Rock All Night | |
---|---|
Directed by | Roger Corman |
Written by | Charles B. Griffith |
Based on | The Little Guy by David P. Harmon |
Produced by | Roger Corman |
Starring | Dick Miller Abby Dalton Russell Johnson Mel Welles Ed Nelson Clegg Hoyt |
Cinematography | Floyd Crosby |
Production company | Sunset Productions |
Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 61 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Rock All Night is a 1957 crime drama film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Distributed by American International Pictures, it is based on a 25-minute television episode of The Jane Wyman Show from 1955 called "The Little Guy." It stars Dick Miller, Russell Johnson and Abby Dalton. It co-stars Mel Welles, Ed Nelson and Clegg Hoyt. The film was released as a double feature with Dragstrip Girl .
The action starts at a nightclub where The Platters sing two songs. A bitter man called Shorty is kicked out of the club after arguing with a couple. He goes to a nearby bar owned by Al, who is wary about Shorty.
A talent agent, Sir Bop, has persuaded Al to let his client, Julie, audition as a singer. Other inhabitants of the bar include Steve, a journalist looking for a story. Nervous Julie sings a song poorly.
Angie, a truck driver, and his girl friend Mabel come to the bar. Angie tries to start a fight with Shorty, but the latter pulls a knife. Lester, a boxer, his wife Syl and manager Marty also enter the bar – as do two hoods, Jigger and Joey, and gangster, Jerry, who is putting pressure on Al to pay protection and who is interested in Julie.
Sir Bop leaves the bar and Shorty picks a fight with the overbearing Jerry. A young man, Pete, arrives with news that a nearby grocery store has been robbed and its two owners killed. Pete recogniss Jigger and Jerry as those responsibly for the crime. Jigger shoots Pete dead and the bar turns into a siege situation.
Jigger orders Julie to sing to give the impression all is well and she sings well. The police determine both Jigger and Joey are inside and threaten to come in. Shorty talks down Jigger and disarms Joey and arranges for them to surrender.
The Kid decides to quit boxing. The police arrest Jerry for extortion. Julie tells Sir Bop she is quitting singing and Shorty invites her to go see King Kong at the movies.
In October 1956 Roger Corman bought the rights to "Little Guy" from Jane Wyman for his production company Sunset Productions. Dane Clark was originally sought to play the lead. [1] [2]
AIP had signed The Platters to appear in a film and asked Roger Corman if he had anything suitable. Corman decided to use The Little Guy. Corman gave the script to Charles B. Griffith to expand into a feature. Mel Welles later claimed Corman wanted Griffith to turn the story "into a rock script to emulate the success of Rock Around the Clock and all those pictures were having." [3]
According to Corman, the Platters were only available for one day and that day was not in Corman's schedule. "That put quite a bit of pressure on us, considering the entire script had been written around the Platters", said Corman. "We had to re-write it again, quickly. In the final film, The Platters are only included in the first ten minutes of the plot. That might have upset a few moviegoers who walked into the theater because of the star billing the group received." [4] [5]
Griffith says he wrote the script over the weekend:
I cut it up with a pair of scissors, this original screenplay, and added new characters like Sir Bop, which was to be played by Lord Buckley, but Mel Welles ended up playing it because Buckley was out of town. Mel wrote his own "hiptionary" for sale in the theatre to go with it. Dick Miller was in the Dane Clark part. He was the little guy of the title. The music was by Buck Ram, The Platters and those people all doing their hit songs. Of course, no songs were written in 24 hours... I would just put down "musical number here". The girl has her dialogue with the guys and then turns around to sing a song. It was up to them what she sang, up to Roger. [6]
The film was at one stage known as Rock'n'Roll Girl. [7]
Songwriter and manager Buck Ram offered a slew of his musical talent such as The Platters, accompanied by the Eddie Beal sextet with Eric Dolphy on baritone saxophone, 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 [8] 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". Corman was worried no one would understand what Wells was saying so Wells wrote a dictionary of hip talk for the film. [5]
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. [9] It was the first film for Abby Dalton, who had been introduced to Corman through a friend; she made several films for the director and introduced him to Jeff Corey. [10]
Corman said "To get the film shot within a week, I'd go all day with just the lunch break, then shoot till dinner time. Then after a bite to eat, I'd work on the next day's shots and production problems, get a few hours' sleep and begin again the next day." [11]
Despite the short shooting schedule and minimal locations (only two sets), Corman always regarded the movie as a personal favourite. [12] In 1982 Corman said "I haven't seen the film in the longest time and have no idea of what it would look like today, but I remember it as a warm, funny story. It might seem a little bit static on the screen today because it was shot, largely, on one set. I loved it at the time." [4]
Variety gave it a poor review, calling it "a weirdie—on the order of – "Time of Your Life"—to the rhythm of rock *n’ roll. Extremely mediocre, and drawing unintended guffaws at its matjnee bow here... Only the performance (very good, especially considering the so-so production and direction) of Dick Miller in the lead keeps the audience's interest in the film from disintegrating. The musical break-ins are unimpressive, and of the supporting cast, only Robin Morse (as the bartender) and Mel Welles (as smalltime hip-talking agent) manage to make any impression." [13]
In 1993 Showtime announced they would remake a number of AIP films of the 1950s. Quentin Tarantino was linked to remake Rock All Night, [14] but the film was never made.
Robert Rodriguez got the idea to make Grindhouse after seeing a poster on Tarantino's wall advertising Rock All Night alongside Dragstrip Girl. [15] Rock All Night influenced Tarantino on Death Proof , with its bar setting, double bill nature, and change in tone. [16]
Roger William Corman 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 was known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film.
Fabian Anthony Forte, professionally known as Fabian, is an American singer and actor.
American International Pictures LLC is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing films from 1955 until 1980, a year after its acquisition by Filmways in 1979.
The Little Shop of Horrors is a 1960 American horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about a florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. The film stars Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, and Dick Miller, who had all worked for Corman on previous films. Produced under the title The Passionate People Eater, the film employs an original style of humor, combining dark comedy with farce and incorporating Jewish humor and elements of spoof. The Little Shop of Horrors was shot on a budget of $28,000. Interiors were shot in two days, by utilizing sets that had been left standing from A Bucket of Blood.
Richard Miller 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 Corman, including Joe Dante, James Cameron, and Martin Scorsese, with the distinction of appearing in every film directed by Dante. He was known for playing the beleaguered everyman, often in one-scene appearances.
The Wild Angels is a 1966 American independent outlaw biker film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Made on location in Southern California, The Wild Angels was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and 1960s counterculture. It inspired the biker film genre that continued into the early 1970s.
The Undead is a 1957 horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Pamela Duncan, Allison Hayes, Richard Garland and Val Dufour. It also features Corman regulars Richard Devon, Dick Miller, Mel Welles and Bruno VeSota. The authors' original working title was The Trance of Diana Love. The film follows the story of a prostitute, Diana Love (Duncan), who is put into a hypnotic trance by psychic Quintus (Dufour), thus causing her to regress to a previous life. Hayes later starred in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958). The film was released on February 14, 1957 by American International Pictures as a double feature with Voodoo Woman.
The Terror is a 1963 American independent horror film produced and directed by Roger Corman. The film stars Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson, the latter of whom portrays a French officer who is seduced by a woman who is also a shapeshifting devil.
Mel Welles was an American film actor and director. His best-remembered role may be that of hapless flower shop owner Gravis Mushnick in the 1960 low-budget Roger Corman dark comedy, The Little Shop of Horrors.
Ski Party is a 1965 American teen musical comedy film directed by Alan Rafkin and starring Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman. It was released by American International Pictures (AIP). Ski Party is considered as a beach party film spin-off, with a change of setting from the beach to the ski slopes – although the final scene places everyone back at the beach.
John Ashley was an American actor, producer and singer. He was best known for his work as an actor in films for American International Pictures, producing and acting in horror films shot in the Philippines, and for producing various television series, including The A-Team.
Three Little Bops is a 1957 American animated musical comedy film, directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. A takeoff on The Three Little Pigs told as a hip, jazzy musical, the short features the voice of Stan Freberg, with music provided by jazz composer/trumpeter Shorty Rogers. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on January 5, 1957 as part of the Looney Tunes series.
Charles Byron Griffith was an American screenwriter, actor, and film director. He was the son of Donna Dameral, radio star of Myrt and Marge, along with Charles' grandmother, Myrtle Vail, and was best known for writing Roger Corman productions such as A Bucket of Blood (1959), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), and Death Race 2000 (1975).
The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club.
The Premature Burial, also known as Premature Burial, is a 1962 American horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Ray Milland, Hazel Court, Alan Napier, Heather Angel and Richard Ney. The screenplay by Charles Beaumont and Ray Russell is based upon the 1844 short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe. It was the third in the series of eight Poe-themed pictures, known informally as the "Poe Cycle", directed by Corman for American International Pictures.
Night Call Nurses is a 1972 American sex comedy film directed by Jonathan Kaplan. It is the third in Roger Corman's "nurses" cycle of films, starting with The Student Nurses (1970).
The Student Teachers is a 1973 film directed by Jonathan Kaplan. It was inspired by the "nurse" cycle of pictures starting with The Student Nurses (1970). Roger Corman says it was one of the best of the cycle. It was made by the same team who had done Night Call Nurses.
Carnival Rock is a 1957 film directed by Roger Corman with musical performances by The Platters, David Houston, Bob Luman and His Shadows, and the Blockbusters.
The Wild Racers is a 1968 American film directed by Daniel Haller and starring Fabian, Mimsy Farmer, and Judy Cornwell. The screenplay concerns a Grand Prix racing car driver.
Dragstrip Girl is a 1957 film starring John Ashley in his first lead role. American International Pictures released the film as a double feature with Rock All Night and it proved an early success for the studio.