Jamboree (1957)

Two young singers, a boy (Paul Carr) and a girl (Freda Holloway), are put together as a singing duo by their managers who were once married to each other. The two youngsters fall in love but his manipulative manager (Kay Medford, FUNNY GIRL) plots to break up the act by having him go solo much to the chagrin of her manager (Robert Pastene). This slim excuse for a plot is merely an excuse for a fifties rock 'n roll extravaganza aimed at the teen set. Over half the film is devoted to musical acts. Most of them are inconsequential but the film offers up the opportunity to see some of the best rock/blues/swing performers of that era. There's the great Fats Domino pounding the ivories to Wait And See, Jerry Lee Lewis introduces his sizzling Great Balls Of Fire for the first time, Count Basie swings the One O'Clock Jump while Joe Williams wails I Don't Like You No More. Then there's a young pre-stardom Frankie Avalon and Buddy Knox performing his top 10 novelty hit Hula Love and Carl Perkins singing Glad All Over (later recorded by The Beatles) and even though she's not in the film (she dubs Freda Holloway), a pre-stardom Connie Francis gets prominent billing as "and the voice of Connie Francis". If you're interested in the music of the era, it's worth your while but don't watch it for the simplistic plot. With Dick Clark as himself.