| Jamboree | |
| Director: | Roy Lockwood |
| Music: | Neal Hefti |
| Cinematography: | Jack Etra |
| Editing: | Robert Broekman |
| Studio: | Vanguard Pictures |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. |
| Runtime: | 86 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Jamboree, known as Disc Jockey Jamboree in the United Kingdom, is a 1957 American rock and roll film directed by Roy Lockwood. Its story is about a boy and girl, Pete Porter and Honey Wynn (played respectively by Paul Carr and Freda Holloway), who become overnight sensations as a romantic singing duo who run into trouble when their squabbling managers (Kay Medford and Bob Pastene), try to turn them into solo acts. Against this backdrop in cameo performances appear some of the biggest names of rock and roll in the 1950s lip-syncing to their recordings.
Jamboree was among several musical films intended to capitalize on the popularity of rock and roll music, and appears to have derived its name from a show hosted by disc jockey Alan Freed that began airing over Radio Luxembourg in 1956, with Freed recording his featured segments while working for WINS in New York City. A rivalry developed during this time between Freed and Philadelphia DJ Dick Clark, who both appear in this film. Freed had pioneered rock and roll package tours as well as rock and roll movies (Rock Around the Clock, Don't Knock the Rock and Rock, Rock, Rock); however, U.S. Congressional hearings into payola practices in radio broadcasting eventually ruined Freed's career, while Clark's career was uninterrupted.
Jamboree was essentially a film where the storyline (romance and rivalry between two young rising singers and their managers) was secondary to the musical performances, and the film gained historical importance due to appearances by various performers and DJs.
Jamboree features influential American disc jockeys Alan Freed and Dick Clark appearing as themselves, along with a roster of international DJs in cameo roles and several leading rock, pop and country & rockabilly acts of the time. Clark acts as the host for a televised musical variety show within the film, with performances by Fats Domino ("Wait and See"); Buddy Knox ("Hula Love"); Jimmy Bowen ("Cross Over"); Charlie Gracie ("Cool Baby"); Jerry Lee Lewis ("Great Balls of Fire", in a version different from his Sun 45 release[1]); Louis Lymon and the Teenchords ("Gone");[2] Carl Perkins ("Glad All Over"); Jodie Sands ("Sayonara"); Frankie Avalon ("Teacher's Pet"); Slim Whitman ("Unchain My Heart"); The Four Coins ("A Broken Promise"); and Count Basie and His Orchestra, with Joe Williams on vocals ("I Don't Like You No More"). Connie Francis overdubbed Freda Holloway's singing voice for the film.The cast also includes hit songwriter Aaron Schroeder (as The Songwriter); and cameo appearances by Brazilian singer Cauby Peixoto (as Ron Coby) and British bandleaders Jack Jackson (host of the Decca Records show on Radio Luxembourg) and Jack Payne, among other radio personalities.
Clark is shown hosting the "second hour" of a "United Charities" telethon to raise money to fight what is described only as "this dreaded disease". Clark introduces various disc jockeys from across the U.S. and Canada, who then introduce the featured acts. (He is listed in the film's disc jockey credits as a DJ at WFIL in Philadelphia, the city where, at the time, he also hosted the original local program that would become American Bandstand.) Later in the film, DJs Jackson (ATV) and Payne (BBC) in London, Werner Goetze (Bayerischer Rundfunk) in Munich, and Chris Howland (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) in Cologne are shown introducing records by "Pete and Honey" on the air. Finally, performances are the entertainment at a convention of the Music Operators of America, a group of jukebox owners that bought 150 records per week in the 1950s.[3]