Humble, yet charismatic rock singer Arnie Haines (an engaging performance by the smooth-voiced Alan Dale) and his band return to his small country hometown only to discover that crusty killjoy mayor George Bagley (an amusingly cranky Pierre Watkin) has banned rock'n'roll music because it's sinful. So Arnie gets a bunch of fellow rock bands together to stage a concert in order to prove that rock'n'roll is okay and acceptable. Granted, the plot is pretty corny (and was later rip offed almost thirty years later in "Footloose"!), but director Fred E. Sears effectively maintains a brisk pace and upbeat tone throughout. Better still, the rock acts featured herein are uniformly excellent and enjoyable: Bill Haley and His Comets totally smoke on the jaunty instrumental "Goofing Around," the Treniers have a ball with the infectiously cheery "One of These Days," and legendary rock'n'roll wildman Little Richard almost steals the whole show with rousing and spirited renditions of his classic big hits "Tutti Fruitti" and "Long Tall Sally." The lively dancing is likewise quite stirring and impressive, with a thrilling and dynamic stage production of the Charleston rating as the definite highlight. Moreover, both the rock acts and the kids alike are extremely nice, clean-cut, wholesome and even inoffensive, thereby giving this picture a certain quaint charm that's impossible to either resist or dislike. Popular rock disc jockey Alan Freed acquits himself well as Arnie's crafty opportunistic manager. Patricia Hardy contributes a winningly spunky turn as smart and sweet teenager Francine MacLaine. An immensely fun flick.

This is yet another of a group of early R&R films with the same moral...."Parents, don't judge the music of your kids harshly...after all, you were a bunch of flappers back in your day, screaming '23 Skiddoo' while jitterbugging like crazy..." This film would have been better, MUCH better, if they actually had a Rock N Roll guy as the lead. But they had a Bing Crosby type, moaning out some pretty awful tunes. I'm sure there were some very restless teenagers in the theater when this film was released. They probably couldn't wait 'till the REAL rockers came on screen. Once that happened, the film came into it's own. As has been pointed out in earlier posts, these performances are the centerpiece of the film.In addition to the musical numbers by Haley & the Comets, the Treniers and Little Richard, the dancing was pretty amazing in this movie. Young people of the past could really move, unlike today (also check out YouTube clips of Ronnie Spector dancing at the Pepppermint Lounge during The Beatles '64 tour; clips from the early 70's Soul Train line; and clips from the 80's film "Breakin'" to see what young folks could do during the past decades).Another bright spot was the performance of Jana Lund as the bratty, teenage nymphet. She did an amazingly sultry dance when first spotted, and you just knew this kitten would be trouble. On top of that, Ms. Lund was wearing the most blatant example of a 50's "Balistic Missle Bra" since Janet Leigh in "Jet Pilot".All in all, not a bad film, but not as good or as much fun as "Rock Around The Clock".

New York singer Arnie Haines (Alan Dale) is tired of his career as a famous recording star so he takes a break by visiting his old tiny home town. When he arrives he discovers that he's now despised by all the crotchety adults who feel that rock music is ruining their kids' lives. Haines decides to stage a big rock and roll show in the next town to prove to the parents that rock can be a good influence for their children. Arnie Haines himself is more of a crooner and not a joy to listen to, but we do get to hear several numbers by Bill Haley and His Comets, as well as the great Little Richard, who belts out his awesome killer renditions of "Long Tall Sally" and "Tutti Frutti". The movie is a good relic for rock 'n roll history, and also manages to take a shot at modern-day (1950s) parents to make them realize how their old music of the 20s and 30s was just as "wild" as their kids'. While the movie makes a valid point there in showing those generational similarities, the truth is that 1950s rock music was always pretty innocent enough, but the same case for a meeting of the generations couldn't be made for 2007 parents weaned on '50s music as compared to today's Gangsta cRap. *** out of ****

I always liked this film. Not a bad plot, the acting is better than average and there is, of course, some great music. Bill Haley and Little Richard provide some real excitement, plus here's a chance to see the great Treniers and talented pop singer Alan Dale in rare screen appearances. The legendary Alan Freed plays a sometimes over zealous manager and is terrific in the role. Rock and Roll fans should not pass this one by!