Crazy Katz

TCM just showed a whole series of rock'n'roll exploitation films. Many of them were produced by Sam Katzman.

Katzman produced hundreds of films in his life, and all of them put together cost less than Titanic. Among his rock-related movies were Rock Around The Clock, Don't Knock The Rock, Calypso Heat Wave (in 1957, a lot of people thought--hoped--Calypso would replace rock), Juke Box Rhythm, Twist Around The Clock and Don't Knock The Twist (he was so cheap he didn't even want to pay for new words).

His formula was to jump on a trend and put out a cheap film before it was over. It was a very successful concept, and actually helped preserve a lot of cool performers from the 50s and 60s.

I noticed in several of his films, someone plays the very non-rock Harold Arlen tune "Let's Fall In Love." Was he trying to teach the rock generation what "good music" was? Nah. I'm assuming either it was in public domain or Sam had some special deal.