SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROCK! (1956) ***

A group of concerned adults carry out a crusade to ban rock n’ roll in their town.  (“We must put a stop to the vulgar, LEWD, rocking and rolling!”)  Mike “Touch” (Swamp Diamonds) Connors is the DJ who wants to open up a rock n’ roll club so the teeners have a place to rock out.  Naturally, the uptight adults want to have it shut down.  The kids also have to contend with a gangster (Paul Dubov) who wants to muscle in on Connors’ territory.  Connors’ solution is to hold a televised “trial” to show that rock n’ roll was really no different than the music from the old timers’ days.

Fats Domino appears on Connors’ show and does “Honey Chile”, “Ain’t That a Shame” (the definite highlight), and “I’m in Love Again”.  (Note how he’s never in the same shot with the teens.)  The rest of the musical acts are OK, but they just pale in comparison to Fats.

Shake, Rattle and Rock! would still be worth it just to see Fats perform, but it’s a really good teeny-bopper musical jukebox in its own right.  The plot is just sturdy enough to provide a clothesline for director Edward L. (The She-Creature) Cahn to hang a bunch of rock n’ roll numbers on, and the performances are solid too.  Connors makes for a likeable lead and the Marx Brothers’ usual foil, Margaret Dumont, is a hoot as the leader of the moral brigade.  It’s also amusing hearing Sterling Holloway, the familiar voice of Winnie the Pooh, as Connors’ right-hand man who speaks almost exclusively in slang and jive.  In the film’s funniest scene, he takes the witness stand and speaks so much jive, they have to use subtitles so you can understand him.  (You have to wonder if this is where Airplane! got the idea for the jive passengers scene.)

I was even surprised they were able to slip an interesting McCarthy parable in there with the musical numbers.  There’s a subplot where the kids are stirred up by the gangster, who incites a riot, causing the teens to smash up Dumont’s car.  Connors knows the kids who did it, but refuses to name names, knowing full well they were provoked into it.  His refusal to rat on the kids gives this an added layer of social commentary that most of these movies lack.  If you came to shake, rattle and rock during Shake, Rattle and Rock!, you certainly will, but you will also get something unexpected:  A genuinely good movie.

AKA:  Rock n’ Roll Club.