ThiefHott Too much of everything

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

disinterested_spectator In this movie, a lifeless and somewhat ridiculous plot acts as a frame story to showcase some rock-and-roll bands when that kind of music was becoming popular in the 1950s. Young people in their rebellious stage like to shock their elders, so naturally we have a scene in which Bill Haley and the Comets perform at a prestigious and very proper girls' school, which scandalizes the matronly chaperones. The Comets wear suits and are clean-cut, singing songs without suggestive lyrics, but no matter, because the beat alone is indecent. So the movie has it both ways, allowing teenagers to enjoy the fantasy of shocking their elders, while the real elders watching the movie in the theaters would be reassured that rock and roll was quite harmless.Part of the plot of this movie is that dancing is on its way out, by which is meant ballroom dancing. But the dancing done by teenagers to rock and roll is alive and well. It is basically jitterbug (also known as swing, boogie-woogie, and the bop). In a sense, however, this died too. Once the twist became popular in the early 1960s, partner dancing, in which couples make contact with each other, pretty much came to an end, to be replaced by various forms of free style, in which couples never touch each other. To see partner dancing any more, you either have to go to a country-western nightclub or to a dance studio where ballroom still lingers on.Partner dancing in the movies is one of two kinds: either the dancers are professionals, or they are just barely able to shuffle around the dance floor. The reality would be somewhere in between, with amateurs doing a fairly decent job of cutting a rug. In this movie, the brother and sister who dance together are obviously professionals. They become part of the act with the Comets, the idea being that they will show teenagers at the performances how to dance to rock and roll, to break the ice and get others on the dance floor. Of course, all those supposedly novice teenagers who venture onto the dance floor are professional dancers themselves. In fact, having that brother-and-sister team dance like that in real life would intimidate ordinary would-be dancers, making it less likely for them to get out on the floor.Unfortunately, most of the songs performed in this movie are not that good, and in several cases, no one dances at all, usually because the beat is too fast, even for professionals. There are a couple of good numbers from the Comets and a couple from the Platters. The rest are mediocre, which when combined with the boring plot make the movie a disappointment.

LeonLouisRicci The problem of the 50's Rock n Roll movies is that you have to suffer through so much pablum and propaganda to get to a few bona fide Rockers, R&B, and justified archival songs. This one has two songs from the Platters and two from Bill Haley. The rest is flatulent filler. Cringe inducing dialog and attempted hip talk from on and off screen squares. Unbearable performances from posers, wannabes, and opportunists. Historians and fans should be grateful for the 10 minutes of irreplaceable, iconic and cool footage. The other 70 minutes are the corporate trappings only fit for the completest and the masochistic.Some good jitterbugging from some professional teen-agers add some eye-candy but for the most part and this goes for all these types of films from the era, the movie studios and the adults just didn't get it and one doubts if they tried at all, except as a marketing mechanism.

dougdoepke The movie's a good chance to catch R&R's anthem—Rock Around the Clock—done classic style by Bill Haley & His Comets. It's also a chance to catch the classic stylings of The Platters doing two of their biggest hits. Otherwise, the film's pretty forgettable. There's a rough backstory to connect the musical spots, which may also offer some insight into the industry, circa 1955. Otherwise the story is standard romantic stuff. The movie's release date indicates that brief period between R&R's inception and Elvis's meteoric rise, and so is unusual in that regard. One question—why the recurring dance act (Gaye & Barton)? They're good lively dancers, but didn't the producers think the new beat was enough. Anyway, to my knowledge, this was the first R&R movie, and a good opportunity to view the style in its pre-Elvis period.

Peter Swanson It ain't great cinema, folks, but it IS fun. It's also a great reminder of the roots of rock- and-roll (old-fashioned hyphenated spelling intentional), and how far that musical genre has developed in the last (choke) 50 years. I was only 9 when this film was released, and had never seen it until today (thanks, Turner Classics). Bill Hailey was certainly no Eric Clapton on the guitar, but was definitely a showman...in what would now be considered a cornball sort of way. The whole film is a good display of the fact that choreographing singers' movements didn't start with Madonnna. It also shows modern viewers that the Platters could REALLY sing!Another thing I really enjoyed was the dancing in this movie. Lisa Gaye and Earl Barton could move! About an hour and 15 minutes into the film (which is only about 1:20 long) there's a number which shows them off well, during which they're joined by a couple of dozen other excellent dancers. It's a fun way to end the film.