richard-764 This is a typical Hollywood quickie that is only watchable because it is so bad...right up there with "Don't Knock The Twist" (recently seen on TCM). "Twist Around the Clock" does have better production values that "Don't Knock..." but that is faint praise. As with all these '50s and '60s exploitation r'n'r films, no one sings live--all lip-syncing, all the time. Note that in this film, as with "Don't Knock The Twist," most of the dancers on the floor are middle-aged or older. The performers on stage always seem to include one "big name" or two, but manage to toss in some very lame performers who were unknown before, and after the films. For a companion feature that skewers the folk boom, check out "Hootenany!" With Johnny Cash, Joe & Eddie, Judy Henske and George Hamilton IV. Laughable, silly, Hollywood hokum.

ptb-8 I really enjoyed TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK as a genuinely snazzy low budget 1961 dance pic with a roster of (still) very well known songs. Other comments will tell you how identical it is to ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK (it certainly is) but for me that did not diminish any of the delight. I am quite fascinated by Vicki Spencer who I see only made one other film TEENAGE MILLIONAIRE. What happened to her? In TWIST she is almost everything Ann-Margret is a year later in BYE BYE BIRDIE... even in her gorgeous looks. Dion I had never seen but knew the songs well (The Wanderer, Runaround Sue) ... he is certainly the iconic 60s nightclub star in the Bobby Darin style. I found the script hilarious. It is actually funny with some great sly comments... especially between the father and daughter nemeses... Chubby Checker is his dynamite fun self... I also thought he was very handsome in this film, given I guess he was in his mid 20s, something I had never observed... perhaps that is because I am used to seeing later years material when he looks good, but here, younger he is certainly compelling. TWIST is enormous musical fun and for kids to enjoy because they could actually dance along with it. My DVD is a Canadian reprint with new titles over the original Katzman/Columbia 35mm release... the body of the film is the same as the original film. I had such a good time watching this film... I really laughed with it and thought the songs terrific... and then there is the dance team fun.... and The incredible Marcels to top it off.

Bud_Brewster TCM showed a marathon of rock n' roll movies on January 31, 2007 and I taped the entire 12-hour run. I really enjoyed "Rock Around the Clock" (1956). It was energetic and fun, with plenty of good music.Then I started watching the next feature, "Twist Around the Clock" (1961).I expected the two films to be similar -- but I was flabbergasted when I realized that "Twist" was filmed using exactly the same script as "Rock"! The plot elements were copied perfectly, scene-for-scene. In fact, the dialog was even the same – word-for-word – throughout both movies!Watching these two films back-to-back is like a trip to the Twilight Zone -- a perfect example of parallel universes.

django-1 TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK, the first of two TWIST films produced by Sam Katzman and featuring the great Chubby Checker, is basically a remake of the old BIll Haley vehicle ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK, and like that film, the "star" here, Chubby Checker, is little more than a guest star in his own film. In the earlier film, Alan Dale is featured as the lead performer and his story is told, with Bill Haley merely being a "friend" who helps the lead character and who performs a handful of songs. Here, Clay Cole is featured, and Chubby Checker does three or four songs, has a few lines of dialogue, and performs in a group number at the film's finale. Checker is a fine performer, and he handles the dialogue well--the NEXT Twist movie he was in, DON'T KNOCK THE TWIST, was MUCH better in that Checker was given a lot more importance in the story, and had much more dialogue with star Lang Jeffries. As for TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK, it also has Dion do three songs, and the vocal group the Marcels do a nice Christmas twist song. However, the dramatic sections of the film are weak, especially so since they are a carbon copy of the same plot in the earlier Bill Haley movie. If you take the Dion and Chubby songs, and the Marcels' number, out of the film, there is really not much else worthwhile. Fans of DON'T KNOCK THE TWIST will recognize the same cheesy sets and tiny "stage" used as the TV studio in that film. Serious rock and roll fans should see this film ONCE so they can say they have seen ALL the pre-Beatles rock and roll films, but only the lip-synched Chubby Checker and Dion songs are worth keeping. This was aired a few years back on AMC, where I taped my copy and originally saw the film.