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Rock 'n' Roll (1959 film)

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Rock 'n' Roll
Directed byLee Robinson
Produced byLee Gordon
StarringJohnny O'Keefe
Production
company
Distributed byLee Gordon (Australia)
Kerridge Organisation (New Zealand)
Release date
  • 30 October 1959 (1959-10-30)[1]
Running time
80 minutes
LandAustralien
SpracheEnglisch
Johnny O'Keefe performing at the Sydney Stadium while being filmed for the documentary Rock 'n' Roll

Rock 'n' Roll is a 1959 Australian film directed by Lee Robinson. While often referred to as a documentary, it is essentially a complete filming of a rock concert held in mid-October 1959, at Sydney Stadium. The film was commissioned by Lee Gordon to promote a string of 1959 shows entitled Lee Gordon's 1959 Rock'n'Roll Spectacular, mainly showcasing Australian and New Zealand artists. While the show was largely based around native talent, the headline act was the American singer and pop idol Fabian.

In order of appearance:

  • Lee Gordon
  • The Rebels – without Johnny Rebb
  • The Delltones – backed by The Rebels - perform "Gee" and "Why"
  • The Crescents - perform "Mr Blue" and "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"
  • Warren Williams - perform "Talahassie Lassie" and "My Teenage Love"
  • The Graduates with Nancy Eichorn[2]
  • Lonnie Lee - backed by ex-Leemen band-'Let's have a party' and 'Lover Doll' from album 'This is Lonnie Lee'
  • Johnny Devlin and the Devils (ex The Leemen)
  • Col Joye and the Joy Boys - perform
  • Johnny O'Keefe and the DJs - appears last, joined by The Delltones - songs include "Shout"

Removed from film

Production

Ad from SMH 16 Oct 1959

Filming took place over concerts at the Sydney Stadium on 15 and 16 October 1959. The film was shot on seven cameras over four concerts. Directed by Lee Robinson, cameramen included Johnny Leake, Keith Loon, Bill Grimmo Bobby Wright, and Ron Horner.[4]

Release

The first showing of Rock 'n' Roll was in Newcastle, NSW on 30 October 1959 followed by very limited showings in Melbourne and Sydney, the film disappeared from the public eye. It played at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney in December 1959.[5] Apart from a stint in New Zealand, it was not shown in any other country. The movie did receive a reasonably wide release in New Zealand through the Kerridge Organisation who paid £3,000 for the movie.[1][6] According to the official website of the film, Fabian appeared in the original cut of the movie but was removed after objections from Fabian's management (as no film contact with him had been arranged).[1] Robinson says the film's release was hurt by Gordon who would not let distributors have the film under normal terms.[4]

Poster from The Press 30 Dec 1959

Reception

In December 1959 Johnny Devlin was granted an injunction preventing the exhibition of the film by Greater Union theatres. Devlin claimed that the film grossly defamed him. However after Gordon agreed not to release any more Devlin recordings without Devlin’s permission, the injunction was dismissed.[7]

Rock 'n' Roll is regarded as a unique and priceless piece of Australiana and Rock 'n' Roll history. Having been filmed by arguably Australia's most important pioneering director, it is also, just as importantly, a treasured record of Australia's cinematic past. The film's worth is also enhanced by the fact that the sound and camera technology used for its filming was ahead of its time. Seven cameras were used to film the wild scenes that evening at the Sydney Stadium, capturing the essence of the Australian/International Rock 'n' Roll scene in the 1950s like no other.

Stephen Vagg, reviewing the film for Filmink said he "had a great time" watching it. "The fact that it was shot on 35mm film, meant that it has aged very well and it is a fascinating glimpse of a time now passed...The cinema had a healthy amount of boomers in the audience, which added to the enjoyment – they would excitedly whisper to each other during the film going “I remember that singer”, and sing along to some of the tunes."[8] Lonnie Lee remembers singing on the show. Just prior to the show Johnny Devlin's NZ band The Devils left him and joined Lonnie Lee as The Leemen so Lonnie's previous Leemen became Johnny's Devils. Lonnie's pants were bright red satin and his guitar black.

Loss and rediscovery

Robinson would periodically licence the surviving amount of film to other filmmakers.[8] Besides small sections of the film with no audio attached, the O'Keefe performance of "Shout" was thought to be the only surviving piece of the films footage until recently. This performance in the film has been used in the opening credits of ABC Australia's music show Rage since 1987.

Until 2020, Rock 'n' Roll was classified as a lost film by the NFSA and rested in their 'most wanted' list for a number of years.[9] Its recent discovery is arguably the most important Australian cultural artefact recovered in the last 50 years, due in no small part to the fact that Rock 'n' Roll was the only 35mm feature-length film of a live Rock 'n' Roll concert ever made in the 1950s. Moreover, it is arguably the only piece of 35mm Rock 'n' Roll live footage from the 1950s in existence, since The Pied Piper of Cleveland (the only other 35mm live film shot in this decade) is considered to be lost by many researchers.

Re-release

In March 2020, 60 years since its premiere in Newcastle, the film was unearthed in Melbourne, Australia by Mark laria.[8] It is reported to be in excellent condition for its age, with the image quality far surpassing any existing footage of this era. This was in no small part due to the equipment used for the filming, and that the film was shot on 35mm safety film. In early 2021, a short clip from the documentary was posted onto YouTube, featuring Johnny O'Keefe performing "Swanee River".[10]

The restored film screened at ACMI, Melbourne for the first time in over 50 years on 6 December 2021, then in a restored state for the first time at Dendy Cinemas Newtown[11] Sydney on 22 May 2023. The screening included three performers of the film in attendance, including Col Joye, Lonnie Lee and Tony Brady - alongside surviving members of the audience.

On 6 April 2024, the entire film was uploaded to the Rock'n'Roll (1959) official YouTube channel.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c "History". Rock'n'Roll official website.
  2. ^ Buckley, Ken (1 February 2016). "Remember the Graduates". The North West Star. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  3. ^ "They've got their diploma". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 27, no. 18. 7 October 1959. p. 7 (Teenagers Weekly). Retrieved 24 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ a b Robinson, Lee (15 August 1976). "Lee Robinson" (Oral history). Interviewed by Graham Shirley. National Film and Sound Archive.
  5. ^ "Previews of new films". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 December 1959. p. 39.
  6. ^ "Advertisement for film". The Press. 14 October 1960. p. 1.
  7. ^ "Rock'n'Roll Singer". The Press. 17 December 1959. p. 10.
  8. ^ a b c Vagg, Stephen (30 June 2023). "Rock'n'Roll is Back Again". Filmink.
  9. ^ "NFSA'S MOST WANTED".
  10. ^ Rock'n'Roll 1959 Film (25 January 2021). Swanee River performed by Johnny O'Keefe/Delltones from the lost film 'Rock'n'Roll' (1959). Retrieved 10 July 2024 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Rock'n'Roll 1959 Film". rocknroll1959.com. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Rock'n'Roll 1959 Film - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
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