Twist Around the Clock

Twist Around the Clock
Twist Around the Clock
	Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Oscar Rudolph
Written by	Robert E. Kent
Produced by	Sam Katzman
Starring	Chubby Checker
Cinematography	Gordon Avil
Edited by	Jerome Thoms
Music by	Freddy Karger
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	December 30, 1961;
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.4 million (US/Canada)

Twist Around the Clock is an American musical film released in 1961. It was a remake of Sam Katzman and Robert E. Kent's Rock Around the Clock. Like Rock Around the Clock, which was followed by a sequel titled Don't Knock the Rock, the film was followed by a sequel titled Don't Knock the Twist.

Plot

Mitch Mason, ex-manager of a once-successful rock band named Jimmy Cook and his Kooks, discovers a dance craze known as the Twist being performed in the small mountain town of Alpine Peaks. He books a band led by Clay Cole and dancers Tina Louden and her brother Larry for a Boston society benefit, and they create a sensation. They are unable to get other bookings, however, because Mitch has spurned the advances of Debbie Marshall, whose father Joe is New York's top talent agent. However, a friend of Mitch's books them into a club where Chubby Checker and Dion DiMucci are also appearing. They are an instant success, and the Twist sweeps New York. When Debbie suspects that Mitch is falling in love with Tina, she gets her father to sign the group on the condition that Tina abstain from marriage for 3 years. The Twisters appear on a nationwide TV jamboree, and Mr. Marshall learns that Mitch and Tina were secretly married before signing the contracts.

Cast

Chubby Checker as himself
Dion DiMucci as himself (as Dion)
Vicki Spencer as herself
The Marcels as themselves
- Cornelius Harp (lead singer)
- Fred Johnson (bass singer)
- Gene Bricker
- Ronald Mundy
- Richard Knauss
- Allen Johnson
Clay Cole as himself
John Cronin as Mitch Mason
Mary Mitchel as Tina Louden (as Mary Mitchell)
Maura McGiveney as Debbie Marshall
Tol Avery as Joe Marshall
Alvy Moore as Dizzy Bellew
Lenny Kent as Georgie Clark
Tom Middleton as Jimmy Cook
Jeff Malloy as Larry Louden (as Jeff Parker)
John Bryant as Harry Davis

Production

Twist Around the Clock only cost $250,000 to make, but in less than six months it grossed six million - so of course I'm gonna make more 'Twist' movies !
— Sam Katzman

Critical reception

Describing the film as having "something resembling a plot," critic Eleanor Mannikka wrote in AllMovie that "In the end, this teen-oriented tale is best remembered for two of Dion's hit songs, "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer".^[2] Writing for Turner Classic Movies, critic Rob Nixon described the film as "a remake of the first true rock 'n' roll musical, Rock Around the Clock (1956), with a nearly identical plot."^[3] A review of the film in TV Guide described it as "a bit of good fun" that "bears a certain naive charm of a long-gone era," and that it "is really just an excuse for plenty of rock tunes."^[4]

References

^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1962". Variety. 9 Jan 1963. p. 13. Please note these are rentals and not gross figures
^ Mannikka, Eleanor. "Twist Around the Clock (1961)". AllMovie. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
^ Nixon, Rob. "Twist Around the Clock (1961)". Turner Classic Movies. Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
^ "Twist Around the Clock - Movie Review". TV Guide. TV Guide. Retrieved 2023-07-21.