Rock Around the Clock is a 1956 musical film featuring Bill Haley and His Comets along with Alan Freed, the Platters, Tony Martinez and His Band and Freddie Bell and His Bellboys. It was produced by B-movie king Sam Katzman (who would produce several Elvis Presley films in the 1960s) and directed by Fred F. Sears.
The film was shot over a short period of time in January 1956 and released in March 1956 to capitalize on Haley's success and the popularity of his multimillion-selling recording "Rock Around the Clock," which had played over the opening credits of the 1955 teen flick Blackboard Jungle and is considered the first major rock and roll musical film. The same recording was used for the opening of Rock Around the Clock, marking a rare occasion in which the same song opens films released in a short interval (the recording would be used once again to open the 1973 film American Graffiti).
Plot
Rock Around the Clock tells a highly fictionalized rendition of how rock and roll was discovered. As band manager Steve Hollis observes that big band dance music is failing to draw audiences any longer, he comes across a new sound that piques his interest. While traveling through a small farming town, he attends the local teenage dance and is introduced to rock and roll music and dancing, in the person of local band Bill Haley & His Comets and their associated dancers. Convinced that rock and roll will be the next big thing, Hollis strikes a deal to manage the group and also strikes up a romance with dancer Lisa Johns.
Hollis then turns to agent Corinne Talbot, who handles bookings for nearly all of the venues in which Hollis needs the band to play to gain them exposure. Talbot's primary interest in Hollis, however, is to have him marry her as she has been wooing him for some time, and she's determined to prevent him from succeeding without his working directly for her agency, and Lisa in any event. First, she books the band into a traditionally conservative venue, expecting them to reject the band's brash new sound. But instead, the teens and adults there are excited by the music and embrace it enthusiastically. Next, Talbot simply blacklists Hollis and his acts from the venues she controls. But Hollis maneuvers around her by calling in a favor owed to him by disc jockey Alan Freed. The resulting booking in Freed's venue grants the Comets the exposure they need in spite of Talbot's efforts.
Talbot's final play is to agree to sign the group to a three-year contract that will secure their future, but only on the condition that Johns agree not to marry during the term of that contract. Johns agrees to those terms and Talbot launches their career with a national tour, confident that the contract's marriage prohibition will drive a wedge between Hollis and Johns. Once the contract is signed and the tour begins - climaxing in the Comets and other groups appearing on a coast-to-coast television broadcast - Hollis reveals that he and Johns married quickly during the time it took to draw up the contract. Talbot good-naturedly accepts defeat as they watch the TV broadcast end with Lisa and her dancing partner, her brother Jimmy, dancing as the Comets sing "Rock Around the Clock".
Cast
Alan Freed as Himself
Johnny Johnston as Steve Hollis
Alix Talton as Corinne Talbot
Lisa Gaye as Lisa Johns
John Archer as Mike Dodd
Henry Slate as Corny LaSalle
Featuring the musical talents of: Bill Haley and His Comets The Platters Ernie Freeman Combo Tony Martinez and His Mambo Freddie Bell and His Bellboys