Product Details

• Actors: Bill Haley, Rudy Pompilli, Al Rex, Franny Beecher, Johnny Grande
• Directors: Fred F. Sears
• Writers: James B. Gordon, Robert E. Kent
• Producers: Sam Katzman
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: January 23, 2007
• Run Time: 162 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000KF0GRW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,040 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Don't Knock the Rock / Rock Around the Clock" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Don’t Knock The Rock spotlights rock music in its infancy and features some of the genre’s true originals. DJ Freed is credited with inventing the term, "rock n’ roll," and Haley was a durable star for over a decade, selling 22 million copies of his hit, "Rock Around the Clock," and helping to establish rock music once and for all. Little Richard had his first bonafide hit, "Tutti Frutti," while making this film, and the film shows this self proclaimed architect of rock and roll at the beginning of his storied career. Rock Around The Clock, is a title based on Bill Haley & His Comets’ enormous hit from 1954. In this film, also produced by Sam Katzman and directed by Fred Sears, Haley and friends get to demo their singing chops, singing a string of hits, including the title song.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 4 stars for "Clock," 2 stars for "Knock." Some excellent music from the dawn of rock, January 30, 2007

By 

Scott MacGillivray (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Don't Knock the Rock / Rock Around the Clock (DVD)

This double-feature DVD showcases the first rock-'n' roll musical, "Rock Around the Clock," and its sequel, "Don't Knock the Rock."

"Rock Around the Clock" (1956) can be enjoyed again and again as a lightweight B-musical. It features faithful depictions of hit records (in fact, they ARE the hit records, persuasively lip-synched by the performers), and the small-town-band-hits-the-big-time plotline is pleasantly familiar. Bill Haley and His Comets are not called upon to act (Haley has only a few lines of dialogue), but they run through many of their hits: "Rock Around the Clock," "See You Later, Alligator," "R-O-C-K," "Rock A-Beatin' Boogie," and more. (Haley's irrepressible sidemen Rudy Pompilli and Al Rex do some playful shtick during the "Rudy's Rock" production number.) The Platters deliver two of their greats, "Only You" and "The Great Pretender." Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys offer spirited high-school-band arrangements, featuring vocals by the enthusiastic Ernie Maresca, and Tony Martinez's cha-cha band adds some Latin rhythms. Pioneer rock deejay Alan Freed appears as himself, and Johnny Johnston, Henry Slate, Alix Talton, Lisa Gaye, and John Archer acquit themselves nicely in the story sections. This vehicle is so sturdy that the producer remade it almost scene for scene as "Twist Around the Clock" -- no contest, the original is far superior. Great fun, especially if you like the original records.

"Don't Knock the Rock" (1957) is another B-movie quickie, but this time a heavy-handed plot threatens to overwhelm the music. The stuffy town fathers crusade against the scourge of rock-'n'-roll, leaving Alan Dale (miscast as the romantic lead) and Alan Freed to champion the cause and prove the elders wrong. Ignore the plot and listen to the music. Haley's band is actually overshadowed this time, by Little Richard and especially by The Treniers (the energetic "Rocking on Sunday Night" is probably the best number in the show).

Between these two features you have an excellent sampling of mid-1950s rock, as demonstrated by its originators. Highly recommended for B-musical and vintage-rock fans.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the living end(or was it just the beginning), February 13, 2007

By 

Kevin ONeill (Central Coast NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Don't Knock the Rock / Rock Around the Clock (DVD)

A big'thank you' to whoever is responsible for giving us collectors(& the whole universe)what we've been waiting for(for what seems like an eternity). My poor ol' VHS copies have just about worn through to the other side. I cannot write a bad word about either 'Rock around the clock' & 'Don't knock the rock'. They are 2 great examples of what was(or about to) happen in 1956. Neither were made to rival 'Gone with the wind'(or any other classic). This is 1956(and the way it was), with the cars, the girls & of course the music. The Comets were then(& just recently) the greatest bunch of musicians to play this genre(certainly there are indivual exceptions). The 2 discs are worth their weight in gold just to see Rudy Pompilli('Rudys' Rock') & Fran Beecher('Goofin' Around') demonstarting their craft. The world first saw Little Richard via 'Don't knock the Rock'. Then there are the Platters, the Treniers, the exciting Freddie(i can't believe he never had a hit)Bell & the Bellboys & let's not forget Alan Freed. Without Mister Rock n Roll, there might not have been any Rock n Roll.

Excellent packaging & presentation. Pristine black & white photography(i still can't stop feeling sorry for the that poor girl who somebody forgot to catch) & stunning sound.

For collectors, 50's music fans & anyone who has just a passing interest in the greatest decade of the last century, buy this DVD. A small price to pay for some great entertainment.

Finally, a plea to whoever the powers may be at making these things happen ... a really nice double would be 'American Hot Wax' AND 'Mister Rock n Roll' ... better together!!!!!! Now wouldn't that just be 'the living end'!!!!!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Two Bill Haley movies, February 9, 2007

By 

D. Gregoire "D4Haley" (Texas) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Don't Knock the Rock / Rock Around the Clock (DVD)

This really is a must have package if you want to see the earliest Rock and Roll cinema. Columbia/Sony personnel did a great job restoring the films to DVD. The music cannot be beat. It would have been nice if they had included some extras on the DVD like film trailers. During the filming of both movies, some of the biggest names in Hollywood at the time were visiting the studio to see what rock and roll was all about.

However, the cover looks like it was designed by an alien who cut Bill Haley's head off his body and put it on an unknown individual in dire need of a tailor for his pants (because that's exactly what they did on the cover). Even though plot wise neither movie was an Oscar contender, "Rock Around The Clock" should have been the A movie. Little Richard fans be cautioned he is in "Don't Knock the Rock" for about two minutes, he was not the featured star, Bill Haley was, and he's not even on the cover of the disc. Overall rating: FILMS are B+, cover is D- (well, at least they got Bill Haley's head right).