Don't Knock the Rock

Don't Knock the Rock was a 1956 rock and roll film starring Alan Dale as a rock star who returns to his hometown to rest up for the summer only to find that rock and roll has been banned there by disapproving adults. With the help of disc jockey Alan Freed and film headliners Bill Haley and His Comets, they set out to prove that the music isn't as bad as adults think.

Related Topics:
1956 - Rock and roll - Alan Dale - Alan Freed - Bill Haley and His Comets

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Co-starring in the film was Little Richard and The Treniers.

Related Topics:
Little Richard - The Treniers

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The film was an immediate follow-up to the earlier Rock Around the Clock, which had also starred Haley and Freed. Although Haley and the Comets were the top-billed stars of this film, their role in it was relatively minor and the film failed to duplicate the box office success of its predecessor. Today it is mostly remembered for introducing Little Richard to a mass audience.

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The title of the film comes from one of Haley's hit records of 1956. The Haley recording is played over the opening credits, but in the film it is Alan Dale who actually performs the number.

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Don't Knock the Rock is often listed in reference books as being a 1957 release, due to it receiving its US premiere in mid-December 1956.

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