(1957) 2.5 Bruce Eder A product of independent producers Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky -- but distributed by Warner Bros. -- Jamboree (1957) was almost certainly the last "musical" release of a major studio in black-and-white. It's not much of a movie, about two young people (played by Paul Carr and Freda Halloway) trying to make it in the music business, surviving the manipulations of their respective managers (Kay Medford, Robert Pastine) and finding true love as well as success. But surrounding this are some of the top rock & roll talents of the '50s, including Fats Domino ("Wait and See"), Carl Perkins ("Glad All Over"), and Jerry Lee Lewis ("Great Balls of Fire"); there are some notables, including Frankie Avalon, Charlie Gracie, Buddy Knox, and Jimmy Bowen. Additionally, there are lots of also-rans, among them Lewis Lymon & the Teenchords; and some older acts that are completely captivating, most notably Count Basie and His Orchestra, the latter doing "One O'Clock Jump," and Joe Williams is a great solo-featured number -- indeed, the latter is one of those oft-overlooked places where big band, R&B, and rock & roll did intersect. The other highlight for pop-culture mavens are the appearances of various disc jockeys from across the United States (D.C.'s Milt Grant, Philadelphia's Dick Clark, and New York's Jocko Henderson) and Canada as themselves in various vignettes. The story isn't much, though the acting is above average for this kind of movie, and the fact that it was shot in New York gave the producers access to such unusual talents as Kay Medford (in a surprisingly effective dramatic performance). The acting is also infinitely superior to Rosenberg's and Subotsky's earlier jukebox movie, Rock, Rock, Rock!. The matching of the shots is sometimes very poor, and there's not even an effort made -- except with the Basie and Williams clips -- to make the bands look like they're really performing, with none of the instruments hooked up or microphones visible, but the best of the performers throw themselves into the clips and make them generally worth watching.

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Jamboree (1957)

Jamboree

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Suitable for Children

genres

Musical

sub-genres

category

Feature

directed by

Roy Lockwood

countries

USA

released

1957

run time

86 min.

produced by

Warner Brothers

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by Hal Erickson synopsis

Jamboree adheres to the usual formula of late-1950s rock&roll films: A plethora of musical numbers linked together by the wispiest of plotlines. Kay Medford heads the cast as manipulative showbiz agent Grace Shaw. Hoping to land pop singer Pete Porter (Paul Carr), Grace connives to break up Pete's romance with female vocalist Honey Wynn (Freda Holloway). But who cares? The audience came to see such musical faves as Fats Domino, Count Basie, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jodie Sands, Ron Coby, Slim Whitman, Carl Perkins, Frankie Avalon, Charlie Gracie and the Four Coins. As a promotional tie-in, Jamboree also features appearances by 21 of North America's top rock-and-roll deejays.

characteristics

- Musician's Life

- Rock-music

- Rockabilly-music

- Recording

- Romance

- Romantic

- Swing-music

- Star

- Songwriting

- Songwriter

- Music-agent

- Manager

- Divorce

- Disk-jockey

- Disc-jockey

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