| Rock Around the Clock | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Poster_of_the_movie_Rock_Around_the_Clock.jpg) Theatrical film poster | |
| Directed by | Fred F. Sears |
| Written by | Robert E. Kent James B. Gordon |
| Produced by | Sam Katzman |
| Starring | Bill Haley and His Comets Alan Freed The Platters Freddie Bell and the Bellboys |
| Cinematography | Benjamin H. Kline |
| Edited by | Saul A. Goodkind Jack Ogilvie |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | under $500,000[1] or $300,000[2] |
| Box office | $1.1 million (US)[3] or $4 million (world gross)[2] |
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).
- ^ "See 'Rock' World Gross 8 Times Negative Cost". Variety. 28 Nov 1956. p. 5.
- ^ a b Houser, John G. (28 September 1960). "Sam Katzman on Exhib Vagaries". Variety. p. 3.
- ^ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1956', Variety Weekly, January 2, 1957