''Carnival Rock'' is a 1957 film directed by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

with musical performances by

The Platters The Platters are an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The act ...

, David Houston,

Bob Luman Robert Glynn Luman (April 15, 1937 – December 27, 1978) was an American country and rockabilly singer. Early life and career Luman was born in Blackjack, Texas, United States, and raised in Nacogdoches, Texas. His early interest in music was ...

and His Shadows, and the Blockbusters.

Plot

A nightclub owner, Christopher 'Christy' Cristakos, falls in love with the club's singer, Natalie Cook. However, the singer is in love with Stanley, a local businessman/gangster. After the gangster wins control of the club, Cristakos, the previous owner, begins to perform comic routines between the acts at the night club as part of his (Cristakos) plan to win Natalie back. Eventually, the gangster and the singer marry, which causes the previous owner to leave alone.Frank, A. The Films of Roger Corman. Batsford Publishing (1996)

Cast

* Brian Hutton as Stanley * Susan Cabot as Natalie * David J. Stewart as Christopher 'Christy' Cristakos *

Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corm ...

as Ben * Jonathan Haze as Max *

Ed Nelson Edwin Stafford Nelson (December 21, 1928 – August 9, 2014) was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Michael Rossi in the television series ''Peyton Place (TV series), Peyton Place''. Nelson appeared in episodes of many TV p ...

as Cannon *

Chris Alcaide Chris Alcaide (October 22, 1923 – June 30, 2004) was an American film and television actor. He mostly appeared on western television shows including, ''Gunsmoke'', ''Bonanza'', ''Rawhide'', '' Wanted: Dead or Alive'', '' Trackdown'', '' L ...

as Slug

Original TV play

The film was based on a one-hour TV play written by Leo Lieberman, called ''Carnival at Midnight''. It was an episode of ''

Climax! ''Climax!'' (later known as ''Climax Mystery Theater'') is an American television anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS pro ...

'' and aired on 3 January 1957.

Jack Smight John Ronald Smight (March 9, 1925 – September 1, 2003) was an American theatre and film director. His film credits include ''Harper (film), Harper'' (1966), ''No Way to Treat a Lady (film), No Way to Treat a Lady'' (1968), ''Airport 1975'' (19 ...

directed.

Original cast

Buddy Ebsen Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr.; April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS television sitcom ''The Beverly Hillb ...

as Ben *

Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor who portrayed Jim Phelps in the television series ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 to 1973 and in its reviv ...

as Stanley *

Oskar Homolka Oskar Homolka (12 August 1898 – 27 January 1978) was an Austrian film and theatre actor, who went on to work in Germany, Britain and the United States. Both his voice and his appearance fitted him for roles as communist spies or Soviet officia ...

as Christy Christakos *

Debra Paget Debra Paget (born Debralee Griffin; August 19, 1933) is a retired American actress and entertainer. She is perhaps best known for her performances in Cecil B. DeMille's epic '' The Ten Commandments'' (1956) and in Elvis Presley's film debut, '' ...

as Natalie

Production

Roger Corman had previously made '' Rock All Night'' (1956), an earlier low budget film based on a TV play which featured musical acts. It was successful relative to its budget and Corman made this similar film for a syndicate of theatre owners.Ed. J. Philip di Franco, ''The Movie World of Roger Corman'', Chelsea House Publishers, 1979 p 84 Filming started in May 1957 at Ziv Studios. Susan Cabot was borrowed from Universal, whom she was under contract to at the time. Music in the film was from

, David Houston,

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

and The Blockbusters, most of whom appear in the movie as themselves.

Songs

*The Platters and the Blockbusters – "Remember When" *David Houston – "One and Only", "Teenage Frankie and Johnny" *Susan Cabot and the Blockbusters – "Ou Shoo Bla De" and "There's No Place Without You" *Bob Luman and the Shadows – "This Is the Night", "All Night Long" *The Blockbusters – "Rock a Boogie" *The Shadows – "The Creep"

Reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' found that Miller and Cabot turned in good performances, stated Corman did a fair job as producer and a better job as director and found the movie had overtones of

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...

mixed with Rock and Roll. Frank found the included music in the film the high point of the movie. Cabot would go on to make a number of films for Corman.

References

External links

*
''Carnival Rock''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* *
''Carnival Rock''
at Letterbox DVD
Complete film
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Complete press book
{{Roger Corman 1957 films 1957 drama films American drama films Films directed by Roger Corman 1950s English-language films Films produced by Roger Corman 1950s American films American black-and-white films