Rock 'n' Roll (1959 film)

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 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.

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[1]
Running time
80 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Johnny O'Keefe performing at the Sydney Stadium while being filmed for the documentary Rock 'n' Roll

Removed from film

Production
Ad from SMH 16 Oct 1959

Filming took place over concerts at the Sydney Stadium on the 15 and 16 October 1959.

The film was shot on seven cameras over four concerts. Cameramen included Johnny Leake, Keith Loon, Bill Grimmo Bobby Wright, and Ron Horner.[3]

Release

Australia

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. Apart from a stint in New Zealand, it was not shown in any other country.

Robinson says the film's release was hurt by Gordon who would not let distributors have the film under normal terms.[3] 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.[1]

It played at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney in December 1959.[4]

In December 1959 Johnny Devlin was granted an injunction preventing the exhibition of the film by Greatre 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.[5]

New Zealand
Poster from The Press 30 Dec 1959

The movie did receive a reasonably wide release in New Zealand through the Kerridge Organisation who paid £3,000 for the movie.[1][6]

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.

Lee Robinson would periodically licence the surviving amount of film to other filmmakers.[7]

Status as 'lost' film

Up 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. 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.

Rediscovery

In March 2020, 60 years since its premiere in Newcastle, the film was unearthed in Melbourne, Australia by Mark laria.[7] 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.

Rock 'n' Roll is a unique and priceless piece of Australiana and Rock 'n' Roll history. Having been filmed by arguably Australia's most important pioneering director, Lee Robinson, 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. 7 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.

In early 2021, a short clip from the documentary was posted onto YouTube, featuring Johnny O'Keefe performing "Swanee River". Follow this link.

Re-release

The film screened at ACMI, Melbourne for the first time in over 50 years on 6 December, 2021. And then in a restored state for the first time at Dendy Cinemas Newtown[8] Sydney, on May 22, 2023. The May 22 screening included 3 stars of the film in attendance, including Col Joye, Lonnie Lee and Tony Brady.

Reception

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."[7]

References
  1. "History". Rock'n'Roll official website.
  2. "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.
  3. Robinson, Lee (15 August 1976). "Lee Robinson" (Oral history). Interviewed by Graham Shirley. National Film and Sound Archive.
  4. "Previews of new films". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 December 1959. p. 39.
  5. "Rock'n'Roll Singer". The Press. 17 December 1959. p. 10.
  6. "Advertisement for film". The Press. 14 October 1960. p. 1.
  7. Vagg, Stephen (30 June 2023). "Rock'n'Roll is Back Again". Filmink.
  8. "Rock'n'Roll 1959 Film". rocknroll1959.com. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
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