Twist Around the Clock

1961 film by Oscar Rudolph

Twist Around the Clock
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Oscar Rudolph
Written by	Robert E. Kent
Produced by	Sam Katzman
Starring	Chubby Checker
Cinematography	Gordon Avil
Edited by	Jerome Thoms
Music by	Freddy Karger
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	December 30, 1961
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.4 million (US/Canada)^[1]

Twist Around the Clock is an American musical film released in 1961. It was a remake of Sam Katzman and Robert E. Kent's Rock Around the Clock. Like Rock Around the Clock, which was followed by a sequel titled Don't Knock the Rock, the film was followed by a sequel titled Don't Knock the Twist.

Plot

A struggling manager visiting a hayseed town discovers a new dance craze, the Twist, and hopes to turn it into an overnight nationwide sensation.

Cast

Chubby Checker as Chubby Checker
Dion DiMucci as Dion (as Dion)
Vicki Spencer as Vicki Spencer
The Marcels as The Marcels
Cornelius Harp as The Marcels Lead Singer (as The Marcels)
Fred Johnson as The Marcels Bass Singer (as The Marcels)
Gene Bricker as The Marcels Singer (as The Marcels)
Ronald Mundy as The Marcels Singer (as The Marcels)
Richard Knauss as The Marcels Singer (as The Marcels)
Allen Johnson as The Marcels Singer (as The Marcels)
Clay Cole as Clay Cole
John Cronin as Mitch Mason
Mary Mitchel as Tina Louden (as Mary Mitchell)
Maura McGiveney as Debbie Marshall
Tol Avery as Joe Marshall
Alvy Moore as Dizzy Bellew
Lenny Kent as Georgie Clark
Tom Middleton as Jimmy Cook
Jeff Malloy as Larry Louden (as Jeff Parker)
John Bryant as Harry Davis

Production

Twist Around the Clock only cost $250,000 to make, but in less than six months it grossed six million - so of course I'm gonna make more 'Twist' movies !
— Sam Katzman

Critical reception

Describing the film as having "something resembling a plot," critic Eleanor Mannikka wrote in AllMovie that "In the end, this teen-oriented tale is best remembered for two of Dion's hit songs, "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer".^[2] Writing for Turner Classic Movies, critic Rob Nixon described the film as "a remake of the first true rock 'n' roll musical, Rock Around the Clock (1956), with a nearly identical plot."^[3] A review of the film in TV Guide described it as "a bit of good fun" that "bears a certain naive charm of a long-gone era," and that it "is really just an excuse for plenty of rock tunes."^[4]

References

^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1962". Variety. 9 Jan 1963. p. 13. Please note these are rentals and not gross figures
^ Mannikka, Eleanor. "Twist Around the Clock (1961)". AllMovie. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
^ Nixon, Rob. "Twist Around the Clock (1961)". Turner Classic Movies. Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
^ "Twist Around the Clock - Movie Review". TV Guide. TV Guide. Retrieved 2023-07-21.

External links

Twist Around the Clock at IMDb

Films produced by Sam Katzman

Showmen's/
Screencraft

His Private Secretary (1933)
Police Call (1933)
Ship of Wanted Men (1933)
Public Stenographer (1934)
The Moth (1934)
The Big Race (1934)
St. Louis Woman (1934)

Supreme

A Demon for Trouble (1934)
Western Justice (1934)
The Brand of Hate (1934)
Smokey Smith (1935)
Tombstone Terror (1935)
Trail of Terror (1935)
Alias John Law (1935)
Big Calibre (1935)
Sundown Saunders (1935)
Brand of the Outlaws (1936)
The Kid Ranger (1936)

Victory

Peter B. Kyne	Danger Ahead (1935) Hot Off the Press (1935) Bars of Hate (1935) The Fighting Coward (1935) Taming the Wild (1936) aka Madcap A Face in the Fog (1936) Rio Grande Romance (1936) Kelly of the Secret Service (1936)
Tom Tyler	Rip Roarin' Buckaroo (1936) The Phantom of the Range (1936) Orphan of the Pecos (1937) (also d) Brothers of the West (1937) (also d) Cheyenne Rides Again (1937) Lost Ranch (1937) (also d) Mystery Range (1937) Feud of the Trail (1937)
Serials	Shadow of Chinatown (1936) Blake of Scotland Yard (1937)
Herman Brix	Two Minutes to Play (1936) Silks and Saddles (1936) Amateur Crook (1937) (also d) Flying Fists (1937) Million Dollar Racket (1937) Sky Racket (1937) (also d)
Tim McCoy	Six-Gun Trail (1938) Lightning Carson Rides Again (1938) Texas Wildcats (1939) Code of the Cactus (1939) Outlaws' Paradise (1939) Trigger Fingers (1939) The Fighting Renegade (1939) Straight Shooter (1939)

Puritan

The Rogues' Tavern (1936)

Monogram

East Side Kids	East Side Kids (1940) Boys of the City (1940) That Gang of Mine (1940) Pride of the Bowery (1941) Flying Wild (1941) Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941) Spooks Run Wild (1941) Mr. Wise Guy (1942) Let's Get Tough! (1942) Smart Alecks (1942) 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge (1942) Kid Dynamite (1942) Clancy Street Boys (1942) Ghosts on the Loose (1943) Mr. Muggs Steps Out (1943) Million Dollar Kid (1943) Follow the Leader (1944) Block Busters (1944) Bowery Champs (1944) Docks of New York (1945) Mr. Muggs Rides Again (1945) Come Out Fighting (1945)
Bela Lugosi	Invisible Ghost (1941) Bowery at Midnight (1942) The Corpse Vanishes (1942) Black Dragons (1942) The Ape Man (1943) Voodoo Man (1944) Return of the Ape Man (1944)
Musicals	Zis Boom Bah (1942)
Billy Gilbert	Spotlight Scandals (1943) Crazy Knights (1944) Three of a Kind (1944) Trouble Chasers (1945)
The Teen-Agers	Junior Prom (1946) Freddie Steps Out (1946) High School Hero (1946) Vacation Days (1947)

Columbia

Serials	Who's Guilty? (1945) Jungle Raiders (1945) Brenda Starr, Reporter (1945) Hop Harrigan (1946) Chick Carter, Detective (1946) Son of the Guardsman (1946) Jack Armstrong (1947) The Vigilante (1947) The Sea Hound (1947) Brick Bradford (1947) Congo Bill (1948) Tex Granger (1948) Superman (1948) Adventures of Sir Galahad (1949) Batman and Robin (1949) Bruce Gentry – Daredevil of the Skies (1949) Pirates of the High Seas (1950) Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) Cody of the Pony Express (1950) Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951) The Mysterious Island (1951) Roar of the Iron Horse (1951) Son of Geronimo (1952) Blackhawk (1952) The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd (1953) The Lost Planet (1953) Riding with Buffalo Bill (1954) Gunfighters of the Northwest (1954) Adventures of Captain Africa Mighty Jungle Avenger! (1955) Perils of the Wilderness (1956) Blazing the Overland Trail (1956)
Jean Porter	Betty Co-Ed (1946) Little Miss Broadway (1947) Sweet Genevieve (1947) Two Blondes and a Redhead (1947)
Jon Hall	Last of the Redskins (1947) The Prince of Thieves (1948) The Mutineers (1949) Hurricane Island (1951) When the Redskins Rode (1951) Brave Warrior (1952) Last Train from Bombay (1952)
Jungle Jim	Jungle Jim (1948) The Lost Tribe (1949) Mark of the Gorilla (1950) Captive Girl (1950) Pygmy Island (1950) Fury of the Congo (1951) Jungle Manhunt (1951) Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1952) Voodoo Tiger (1952) Savage Mutiny (1953) Valley of the Head Hunters (1953) Killer Ape (1953) Jungle Man-Eaters (1954) Cannibal Attack (1954) Jungle Moon Men (1955) Devil Goddess (1956)
Gloria Henry	Racing Luck (1948) Triple Threat (1948)
Gloria Jean	I Surrender Dear (1948) Manhattan Angel (1949)
Musical	Mary Lou (1948) Glamour Girl (1948)
Crime	Chinatown at Midnight (1949) State Penitentiary (1950) Revenue Agent (1950) Chain Gang (1950) The Miami Story (1954) Chicago Syndicate (1955) The Crooked Web (1955) Inside Detroit (1955) Teen-Age Crime Wave (1955) Miami Exposé (1956) Rumble on the Docks (1956) Escape from San Quentin (1957) The Tijuana Story (1957) The World Was His Jury (1958)
William Castle	Serpent of the Nile (1953) Fort Ti (1953) Slaves of Babylon (1953) Conquest of Cochise (1953) The Law vs. Billy the Kid (1954) Jesse James vs. the Daltons (1954) Masterson of Kansas (1954) The Battle of Rogue River (1954) Charge of the Lancers (1954) Drums of Tahiti (1954) The Saracen Blade (1954) The Iron Glove (1954) Duel on the Mississippi (1955) The Gun That Won the West (1955) New Orleans Uncensored (1955) Uranium Boom (1956) The Houston Story (1956)
Action	Barbary Pirate (1949) The Mutineers (1949) Last of the Buccaneers (1950) Tyrant of the Sea (1950) The Magic Carpet (1951) The Golden Hawk (1952) Thief of Damascus (1952) Prisoners of the Casbah (1953) Flame of Calcutta (1953) Siren of Bagdad (1953) Prince of Pirates (1953) Target Hong Kong (1953) The 49th Man (1953) Pirates of Tripoli (1955) Crash Landing (1958)
War	Purple Heart Diary (1951) A Yank in Korea (1951) The Pathfinder (1952) A Yank in Indo-China (1952) Sky Commando (1953) Mission Over Korea (1953) The Last Blitzkrieg (1959) The Enemy General (1960)
Western	California Conquest (1952) Jack McCall, Desperado (1953) Seminole Uprising (1955) Blackjack Ketchum, Desperado (1956) Utah Blaine (1957) The Wild Westerners (1962)
Sci-fi	Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) The Werewolf (1956) The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957) The Giant Claw (1957) Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) The Night the World Exploded (1957) Lock Up Your Daughters (1959)
Rock Musical	Rock Around the Clock (1956) Cha-Cha-Cha Boom! (1956) Calypso Heat Wave (1957) Don't Knock the Rock (1957) Juke Box Rhythm (1959) Twist Around the Clock (1961) Don't Knock the Twist (1961)
Drama	Going Steady (1958) Life Begins at 17 (1958) The Flying Fontaines (1959) The Love-Ins (1967) For Singles Only (1968)

Fox

Pirates of Tortuga (1961)
The Wizard of Baghdad (1961)

Tallahassee 7000 (1961)

MGM

Musicals	Hootenanny Hoot (1963) Get Yourself a College Girl (1964) Kissin' Cousins (1964) Your Cheatin' Heart (1964) Harum Scarum (1965) When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965) Hold On! (1966) The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967) A Time to Sing (1968)
Non-musical	Hot Rods to Hell (1967) Riot on Sunset Strip (1967) (sold to AIP) The Young Runaways (1968)