Tonight's Movie: Rock, Pretty Baby (1956) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

ROCK, PRETTY BABY (1956) was a highly enjoyable discovery thanks to Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

I'd never heard of this movie from Universal Pictures, which was just released on Blu-ray, but was intrigued when I saw that names like Henry Mancini and Bobby Troup were behind the music.

I was also interested in the cast, which includes names like Fay Wray and Shelley Fabares.

John Saxon plays teenage Jimmy, who heads up a popular rock 'n roll combo looking to move up the ladder of musical success.

Jimmy's father (Edward Platt), a doctor, is concerned about Jimmy's "obsession" with music, preferring that Jimmy study medicine. Naturally, this causes some conflict, although in the end Jimmy's dad is a reasonable man who wants the best for his son.

Jimmy is encouraged when he meets pretty Joan (Luana Patten), daughter of a musician (Douglas Fowley); Joan has a passion for music herself and plans to study arranging. Through Joan's connections Jimmy's combo is able to enter a TV contest hosted by Johnny Grant.

There are bumps in Jimmy's relationships with both Joan and his father along the way, but as one expects, it all works out in the end...

I found ROCK, PRETTY BABY to be quite a fun 89 minutes. It's certainly not "art," per se -- more like an elevated OZZIE AND HARRIET episode -- but it definitely entertains. The script by Herbert Margolis and William Raynor is nicely constructed and moves the story along at a good clip, directed by Richard Bartlett, and the soundtrack is constantly hopping with bouncy music.

Although Sal Mineo is top billed, this is really John Saxon's movie. I'm fond of him, including his role in the later THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE (1958), and I liked him in this as the dedicated young man wrestling with the problems of growing up.

I also really enjoyed seeing Luana Patten, playing a fairly unique character. Joan isn't just a pretty face but Jimmy's equal, sharing his love or music and working on arrangements for the band. Joan also has the gumption to stand up for herself and not be pushed into doing things she doesn't want to do in order to "go along with the crowd." In short, she's an admirable young lady.

Patten, who was 18 when she made this, was a longtime Disney star, beginning with SONG OF THE SOUTH (1946) a decade earlier. Her five-film Disney association, which included a film I love, SO DEAR TO MY HEART (1948), continued until the year after this movie, concluding with JOHNNY TREMAIN (1957).

Patten was born and died in Long Beach, California, where I was born myself; sadly, she was only 57 when she passed away in 1996.

It's also fun to see Shelley Fabares as Jimmy's little sister; this was a couple years ahead of Fabares' appearance in the ANNETTE (1958) serial on THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB, not to mention THE DONNA REED SHOW (1958-64).

The inclusion of Johnny Grant, a longtime Southern California fixture, gives the movie a "Los Angeles" vibe. The cast also includes Sal Mineo, George "Foghorn" Winslow, Rod McKuen, and Walter Reed.

In addition to the enjoyable songs by Mancini and Troup, Sonny Burke wrote the title tune. McKuen cowrote one of the songs with Troup; another song was written by Phil Tuminello.

The Blu-ray print is from an HD master from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative. There's nothing particularly notable about the cinematography by George Robinson, but it's a nice, crisp print which is a pleasure to view.

Extras include a commentary track by David Del Valle; the trailer, newly remastered in 2K; and a gallery of five additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

I'm very appreciative of Kino Lorber making a relatively unknown film like ROCK, PRETTY BABY available for discovery by new audiences. I liked it and will enjoy it again in the future.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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