Twist Around the Clock

Rock and Roll in America was dead, and this movie proves it. Twist Around the Clock has none of the energy and sheer, raw brilliance of it's 1950s predecessors. Fortunately, the British invasion was on it's way. Crazy Daddy!

Teen potboilers should not be viewed with hope that great cinematography or compelling plots loom within. Instead, catch Twist and its counterparts through the decades just for the music, slang, and fashion. Ignore loose lip-syncs...even big-budget musicals have missed the alignment at times. Forgive this film for failing to meet music video standards, and just appreciate the stage performances by hit acts of the era. Understand that the Twist was a hugely popular dance that spawned several hit songs just about the dance, a movement across the country that loosened up the straight-laced post-McCarthy public, increased popularity of African-American performers who had more often up to that time been known better by the cover records of their songs by white stars. There was even paperback book about the impact the Twist had on "discoteques" around the planet. Maybe this little film would have been better had the producers simply stripped out the plot and made a documentary of the performers, but there were other films of this kind, and continue to be. Think about it...is showcasing the performers that different from Twist to Justin Loves Kelly, Get Rich or Die Trying', Our Dancing Daughters, 8 Mile, Spice Girls, Help, or Orchestra Wives? But do people go to a film if there's no plot, even a thin one? Some are better than others, but they're all showcases of a music in its time and place. If you don't like the music circa 1961, then pass it by. Otherwise, don't hold it to the same standards as your favorite blockbuster or art house Golden Palm winner.

Concert promoter and his partner believe the rock scene is kaput--but while driving through the mountain town of Alpine Peaks, they happen upon a crowded hall where all the dancers (young and old) are sandpapering the bottoms of their shoes...turns out it's in preparation for a local dance called the Twist. Once the promoter gets a load of those gyrating hips and slippery feet, he sees dollar signs; the next step is to head for New York City to spread the word on this craze, but unleashing a new dance on an unsuspecting public is met with some skepticism. Cheap, stilted attempt at tracing the Twist's origins, with corny dialogue and amateurish performances. Producer Sam Katzman lifted the plot (and much of the dialogue) from his 1956 hit "Rock Around the Clock", which was followed in 1957 by "Don't Knock the Rock"; this movie had a sequel of its own, "Don't Knock the Twist" in 1962. Why Katzman felt rock and roll was fading out and needed this boost is unclear, unless it was just a pretext for getting the plot in motion. Either way, it's a pretty lousy affair, even with performances by Chubby Checker and Dion. *1/2 from ****

If I had never seen "Rock Around the Clock", this movie might be a little easier to take. You see, the producers didn't even bother to write a script; they just copied the one used for "Rock Around the Clock" some years earlier. If that wasn't bad enough, "Twist" pales in every comparison to the original. Horrible acting and mediocre songs are all over this film. It's only two bright spots are the appearances of Chubby Checker and Dion. And who ever told Clay Cole he could sing? Forget this one.

Typical of its Type, this is another Teen Phenom Film that doesn't have a clue. First, more than once the Script puts down Rock n Roll as a thing of the Past and berates it and says there is no need for that Flash in the Pan, forget it, because now there is "The Twist".

Well, The Twist is RnR albeit a safe variation thereof that got accepted by Middle Agers before the Kids could say "get your own groove Daddy-O". This Movie was just another example of Dumbed Down, Cash Raking, Corporate Sanitizing and Filtration, by way of The Twist Craze, of the Raw and Raunchy Music that was the first wave of Rock n' Roll and deemed a Blight on America's Youth.

Most of these Movies have at the Lead some White Bread Spasmodic embarrassingly mimicking His betters. A Clean-Cut Crooner with all the right "Attributes" except Talent. Here there is some Dolt named Clay Cole making an Ass out of Himself through most of the Film while a couple of real Stars are given time to Perform a few Real Hits.

Chubby Checker, who stole Hank Ballard's Song and Singing Style and Re-Released Hank's "The Twist" Record without a mention or a nod, does do one Legitimate Song, Twistin USA. Dion does His two Biggest Hits, The Wanderer and Runaround Sue, both Great Pop Teen Anthems. There is also an appearance by The Marcels that had a huge Hit or two, but here deliver only a Novelty called Merry Twistmas.

There is more in this Movie to Hate than to Love and overall it is worth a View for a Few Minutes of Time-Capsule Song Performances by Chubby Checker and Dion but that's it.