start smooching at the drive in. It was about the music. And SOME of that in this film was quite good.

For example, the first six or seven minutes are quite good. The credit sequence is Nino Tempo blowing a very hot r&b sax with a good stomping band. We move to another group (not sure who) singing pretty. Then, alas, we get some very, very, very bad music. Then some lame plot. Then, the highlight, a gentleman named Lord Flea, whose two features in the movie are exceptional. (Want to know where Bob Marley came from? Take a look. Then lobby EMI to get Flea's music re-released.) Generally, the better music is in the first half of the movie. Things start to get increasingly Ed Wooden after that, and the Bop Girl is allowed to sing far, far too often.

I have read a couple of reviews in movies history books,and both seem to agree Bop Girl goes Calypso is a lost movie.....no known copies of the movie are available for evaluation.If this is true,and someone out there has a copy,please let us know and start burning the copies for all of us to enjoy this camp classic! Also,I have also read that the movie was originally titled Bop Girl,and the goes Calypso was added at the last minute to cash in on the then recent Calypso craze.Apparently,from some still photos of the picture that i have seen,there were more rock and roll acts in the movie than there were actual Calypso acts.But no matter.This looks like it was another good example of the low budget music movies of the fifties aimed for the teenage audience.It would be great to see Judy Tyler in the starring role,since she only appeared in one other movie before her death.