Gutsycurene
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
Abbigail Bush
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Allison Davies
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Paynbob
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Chase_Witherspoon
Solid if not altogether dazzling rockumentary concerning Bill Haley and his Comets the subject of a surprisingly good-natured tussle between easy-going promoter (Johnston) and wily talent agent (Talton) who holds a unilateral affection for her old beau. Talton attempts to stymie the group's ascendancy as a ploy to win back Johnston, but his new girlfriend (the attractive and agile Gaye) is now firmly in the frame to take out marriage honours."Rock Around the Clock" is one of the first of its ilk, documenting the rise of the rock'n'roll phenomenon, and showcasing full length tunes by The Platters and The Comets, loosely bound by the soap-opera storyline. More a sound stage than a movie as such, it's an opportunity to capture some of the essence of the era painting the music, dancing and stylings as a 'radical' snub of the conservative establishment.The cast is capable; leading lady Talton performs the female tycoon role well, Archer as her right-hand man is durable while affable singer/actor Johnston is a likable if light leading man. At barely 75 minutes it's compact, and would probably appeal to fans of Bill Haley's Comets or The Platters, both delivering several of their hits from the time.
preppy-3
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.
dbdumonteil
...and it was not intellectual at the time;people did not listen to the words to the songs,all they wanted to do was dancing.The plot is very thin and almost devoid of interest .A fight between two managers :One of them is in love with Bill Haley and the Comets' dancer .Billy Haley -perhaps because he plays himself,has no love affair like Presley would do.He 's sure a good singer but he is not particularly good-looking.The other manager (a woman) puts a wrench in her colleague's works.Musically,for me ,the two magic moments are the two Platters songs "only you" and "the great pretender".What singers!
django-1
Journeyman director Fred Sears (also an actor in many films--I remember him from Charles Starrett westerns) was a good choice to direct this low-budget Sam Katzman-produced quickie, meant to cash in on the rock'n'roll fad and the celebrity of Bill Haley and His Comets. Sears gets right down to business and features the music throughout--with wonderful (mostly) mimed performances by Bill Haley of his classic early Decca recordings, which still rock out today. Also seen are the pioneering lounge-rocknroll band Freddie Bell and His Bellboys, who were fine entertainers in the Louis Prima vein and who provided Elvis with Hound Dog. A plot is woven into the film here and there to keep things moving, but the emphasis is on the music. Haley's friendly persona comes across well in his limited dialogue scenes, and the other characters in his band, such as sax player Rudy Pompilli, are quite animated, capturing a bit of what his live shows must have been like (probably much wilder than this film). Alan Freed also appears and is worked into the plot, and the Platters sing their two biggest hits. All together, it's an excellent time capsule into the early days of rock'n'roll, and it's a wonderful showcase for the great Bill Haley, who still has not received his due as a music pioneer. It's easy to see why the film caused riots when shown overseas. Don't miss it if you like Haley, Freed, and the glory days of rocknroll.
