''Don't Knock the Rock'' is a 1956 American

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

starring Alan Dale and

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

. Directed by Fred F. Sears, the film also features performances by Bill Haley & His Comets (who were top-billed),

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

The Treniers The Treniers (pronounced /trəˈniərz/) were an United States, American Rhythm and blues, R&B and jump blues Musical ensemble, musical group led by identical twins Cliff and Claude Trenier. They were originally billed as the Trenier Twins, wh ...

, and Dave Appell and the Applejacks. In contrast to the title track of Haley's previous film, '' Rock Around the Clock'', the title track of this film was specially written for it (screenwriter Robert E. Kent is credited as co-writer of the song). A Haley recording of the song is played over the opening credits, but it is Alan Dale who performs the number in the film. Indeed, while Haley and his band are the top-billed performers in the movie, the story in fact focuses on Dale's character.

Plot

Arnie Haines is a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

star who returns to his hometown to rest up for the summer only to find that rock and roll has been banned there by disapproving adults. Among those against him is influential newspaper columnist Arline MacLaine, though this does not stop Arnie from starting up a romance with MacLaine's daughter Francine. At Francine's urging, Arnie decides to perform a show to demonstrate to Arline that the adults' fears are unjustified. Meanwhile, MacLaine's columns have led to other towns across the country canceling planned rock and roll shows. This leaves big-name acts like Bill Haley, Little Richard, The Treniers and Dave Appell available to perform in Arnie's show. The show goes well at first, with Arline prepared to write a new column acknowledging that the music is harmless. However, things go awry when Arnie rejects the advances of local girl Sunny Everett. In retaliation, Sunny gets drunk and gets two boys to begin a brawl. No one believes that Sunny was at fault and the resulting newspaper articles reporting that the show led to a drunken brawl among its attendees give rock and roll a worse reputation than ever. As his final play, Arnie works with a local theater group to put on a show called "The Pageant of Art and Culture" to appeal to the adults. The show opens with depictions of paintings by Vermeer and Renoir, followed by a

minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually written in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form tha ...

dance performance, this show of

high culture In a society, high culture encompasses culture, cultural objects of Objet d'art, aesthetic value that a society collectively esteems as exemplary works of art, as well as the literature, music, history, and philosophy a society considers represen ...

meeting with the strong approval of the adults in attendance. However, the show's next number is taken directly from those adults' own days of youth: a raucous performance of the Charleston, providing a stark contrast between the entertainment in which the adults indulged when they were young and what they are now advocating for their children. Arline gets the point and announces that she now agrees that parents have been using rock and roll as a scapegoat for their own parental failings. Sunny's father agrees, noting that he now accepts that his daughter was at fault for the disruption at the rock and roll show. Arline offers Arnie an apology, both on the spot and in print, and the show closes with a rock and roll number, which even the adults now allow themselves to enjoy.

Cast

* Alan Dale as Arnie Haines *

as himself * Fay Baker as Arline MacLaine * Patricia Hardy as Francine MacLaine *

Bill Haley William John Clifton Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-sel ...

as himself *

as Themselves

Bill Haley's Band Members (Comets) in the Movie

* Franny Beecher * Johnny Grande * Ralph Jones * Rudy Pompilli * Al Rex, and * Bill Haley and the Comets in Don't Knock the Rock (1956
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Reception

''Don't Knock the Rock'' premiered in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on December 12, 1956 (The film is often listed in reference books as being a 1957 release, due to its December 1956 premiere). The film was an immediate follow-up to the earlier ''Rock Around the Clock (film), Rock Around the Clock
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', which had also starred Haley and Freed. Although Haley and the Comets were the top-billed stars of the film, their role in it was relatively minor and the film failed to duplicate the box office success of its predecessor. Today it is notable for the performances of Bill Haley and His Comets and Little Richard and the appearance of Alan Freed, all members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Songs performed in the movie

# "Don't Knock the Rock" – Bill Haley and His Comets (audio only over opening credits) # "I Cry More" – Alan Dale # "You're Just Right" – Alan Dale # " Hot Dog Buddy Buddy" – Bill Haley and His Comets # "Goofin' Around" – Bill Haley and His Comets # "Hook, Line And Sinker" – Bill Haley and His Comets (audio only) # "Applejack" – Dave Appell and the Applejacks # "Your Love Is My Love" – Alan Dale # "Calling All Comets" – Bill Haley and His Comets # "Out Of The Bushes" – The Treniers # " Rip It Up" – Bill Haley and His Comets # "Rocking On Saturday Night" – The Treniers # "Gonna Run" – Alan Dale # " Long Tall Sally" – Little Richard # " Tutti-Frutti" – Little Richard # "Country Dance" – Dave Appell and the Applejacks # "Don't Knock the Rock" – Alan Dale The version of the guitar instrumental "Goofin' Around" performed in this film differs from the version released on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

; it has yet to be officially issued although a film audio recording of the scene in which it was played (as opposed to the original studio recording) was released in the late 1990s by the German label Hydra Records. Due to

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

for the songs "Applejack" and "Country Dance" being released as a tie-in with this movie but with Bill Haley's, not Dave Appell's, photo on the cover, these songs, although Haley-sounding, are often erroneously cited as Bill Haley recordings. Three Little Richard songs are featured: two performed by Richard himself, and the third is a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of his "Rip it Up" performed by Haley. Alan Dale's song "I Cry More" was one of the first songs published by the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The two were largely unknown at the time of the film, and did not have a hit together until 1958, when their song "The Story of My Life" went to number one on the Billboard country chart. As with ''Rock Around the Clock'', no official soundtrack album was released, though some non-American issues of Haley compilations tied in to the film. Haley's 1956 album, '' Rock 'n Roll Stage Show'', includes four of the songs featured in the movie: "Hot Dog Buddy Buddy", "Goofin' Around", "Hook, Line and Sinker", and "Calling All Comets".

Home media

''Don't Knock the Rock'' was never released officially on VHS or

laserdisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

in North America. In 2006, the film was released on Region 1 DVD by Sony Pictures (current owners of the Columbia catalog) in a two-disc set with '' Rock Around the Clock''.

References

External links

* * {{Sam Katzman 1956 films 1950s teen drama films 1950s musical drama films American musical drama films American teen drama films American rock music films American black-and-white films Bill Haley Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Fred F. Sears Films shot in Los Angeles 1956 drama films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language musical drama films Films produced by Sam Katzman