''Daddy-O'' is a 1958 B-movie starring

Dick Contino Richard Joseph "Dick" Contino (January 17, 1930 – April 19, 2017) was an American accordionist and singer. Early life Contino was born in Fresno, California. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Contino, and he attended Fresno High School. H ...

, Sandra Giles and Bruno VeSota. It was directed by Lou Place and written by David Moessinger. The film is notable for its soundtrack as being the debut

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

for John Williams. The film was released by

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

as a double feature with '' Roadracers''. It was later featured as a movie mocked by '' Mystery Science Theater 3000''. ''Daddy-O'' was produced by Elmer C. Rhoden Jr. who also produced '' The Delinquents'' (1957) and ''

The Cool and the Crazy ''The Cool and the Crazy'' is a 1958 motion picture that was distributed by American International Pictures, American-International Pictures as a double feature with ''Dragstrip Riot''. It stars Scott Marlowe and Gigi Perreau. Plot ''The Co ...

'' (1958).

Plot

Hotshot street-racer Phil Sandifer (Contino) is working as a truck driver when he is harassed by a sports car driving on the highway. He later meets up with the driver, Jana (Giles), in a local club. Jana challenges Phil to a race; Jana runs Phil off the road, and he loses. At the same time, his best friend Sonny is run off the road and killed by an unidentified assailant (VeSota). Later at the club, Phil is arrested for destruction of city property and trespassing in the area they raced through, reckless driving, and hit-and-run and manslaughter for Sonny's death. The hit-and-run and manslaughter charges are dropped but Phil is found guilty of the other three charges - as a result, Phil is placed on probation and is stripped of his driver's license. Phil quickly launches into an investigation into Sonny's murder, his first suspect being Jana. She denies any involvement, and joins Phil in his investigation. He follows the trail of clues to nightclub owner Sidney Chillas (Sonny's assailant), and Chillas's lackey Bruce, who runs the gym Sonny used to frequent. Chillas hires Phil as a singer under the alias of "Daddy-O". Not long after being hired, Phil is beaten up by a couple of drug dealers who have mistaken him for Pete Plum, a pseudonym used by Sonny. Phil draws the conclusion that Sonny had been moving money around for Chillas, and that he had stolen some of the money and was killed as a result. Phil confronts Chillas with the information, and they confront one another in a liquor cellar. Phil manages to knock Chillas out, and soon the police arrive and arrest him and Bruce. The movie ends just as Phil is asked to sing.

Cast

*Phil Sandifer/Daddy-O:

*Jana Ryan: Sandra Giles *Sidney Chillas: Bruno VeSoto *Marcia Hayes: Gloria Victor *Duke Manion: Ron McNeil *Bruce Green: Jack McClure *Peg Lawrence: Sonia Torgeson *Ken: Kelly Gordon *Barney: Hank Mann *Frank Wooster: Joseph Donte *Kerm: Joseph Martin *Sonny DiMarco: Bob Banas

Release and reception

The film was released by AIP on a double bill with '' Roadracers''.

''Mystery Science Theater 3000''

The film was featured in Episode 307 of the television series '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'', paired with the short subject ''Alphabet Antics''. The episode also features a parody of the film's song "Rock Candy Baby", with

Joel Robinson Joel Robinson is a fictional character featured in the American science fiction comedy television series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). He was portrayed by series creator Joel Hodgson. If counting the locally-produced episodes, Jo ...

Crow T. Robot Crow T. Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). Crow is a robot, who, along with others, ridicules poor-quality B to Z movies. Overview Accordin ...

and

Tom Servo Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a com ...

performing the tune as "Hike Your Pants Up". The episode was part of the ''Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXXIII''

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

box set, released by Shout! Factory in July 2015. The other episodes in the four-disc set include ''

Earth vs. the Spider ''Earth vs. the Spider'' (a.k.a. ''The Spider'') is an independently made 1958 American black-and-white science fiction horror film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, who also provided the plot upon which the screenplay by George Wort ...

'' (episode #313), ''

Teen-Age Crime Wave ''Teen-Age Crime Wave'' (aka ''Teenage Crime Wave'') is a 1955 American juvenile delinquency film noir crime film directed by Fred F. Sears and starring Tommy Cook and Molly McCart. It was released by Columbia Pictures. The plot concerns a p ...

'' (episode #522), and '' Agent for H.A.R.M.'' (episode #815).

In other media

* In the 1994 hit film ''

Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...

'', a poster for ''Daddy-O'' is visible during scenes taking place in the 1950s nostalgia restaurant "Jack Rabbit Slim's". * In 1994 author

James Ellroy Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, ...

wrote '' Hollywood Nocturnes'', a collection of short stories, one of which was titled ''Dick Contino's Blues'', a fictional take on the making of the film and surrounding back story starring

.Dick Contino's Blues and Other Stories : Ellroy, James, 1948 - Internet Archive
/ref>

References

External links

* * * {{Amg movie, 11952, Daddy-O 1958 films American auto racing films American crime drama films American International Pictures films American black-and-white films 1958 crime drama films Films scored by John Williams 1950s English-language films Teensploitation 1950s American films