Hollywood Rocks ‘N’ Rolls In The 50’s
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Main Program: B-
An early entry into Passport Video’s low-budget DVD music
special interest titles is one boldly dubbed Hollywood Rocks ‘N’ Rolls In
The 50’s, which shows how Hollywood got lucky when B-movie The
Blackboard Jungle (1955) had the good fortune to feature Bill Haley &
His Comets’ Rock Around The Clock, which began the town’s
contradictory-but-profitable relationship with the genre. The main show goes into the late 1950s with
bad formula B-films capturing Grade A+ classic music performances and the rise
of “The Elvis Presley Musical” before that became a joke.
Outside of a basic-but-necessary history of the rise of
the genre against nationwide objections, the trailer footage and TV footage
offered throughout is the best reason to still get this DVD, followed by the
interviews decades later with those who were there. After viewing this, you can see why it is still in print.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 image has some letterboxed or
semi-letterboxed images here and there, but image quality is varied otherwise
and that is typical of such a compilation documentary. The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is monophonic,
with little of the older material possibly being stereo anyhow. Extras that are not part of the main program
but integrated as if they were include interviews with Anne Francis and Mamie
Van Doren, and “Side Tracks” segments on Alan Freed/Frankie Lymon, Elvis
Presley, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tommy Sands, and Chuck Berry. All are valuable additions which passport
ought to consider with their one-hour music DVDs much more often.
- Nicholas Sheffo
