Rock All Night
| Rock All Night | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster by Albert Kallis | |
| Directed by | Roger Corman |
| Produced by | Roger Corman |
| Written by | Charles B. Griffith |
| Based on | TV play The Little Guy by David P. Harmon |
| Starring |
Dick Miller Abby Dalton Russell Johnson Mel Welles |
| Cinematography | Floyd Crosby |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
| Release dates | 24 April 1957 |
| Running time | 62 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Rock All Night is a 1957 American International Pictures (AIP) film produced and directed by Roger Corman based on a 25-minute television episode of The Jane Wyman Theatre from 1955 called "Little Guy." It stars Dick Miller, Russell Johnson and Abby Dalton.
Plot
Two escaping killers hide out in a club called the Cloud Nine and hold the bartender and clients hostage. Amongst the patrons are a nervous singer (Abby Dalton), a boxer, his wife, and manager, an extortionist, a loud thug and his girlfriend, as well as a small man who can determine people's real (as opposed to posed) personalities and has no fear (Dick Miller).
Production
Roger Corman bought the rights to "Little Guy" and gave it to Charles B. Griffith to expand into a feature. According to one account, Griffith says he wrote the script in one day.[1] In another, what happened was two days before filming there was a change in the schedule of The Platters and they were only going to be available for one day so Griffith rewrote the script in 48 hours.[2]
Songwriter and manager Buck Ram offered a slew of his musical talent such as The Platters, The Blockbusters, and Nora Hayes to AIP in return for having the sole rights to a soundtrack album for the film. Corman filmed Ram's acts lip-synching their tunes on a separate set that comprise the beginning of the film. Rock All Night was made in five days[3] and originally appeared as a double feature with Dragstrip Girl.
Comedian Lord Buckley had planned to be in the film, but when he was unavailable, one of Corman's stock company and a writer for Buckley, Mel Welles imitated Buckley in the role of "Sir Bop". Wells wrote a dictionary of hip talk for the film.[2]
Dick Miller, a former Navy boxing champion, played the role Dane Clark did in the television show, with Russell Johnson playing the role that Lee Marvin originated.[4]
Despite the short shooting schedule and minimal locations (only two sets), Corman always regarded the movie as a personal favourite.[5]
Cast
- Abby Dalton as Julie
- Dick Miller as Shorty
- Russell Johnson as Jigger
- Ed Nelson as Pete
- Jeanne Cooper as Mabel
Notes
- ↑ Aaron W. Graham, 'Little Shop of Genres: An interview with Charles B. Griffith', Senses of Cinema, 15 April, 2005 accessed 25 June 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p79
- ↑ p.74 Denisoff, R. Serge & Romanowski, William D. Risky Business: Rock in Film 1991 Transaction Books
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0614517/
- ↑ Ed. J. Philip di Franco, The Movie World of Roger Corman, Chelsea House Publishers, 1979 p 8
References
- Corman, Roger and Jerome, Jim How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime 1998 Da Capo Press
- Naha, Ed The Films of Roger Corman: Brilliance on a Budget 1984 Olympic Marketing
External links
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