Rock Around the Clock
"Rock Around the Clock" is a film released in the mid-1950s that is often characterized as a quasi-concert movie due to its emphasis on musical performances. The plot centers around a music impresario, played by Alan Freed, who searches for a new sound to revitalize dance halls. He discovers Bill Haley and His Comets in a remote mountain village and brings them to New York City, where they achieve immense popularity, signaling the rise of rock and roll across the nation. The film features multiple performances, including nine songs by Haley's band, as well as appearances by well-known artists such as Little Richard and the Platters. While the film presents a non-violent and innocent depiction of youth culture, it sparked excitement among younger audiences and concern among older generations, notably evidenced by rowdy reactions during its British release. "Rock Around the Clock" is often regarded as a significant cultural artifact of its time, reflecting the revolutionary emergence of rock and roll music. The film's legacy continued with a sequel, "Don't Knock the Rock," which attempted to portray rock and roll as harmless fun. For contemporary viewers, the film may feel dated yet offers insight into the youth culture of the 1950s and the initial reception of rock music.
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Rock Around the Clock
Identification Film about the creation of rock and roll
Date Released in 1956
Director Fred F. Sears
Producer Sam Katzman
Now of interest primarily as a document of early rock music history, Rock Around the Clock caused a sensation when it was first released and ranks as one of the most influential youth films of its era.
Key Figures
Fred F. Sears (1913-1957), documentary film directorSam Katzman (1901-1973), documentary film producer
Rock Around the Clock is a nearly plotless film that might be justly regarded a quasi-concert film because of the preponderance of time during which musical acts perform onscreen. The story opens with a music impresario (played by the noted disc jockeyAlan Freed ) searching for a new style of music that will invigorate dance halls and bring back dancers. He finds that new style in a dance hall in a remote mountain village, where Bill Haley and His Comets are performing. Freed takes Haley’s group back to New York City, where they become a sensation, and rock and roll begins to sweep the nation.
Haley’s band performs nine numbers in Rock Around the Clock, including the title tune, “See You Later, Alligator,” and “Razzle Dazzle.” Other notable acts appearing in the film—mostly under their own names—include the Platters, Little Richard, Tony Martinez and His Band, Freddie Bell and His Bellboys, Johnny Johnston, Lisa Gaye, and Alix Talton.
Although the film is free of violence and is essentially innocent, its nearly wall-to-wall rock-and-roll music excited young viewers and upset older people. When the film was released in Great Britain, adolescents tore up theater seats and danced in the aisles.
A sequel titled Don’t Knock the Rock (1957), featuring Freed, Haley, and Little Richard, came out the following year but made only a minor impression on audiences. In that film, Haley returns to his hometown hoping to show adults that rock and roll is merely harmless fun.
Impact
Twenty-first century audiences would probably find Rock Around the Clock mildly entertaining, while having trouble seeing anything in it that could offend anyone. However, to audiences of the mid-1950’s, the film was a revolutionary statement of the arrival of rock and roll. Only five years later, a near duplicate of the film, Twist Around the Clock (1961) used virtually the same story, with the difference being that the form of dance music that is dying when the film opens is rock and roll.
Bibliography
Altschuler, Glenn C. All Shook Up: How Rock ’n’ Roll Changed America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Places rock- and-roll music in the context of the cultural conservatism of 1950’s America and emphasizes the effects of race and class on the genre.
Haley, John W., and John Von Hoelle. Sound and Glory: The Incredible Story of Bill Haley, the Father of Rock ’n’ Roll and the Music That Shook the World. Wilmington, Del.: Dyne-American, 1991. Exploration of Bill Haley’s contributions to rock and roll.
Jackson, John A. Big Beat Heat: Alan Freed and the Early Years of Rock and Roll. New York: Schirmer, 1991. Thoroughly researched biography of Alan Freed, the leader performer in Rock Around the Clock.