Shake, Rattle & Rock!

It seems like there have been lots of movies portraying stuffy adults not caring for rock 'n' roll, or even considering it evil. In that respect "Shake, Rattle & Rock!" is nothing new. But the movie makes no pretense about just being an excuse to have fun. And anyway, how can you not like seeing Fats Domino? The plot has a TV show host (Mike Connors) hiring teen delinquents for his show to prove that they can change their ways through rock 'n' roll. Sure enough, the straight-laced senior citizens want to outlaw this new music.

Obviously, there are some scenes in this movie that will probably make us cringe in the 21st century. Aside from the footage of the African dance treated as subhuman, there's no racial mixing in the bands. But as long as we understand that, the movie's really cool. It's another reminder that - contrary to what the staid old people would have us believe - rock 'n' roll will live forever! And I even think that I could see up some of the girls' dresses...

Also starring Sterling Holloway and Margaret Dumont (of the Marx Brothers' movies).

The early omens on this one weren't good; American International generally made lousy movies aimed mostly at the drive-in audience (and this was only their third year in operation), the director was Edward L. Cahn and the writer was Lou Rusoff, who was usually associated with American International's rather silly horror movies. Surprise! "Shake, Rattle and Rock" turned out to be a little gem, with two of the all-time greats of rhythm and blues, singer Joe Turner and singer-pianist-composer Antoine "Fats" Domino, and a plot that was genuinely entertaining in and of itself and wasn't just a way to mark time between the musical numbers. While other 1950's rock movies occasionally touched on the controversies over rock and the determination of some moralists to shut it down, Lou Rusoff decided to make the controversies the focal point of his film. It opens in the studio of a local TV station, where Garry Nelson (Touch Conners, the young, personable actor who later became a surprisingly credible private detective on the long-running CBS-TV series Mannix) is hosting a rock 'n' roll TV show with a group of teenage kids he's been able to pull off the streets and away from a life of crime by harnessing the righteous power of this music to lure them into wholesome recreation. Right now in the (unnamed) city where the film takes place he's built 78 rock 'n' roll clubs and got the young people in them interested in raising money for "safe" social causes. His latest project is to take over an abandoned building and turn it into a teen center.

But he's run afoul of self-appointed moralists Eustace Fentwick III (Douglass Dumbrille) and Georgianna Fitzdingle (the marvelous Margaret Dumont — so two supporting players in this film have Marx Brothers connections!), who organize a group with a tongue-twisting name to fight back against rock 'n' roll by organizing petitions and letter-writing campaigns to get the TV station to take Nelson's show off the air. He's also run afoul of gangsters Bugsy Smith (Paul Duboy, proving that they didn't break the mold after they made Sheldon Leonard) and his comic-relief sidekick Nick (Eddie Kafafian), who are upset that Nelson's rock 'n' roll clubs have turned potential hoodlums towards more constructive pursuits and thereby deprived Bugsy's gang of its biggest pool of young talent. Of course, Nelson has his own comic-relief sidekick, Albert "Axe" McAllister (Sterling Holloway, whom writer Rusoff and director Cahn try to pass off as a teenager even though he was already making movies in the early 1930's, before any authentic teenager alive in 1956 was even born!).

Fats Domino does two of his biggest hits, "Ain't That a Shame" and "I'm in Love Again," as well as "Honey Chile" (a song I've always liked that didn't get the attention it deserved because it was the flip side of an even greater Domino record, "Blueberry Hill"), and Turner sings "Feelin' Happy" — a rock adaptation of the 1930's Kansas City blues standard "Do You Wanna Jump, Children?" — twice, once over the opening credits and once on screen. He also does "Lipstick, Powder and Paint," "The Choker" and "Rock, Rock, Rock." The one white rock performer we see, Tommy Charles (doing a song by Wayne Walker called "Sweet Love on My Mind"), is O.K. but quite obviously not anywhere in the same league as Domino and Turner. "Shake, Rattle and Rock" turned out to be a minor gem, a genuinely entertaining movie even when Fats Domino and/or Joe Turner weren't on screen!

Well, I bought the DVD so I have to say that I like it. Solely because it's got Big Joe Turner in it along with Fats Domino. They're miming to what appear to be new versions of some of their own tracks. Just watching Big Joe "singing" is enough to get my vote. They're so little of him in his prime that I'm really grateful for anything I can get. Has an amusing call and response section with the young white teenage audience. And then he "appears" on TV. Fats Domino is his usual impeccable self. The plot and acting is all very silly but worth it for the brief performances. Has Margaret Dumont in as well with a wimpish husband although "the worm turns" by the end.

A more accurate title might be Sterling Holloway Showcase. In fact, it's his silly mug and goofy shenanigans that get the most screentime. On the other hand, viewers expecting a Fats Domino showcase may be disappointed in his brief screen time, limited to two of his most popular song hits. The flick's got more plot than expected as various public factions battle over R&R's moral acceptability, a lively issue at the time (1956). Critics allege that the uninhibited sounds lead to immoral conduct, while defenders show how it provides an avenue into constructive activities when dances are organized into do-gooder clubs. This last unfortunately comes across as a stab at respectable contrivance. After all, why is R&R any more disreputable than the equally lively jitterbug of the 40's.

Whatever the entertainment value, the cast is full of familiar faces from the 40's- the gnome-like Percy Helton, Groucho Marx's favorite foil Margaret Dumont, arch-villain Douglas Dumbrille, and a few others. In that sense, the flick's a sort of odd blending of old and new.

Anyway, as someone coming of age during that period, I really enjoyed seeing pretty girls in swishy skirts twirling across the dance floor. And how well I remember R&R exploding on the teen scene, it's hedonistic bent a welcome contrast to years of war and needed conformity (WWII, Korea, and the ongoing Cold War). But as a showcase of hit music from the era the movie's limited at best, despite the title.

The premise of this film seems to have been inspired by the trials of real-life DJ Alan Freed and his attempts to bring Rock 'n' Roll to the mainstream despite protests by many of the older generation. Mike "Touch" Connors plays the role based on him and the opposition consists of Douglass Dumbrille and Margaret Dumont-both veterans of Marx Brothers movies. They, along with Sterling Holloway and other familiar character actors, provide some comic counterpoint in the proceedings. Fine musical performances by Fats Domino, Big Joe Turner, Tommy Charles, and Annitta Ray. Director Edward L. Cahn helms a zippy 75-mimute B-feature to its natural end, which wasn't surprising to me since I knew he made some good-and not so good-Our Gang shorts at M-G-M during its latter stage in the '40s. Oh, and the leading lady is Lisa Gaye who I remember being in Rock Around the Clock from a few years previous. So on that note, Shake, Rattle, and Rock! is worth a look for anyone interested in both the vintage musical performances and the amusing character turns throughout. P.S. Since I always like to cite players from my home state of Louisiana, here it's Fate Domino from New Orleans.