Rock Baby-Rock It
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Murray Douglas Sporup
Johnny Carroll & The Hot Rocks
Don Coats & The Bon-aires
Preacher Smith & The Deacons
The Cell Block Seven
Rosco Gordon & The Red Tops
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
After their landlord informs several teenagers, among them Judy, Larry, Bob and Marilyn, that he has found a paying tenant for the former night club they are temporarily using as a rock 'n' roll dance venue, they realize that unless they can match the rent, they will be forced to try to find a new location. The landlord is unaware that the new tenants, "Crackers" Louis and his boss Tex, are acting on behalf of a Detroit crime syndicate that intends to run an illegal wire racket on the premises. Suspecting that Crackers's operation is illicit, the teenagers assign Judy and Larry to find incriminating evidence against him. Aware of their need to simultaneously search for a new space as well as raise money for the rent, Bob and Marilyn, come up with the novel idea of producing a benefit concert to raise funds. They visit several rock `n' roll clubs in the area and invite the star performers to appear. At one club, they meet dancer Kay Lee and her attorney, Marv Newman, and after Kay agrees to appear at the concert, Marv informs them that he is aware of Crackers' mob background and offers to talk with his friend, Senator Bennett, on the state crime commission. Meanwhile, Judy and Larry follow Crackers to a warehouse where they see him hand over several ledgers to an associate, who places them in a safe. Upon being informed of this, Marv suggests to Bennett that he have federal authorities raid the warehouse. When Tex hears a radio announcement about the upcoming benefit show, he orders Crackers and two other thugs to strong-arm the musicians into not appearing and they attack Johnny Carroll, the star of the show. After investigating the warehouse, two plainclothes officers arrest Tex at his home, while Crackers and his pals are at the club attempting to prevent the show from taking place. A brawl between the teenagers and the thugs is broken up when the officers arrive and arrest the mobsters. The landlord, grateful for being rescued from any involvement with organized crime, agrees that the teenagers can use the club premises indefinitely.
Director
Murray Douglas Sporup
Cast
Johnny Carroll & The Hot Rocks
Don Coats & The Bon-aires
Preacher Smith & The Deacons
The Cell Block Seven
Rosco Gordon & The Red Tops
The Belew Twins
The Five Stars
Kay Wheeler
Linda Wheeler
Lee Young
Gayla Graves
George Russell
Bill Brookshire
Johnny Dobbs
Dave Miller
Phyliss Elzey
Kay Moore
Mike Biggs
Joan Arnold
Mike Giles
Donnie Gililland
Crew
Bob Addington
James M. Black
Bill Blackwood
Johnny Carroll
Don Coats
Bennett Elzey
Harry Gianneschi
Rosco Gordon
Howard Green
Barton Hayes
Jerry Jordan
Henry Kokojan
Katharine E. Purvis
Jay Salam
Preston Smith
Murray Douglas Sporup
The Belew Twins
J. G. Tiger
J. G. Tiger
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film's working title was Hot Rocks. The film's closing title card reads: "The Livin' End." Although the film's copyright registration lists the film as Rock, Baby, Rock It, the onscreen title is Rock Baby-Rock It. The film's advertising mattes included neither the commas, nor the hyphen. The writer-director credit appears as "Written and Directed by Murray Douglas Sporup." A modern source incorrectly credits the screenplay to two writers who wrote the similarly titled Rock, Pretty Baby (see below).
A different modern source confirms that the film was shot in Dallas, TX and that producer J. G. Tiger was a local booking agent and promoter whose real name was Jack Goldman. The same source includes Leroy Cooper, Joe Johnson and Paul Menard among the musicians appearing in the film and states that Kay Wheeler, who performs a "rock 'n' bop" dance routine, founded the first Elvis Presley Fan Club. The actors who portrayed the mobster's henchmen were recruited from the local pro-wrestling scene.
The film's pressbook indicates that Johnny Carroll, Don Coats and The Cell Block Seven recorded for Decca, King and Columbia Records respectively and bills Wheeler as "Queen of Rock." There are conflicting modern opinions as to who composed the songs listed above as "composers undetermined," and it has not been possible to clarify this issue: one source even suggests that Johnny Carroll composed all the songs.
