ROCK ROCK ROCK! - Alan Freed and his Rock 'n Roll Band - "Rock 'n Roll Boogie" (1956)

Dwrayger Dungeon was originally conceived as a showcase to salute the cool music in the horror and science fiction movies of the 50's and 60's! Well, we ran out of those a long time ago, but there's still some pretty cool rockin' features out there, and tonight's Saturday Special is just that!!

"ROCK ROCK ROCK!" You can't get much more definitive than that!

Leave it to Rock and Roll DJ extraordinaire Alan Freed to put together a show this varied and power packed! Alan Freed coined the phrase "Rock 'n Roll!" Yes, he was one of the coolest guys to ever walk the planet! Alan Freed liked to use the name Moondog until he was sued by wild man blind composer/musician Moondog, and he had to stop using the name! Out of all the outstanding and historical music in this movie, I chose a song that's not on any soundtrack, nor did it ever have any commercial potential, but it's one rockin' number featuring Alan Freed and his Rock 'n Roll Band, with Freddie Mitchell blowing the Hell out of the sax, and Alan Freed himself throwing in shouts, hollers, and vocals, if you want to call them that! Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present: "Rock 'n Roll Boogie!"

In the 50's and 60's, it might have been Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield that had all the men standing at attention, but it was Tuesday Weld who was driving all the teenage boys crazy! Who needs the other days of the week? Just like Dobie, I fell in love with Tuesday Weld on the "The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis" show as Thalia Menniger! Tuesday's still around today, and there's something that tells me she probably still looks fantastic! This was her first role ever, she was just 13!

The songs that Tuesday Weld performs are actually sung by Connie Francis!

Born as Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, Connie had some big hits, and later in life, had some major issues! In 1957, Connie had a # 4 hit with "Who's Sorry Now," in 1958, "Stupid Cupid" (Stupid Cupid, stop picking on me!) made it to number 14, also in 1958, she had a # 2 single called "My Happiness," that I can't even remember for some reason, "Lipstick On Your Collar" hit # 5 in 1959, in 1960 she had a # 1 single with "My Heart Has A Mind Of It's Own," in 1961, "Where The Boys Are" went to # 4, and in 1962, she had another # 1 hit with "Don't Break The Heart That Loves You!" In the next four years, she had 20 songs that cracked the top 100, and mostly in the top 50! You would think Connie Francis would have been on top of the world forever, but in 1974, she was raped and almost suffocated by a still unknown assailant, then in 1977, she had nasal surgery, and completely lost her voice and had to take vocal lessons, and in the 1980's she was diagnosed with manic depression, and shuffled around some 17 different hospitals over the course of four years! After all of that, Connie managed to pull her life back together, and has been performing off and on ever since! Here's the link to her official website and the whole story! What a gal!!

Much bigger than being in the "Three Chuckles," Teddy Randazzo wrote the everlasting classic song "Goin' Out Of My Head" recorded by Little Anthony and the Imperials! The talent in this film is literally off the charts, and the amazing thing is that ain't the half of it!

It's hard to find out whatever happened to Ivy Schulman, because this was her only film appearance, but I guess it's okay because her song here is a bit beyond novelty!

The Moonglows biggest hit was in 1955 called "Sincerely!" It made it to # 20, but it was also # 1 on the R&B charts!

Chess Records new star Chuck Berry performs the classic "You Can't Catch Me!"

A lot of people consider this compilation LP "Rock Rock Rock" to be Chuck Berry's first album!

The Flamingos hit "I Only Have Eyes For You" was # 11 on the charts in 1956, but the song has lived on much longer than that!!

Jimmy Cavallo and His House Rockers were the first all white band to play at The Apollo Theater in Harlem when they celebrated the release of "Rock Rock Rock!"

Johnny Burnette is one of my favourite musicians of all time! His biggest chart hit was in 1960 with "You're Sixteen," but he was so much more than that! Johnny's brother Dorsey had quit the Trio a week before this movie was made and was replaced by Elvis' bass player's brother, Johnny Black!

Lavern Baker's biggest hit was a # 6 smash in 1958 called "I Cried A Tear," but from the years of 1955 to 1965 she had 20 other songs that hit the top 100!

Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers hit the top with their # 6 chart busting hit "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" in 1956 before disintegrating!! In this movie they perform the killer 'I'm Not A Juvenile Delinquent!"

For some artists, "Rock Rock Rock" was probably the highlight of their career, like Cirino and the Bowties! They have one song that's on a couple of compilation albums called "My Baby's In Love With Me!"

The last two main cast members are Fran Manfred (not to get confused with Manfred Mann), and Jacqueline Kerr. Fran had a 7" single release that Alan Freed used to play on his radio show called ("Oh My Darling) Don't You Know), and this was about it for Jacqueline!

The kids at home are digging the crap out of the show on the TV, and after feigning agony and despair, the music is so contagious that even Pops is getting into it!

"We want Rock 'n Roll, we want Rock 'n Roll, we want Rock 'n Roll, all night long!"

And what's the best thing about "Rock Rock Rock?" You can download or stream it for free any time you want at the Internet Archive, and that's a genuine steal of a deal!

THE MONSTER / Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation - 1925

It's time to check out this silent film starring Lon Chaney as a mad doctor who has taken over an asylum with the help of his demented pals! This is basically a comedy and is well worth checking out, Chaney is extra creepy in this one. I got this copy off TCM.

So, here's a nice sound clip from this great little flick for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button over by our monster in a bottle, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's a taste of... THE MONSTER!

The story starts with this weird looking character sitting in a tree who ends up causing a car accident near an asylum in the middle of the night. Nice guy!

I put this still up because this nice looking scene is obviously a matte painting.

Here's popular co-star Johnny Arthur as a clerk who wants to be a detective, so, gets a mail order diploma which includes some cuffs and a tin star. Johnny was Darla's dad in THE LITTLE RASCALS and specialized in timid or whiny characters.

This is Lon as the super weirdo, Dr. Ziska. Johnny, Betty, the girl he likes and her beau end up stranded at the asylum at night, Ziska tells them that he is in charge of the facility.

And, this is Ziska's lil' helper... No, nothing fishy going on around here!

Then, Betty has some strange adventures, she's almost crushed in her bed by a huge press and later is attacked by arms coming out of her mattress, like in PHANTASM.

Johnny and the gang discover the real head of the asylum and others in the cellar!

In a wild and crazy scene, Johnny walks along the electrical wires trying to get away from Ziska's other helper, the dude that causes the accidents.

It becomes obvious that Ziska is totally out of his freakin' mind when he captures Betty and prepares to experiment on her for his nefarious reasons.

Here's an excellent portrait of Lon as Dr. Ziska!

Johnny is the real hero, he uses the clothes of the helper to fool Ziska and ties him up in the electric chair instead of the intended victim!

Ziska's helper has flipped the switch on the electric chair and discovers to his dismay that he's wrongly fried the doctor instead, a happy ending!!

We're back tomorrow with more from The Dungeon!

THE GIRL HUNTERS - Mickey Spillane IS Mike Hammer! (1963)

Well, some of us made it to 2015, now let's just see if we an get through it! Life ain't getting any easier so it's good to have tough guy, good guy around like Mikey Spillane when you're in a pinch!

This title card tells it all! It's a Colorama Feature, but "The Girl Hunters" is a black and white film! All future bets are off, and anything goes from here on out, and justifiably so! The snappy title theme was created by Phillip (Space Master X-7, Weasel While You Work) Green! Phillip also composed the music for 15 episodes of "The Huckleberry Hound Show, and 41 episodes of "Quick Draw McGraw!"

Indeed he is! Indeed he is! This is the reason I wanted to see "The Girl Hunters" so much! It's not often that you get to see a real writer, not an actor, acting out his own character the way he wrote it!

Frank Morrison Spillane was a rough and tumble guy, and his main character Mike Hammer was just as tough or tougher! Here's a couple of quick facts you might not know about Mickey Spillane!  He started his career writing super hero comic books before he starting writing novels! His books have sold over 200 million copies world wide! When he got out of the Army, Mickey worked with the Barnum and Baily circus as a trampoline artist, a knife thrower, and the guy who got shot out of a cannon! He worked undercover for the FBI! Later in life, he became a Jehovah's Witness!

"The Girl Hunters" starts off with private detective Mike Hammer just starting to come out of a seven year drinking binge caused by the mysterious disappearance of his secretary/lover Velda! Even after he stops drinking, he still always has time for a Pabst Blue Ribbon or two!

Mike Hammer's got good taste in cars! This T-Bird looks so perfect that it looks like a Matchbook toy car!

And what do you know? Here's the Barbie Doll! Shirley Eaton two years before "Goldfinger" as Laura Knapp, the wife of a recently murdered Senator! Mike Hammer has some hard questions for her!

A lot of the time he's delivering his lines, Mickey has a pained expression on his face like this!

A lot of the people that Mike Hammer knows start dying off....

....One at a time!

Great bar scene! So what are you doing here Gringo? You are not welcome here!

I'd like you to meet my little brother Ice-P!

Uh, No thanks, you answered my questions just fine!

There's always time to have another beer! In real life, Mickey Spillane didn't drink any hard liquor or smoke, but he would have an occasional beer! Mike Hammer, on the other hand, was a different story!

Mickey/Mike has a pensive moment!

Mike and Laura have been getting along pretty swell, but just before they are ready to go to dinner, Mike finds a shotgun with the barrel shoved down into the dirt of a large potted plant! He explains to Laura in no uncertain terms, that if the shotgun was plugged up with dirt, it would explode in her pretty face, and that would be it!

Well, I'm sorry, I'm just a girl!

Mike Hammer is so pissed off that he cancels their dinner date! He doesn't want to eat with somebody that stupid!

Down at the local news stand while picking up his favorite magazine, it hits Mike in the face like a mackerel, and he puts a whole bunch of pieces of the puzzle together in his mind!

After almost getting killed, it's time to head back and talk to Laura with a whole new set of questions!

Laura's got a different answer for Mike this time!

While it's not as good as "Kiss Me Deadly" by a long shot, no matter what, it's fun to see an author act out a character he created on his own terms! Mickey Spillane passed away in the year 2006 at the age of 88, and he'll never be replaced!  It's kind of hard to imagine him in this last shot, walking up to the door and offering up a copy of "The Watchtower!"