Dancers Earl Barton and Lisa Gaye take the stage in Rock Around the Clock as Bill Haley and His Comets play in the background.

Rock Around the Clock is the title of a 1956 musical motion picture that featured Bill Haley and His Comets along with Alan Freed, The Platters, and Freddie Bell and the 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. Image File history File linksMetadata RockAroundTheClockFilm. ... Image File history File linksMetadata RockAroundTheClockFilm. ... The original members of Bill Haley and His Comets, c. ... The original members of Bill Haley and His Comets, c. ... Alan Freed (December 15, 1922 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc-jockey (DJ), who became internationally known for promoting African-American Rhythm and Blues (R&B) music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of Rock and Roll. ... The Platters were a very successful doo wop group, formed in 1953. ... The term B-movie originally referred to a film designed to be distributed as the lower half of a double feature, often a genre film featuring cowboys, gangsters or vampires. ... Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer. ... Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known as The King of Rock n Roll, was an American singer, song producer and actor. ...

The film was shot over a short period of time in January 1956 to capitalize on Haley's success and the popularity of his multimillion-selling recording "Rock Around the Clock", and is considered the first major rock and roll musical film. This article is about the song. ...

Rock Around the Clock told a highly fictionalized rendition of how rock and roll was discovered, but moviegoers didn't care about the plotline; they wanted to hear the music. The film was blamed for inciting rowdy behavior in theaters across America and Great Britain, and was banned in some parts of the world. Queen Elizabeth II reportedly requested a special screening of the film; her reaction to it is not known. Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), born 21 April 1926, is the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda...

Despite the movie being named after it, the song "Rock Around the Clock" - although heard three times during the picture - is never actually performed in its entirety on screen. At the end of the picture, the director decides to show the two dramatic leads having a conversation while Haley and the Comets are shown performing the song in the background, the music muted to allow dialogue. It has been suggested that the decision to have people talking over this climactic performance "Rock Around the Clock", a song people came to the film to hear, might have been a contributing factor in reported theater violence.

Rock Around the Clock was one of the major box office successes of 1956, and soon many more rock and roll musical films (notably the big-budget "A" picture The Girl Can't Help It) would be produced and within a year, Elvis Presley (whose first film, 1956's Love Me Tender, was a western, not a rock and roll movie) would soon appear in the most popular films of the genre, including Jailhouse Rock and King Creole. The Girl Cant Help It is a 1956 comedy, musical film, starring Tom Ewell, Edmund OBrien and Jayne Mansfield. ... Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known as The King of Rock n Roll, was an American singer, song producer and actor. ... Love Me Tender was the first motion picture made by singer Elvis Presley and was released in 1956. ... For the song, see Jailhouse Rock (song) Jailhouse Rock is a 1957 film starring Elvis Presley, as Vince Everett, an ex-convict working in the music industry. ... King Creole is a 1958 Elvis Presley film and soundtrack based on the 1952 Harold Robbins novel, A Stone for Danny Fisher. ...

Later in 1956, Bill Haley and His Comets headlined a loose sequel, Don't Knock the Rock, also directed by Sears and produced by Katzman. Rushed into production in order to capitalize on the success of Rock Around the Clock, the sequel failed to duplicate the earlier film's success. Dont Knock the Rock was a 1956 rock and roll film starring Alan Dale as a rock 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. ...

In 1961, Katzman produced the similarly titled, Twist Around the Clock starring Chubby Checker, which was very similar in basic plot to Rock Around the Clock and is often referred to as a remake of the Haley picture. 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Ernest Evans (popularly known as Chubby Checker) (born in Spring Gulley, South Carolina in October 3, 1941, grew up in South Philadelphia. ...

Rock Around the Clock is also the title of a 1987 Canadian documentary. 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Songs performed in the movie

1. "Rock Around the Clock" - Bill Haley and His Comets
2. "See You Later Alligator" - Haley
3. "Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie" - Haley
4. "A.B.C. Boogie" - Haley
5. "Cuero (Skins)" - Tony Martinez and His Band
6. "Mambo Capri" - Martinez
7. "Solo Y Triste (Sad And Lonely)" - Martinez
8. "Razzle-Dazzle" - Haley
9. "Teach You to Rock" - Freddie Bell and the Bellboys
10. "Bacaloa Con Papa (Codfish And Potatoes)" - Martinez
11. "Only You (And You Alone)" - The Platters
12. "R-O-C-K" - Haley
13. "Happy Baby" - Haley
14. "Mambo Rock" - Haley
15. "Giddy Up A Ding Dong" - Bell
16. "The Great Pretender" - Platters
17. "Rudy's Rock" - Haley

No soundtrack album was ever released for the film. The performance of "Rudy's Rock" is the only song performed live on camera and while an off-air recording taken from the film would be released in Germany in the 1990s, a proper studio-quality recording from the set has yet to be released. The band also performs live on camera during a brief rehearsal prior to lip-synching to the Decca recording of "R-O-C-K". This article is about the song. ... See You Later, Alligator (though more commonly spelled without the comma in the title) is the title of an iconic rock and roll song of the 1950s. ... The Great Pretender was a popular song by The Platters. ...

"Rock Around the Clock" is heard three times in the film - once over the opening credits, again in a brief rendition during a montage, and again at the end.

External link

• Rock Around the Clock at the Internet Movie Database