Clevercell Very disappointing...

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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.

Lechuguilla A rehash of a fairly plot-less "Rock Around The Clock" (1956), "Twist Around The Clock" functions only as a ninety-minute advertisement for the then-popular song "The Twist" and all products related to same, including the career of singer Chubby Checker.Musical staging is cheap-looking, tacky, and lacks imagination. The dreadful dialogue lacks subtlety and subtext, and even includes the 1950s teenage word "daddy-o". Characters are all stereotyped. Acting is borderline amateurish. Sloppy direction reeks of early 1960s sitcoms. B&W photography is acceptable but conventional. The worst musical number is something called "Merry Twistmas"; get it?Lip-synching of lyrics is obvious, and conveys the impression that singers practiced all of five minutes. The entire production comes across as opportunistic, quickly done, and phony.The one thing I did like was Dion's legit performance midway through of his musical hit "Runaround Sue", a credible rock-n'-roll song.My impression is that the producers simply copied the script of "Rock Around The Clock", adding "The Twist" as the main change. After all, in the intervening five years, no one would ever know this film is just a rip-off of an earlier musical advertisement. For modern viewers, "Twist Around The Clock" serves as a cultural time capsule back to the age of dinosaurs ... daddy-o.

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.

gallifreyent Teen potboilers should not be viewed with hope that great cinematography or compelling plots loom within. Instead, catch Twist and its counterparts through the decades just for the music, slang, and fashion. Ignore loose lip-syncs...even big-budget musicals have missed the alignment at times. Forgive this film for failing to meet music video standards, and just appreciate the stage performances by hit acts of the era. Understand that the Twist was a hugely popular dance that spawned several hit songs just about the dance, a movement across the country that loosened up the straight-laced post-McCarthy public, increased popularity of African-American performers who had more often up to that time been known better by the cover records of their songs by white stars. There was even paperback book about the impact the Twist had on "discoteques" around the planet. Maybe this little film would have been better had the producers simply stripped out the plot and made a documentary of the performers, but there were other films of this kind, and continue to be. Think about it...is showcasing the performers that different from Twist to Justin Loves Kelly, Get Rich or Die Trying', Our Dancing Daughters, 8 Mile, Spice Girls, Help, or Orchestra Wives? But do people go to a film if there's no plot, even a thin one? Some are better than others, but they're all showcases of a music in its time and place. If you don't like the music circa 1961, then pass it by. Otherwise, don't hold it to the same standards as your favorite blockbuster or art house Golden Palm winner.