Product Details

• Actors: Alan Freed, Fran Manfred, Tuesday Weld, Teddy Randazzo, Jacqueline Kerr
• Directors: Will Price
• Writers: Milton Subotsky, Phyllis Coe
• Producers: Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Unknown)
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PASSPORT VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: June 24, 2003
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00009MEGG
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,504 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"Rock, Rock, Rock!" Made in 1956, this small-scale look at the then new phenomenon of Rock & Roll takes a page from the books of many of the big scale musicals made by Hollywood studios. Like them, the musical performances more than make up for the thin plot and occasional weak dialogue. The biggest bonus is that the last half of the film is all music, when Alan Freed brings his show to the hero's prom. Before the advent of music videos promoting record sales, this film is essentially a 76-minute commercial for the top Rock 'n' Roll and R & B artists of the time. Starring Alan Freed (at the peak of his power and influence as the man who actually coined the term "Rock 'n' Roll") it also marks the screen debut of Tuesday Weld - albeit that her singing was actually the angelic voice of Connie Francis. On Screen performances include those from Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, The Johnny Burnette Trio, LaVern Baker and The Freed Band.

Bonus Material: The Alan Freed Story The dean of rock music historians, Michael Ochs, describes the 'innocence' of the early Alan Freed concerts when 50% of the audience was black and 50% white. He chronicles the rise and fall of Freed as the voice of Rock 'n' Roll and the payola scandal the ended the DJ's career. Veteran musician Red Holloway speaks of America's narrow-mindedness when radio stations across the country decided to destroy records of this Rock and R&B music they considered to be damaging to the morals of American teenagers. Cornelius Grant, Motown's Music Director for Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells and The Temptations, credits Alan Freed with giving legitimacy to R&B by taking it to the mass music market and dubbing it Rock & Roll. Singer Bobby Vinton describes from his own experience how records were turned into hits in these early days of the Rock Era. In 1986 Alan freed was among the original Inductees to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and, in 1991, he received the ultimate accolade of a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a blast!, April 18, 2005

By	Nikki (NY) - See all my reviews

The reviewers who hate this are scrooges. One negative reviewer even claims Chuck Berry was a "doo flop" performer! Some people just don't get it. I had a great time watching this movie and I grew up in the 90's. It's a good cheesy time with some great songs. The cheesy moments are fun, Alan Freed is awesome, the music rocks!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the plot, listen to the music!, July 1, 2003

By	Stuart Harvey (Chippenham, UK) - See all my reviews

Finally released on DVD this is a great opportunity to view some of the early stars of Rock'n'Roll. The plot is pure hokum and must've taken at least five minutes to write but this film is worth buying just to catch Chuck Berry, The Johnny Burnette Trio, Frankie Lymon etc. miming their hits of the day.
The transfer to DVD is good, picture quality is excellent, the sound is just OK, it was a low-budget exploitation movie so Hi-Fi quality was probably not top of the agenda. One annoying feature is a 'pop-up' logo at the bottom of the screen during one of the songs. The extras, well the one extra, in the way of an Alan Freed Bio is interesting and adds some value to this release. Well done to Passport Productions, now how about a DVD release for the other low-budget Rock'n'Roll films from the '50's?

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story stinks but the music ROCKS!, April 28, 2004

By	Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Okay, I saw this on a Saturday afternoon when I was about 8 on television and later on "Night Flight" (of blessed memory). Anyone who has seen this knows how bad the acting and how cornball the story was. Actually, that's part of the appeal. But the MUSIC! That's where the fun begins! Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon, LaVern Baker (of "Jim Dandy") fame, original doo-woppers the Moonglows (a few years before Marvin Gaye joined), etc. Alan Freed's band isn't half bad either.

Now the goofy acting and dumb story provides lots of unintended laughs. Especially when Teddy Randazzo and his buddies try to rock with outrageously bad singing and dancing that makes Al Gore look like James Brown! What a hoot! Get it, program it to the good stuff, and enjoy.