Pick a Day

Music History Events: Movies

July 13, 1959 The movie Hound Dog Man, starring Fabian and Dodie Stevens, goes into production.

April 22, 1959 The Alan Freed "Rock and Roll movie" Go, Johnny, Go premieres in New York, featuring Chuck Berry, Jackie Wilson, Ritchie Valens, Eddie Cochran, The Cadillacs, and The Flamingos.

July 2, 1958 Elvis Presley's fourth movie, King Creole, opens while The King is serving in the Army. Elvis gets surprisingly good reviews for his acting.

June 7, 1958 The movie High School Confidential, featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, opens.

May 12, 1958 The movie Let's Rock, with Paul Anka, Danny & the Juniors and The Royal Teens, opens.

March 1, 1958 Elvis Presley begins filming the movie King Creole in New Orleans.

January 20, 1958 Elvis Presley receives his draft notice, which allows him a 60-day deferment to finish his film King Creole.

December 16, 1957 Pat Boone's "April Love" hits #1 in the US for the first of six weeks. The song is from the movie of the same name starring Boone and Shirley Jones.

December 7, 1957 The movie Jamboree, featuring a scene where Jerry Lee Lewis performs "Great Balls of Fire," debuts in theaters. Also appearing in the film are Fats Domino, Carl Perkins, Frankie Avalon and Connie Francis.

November 8, 1957 Elvis Presley's third movie, Jailhouse Rock, opens nationally. It had a premiere a few weeks earlier at the Memphis theater where Elvis was once an usher.

October 17, 1957 The Elvis Presley film Jailhouse Rock premieres in Memphis, Tennessee.

September 24, 1957 The movie Mister Rock And Roll, starring the famous disc jockey Alan Freed, debuts in America. In the film, Freed tells the story of Rock and Roll, with performances by Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon and Brook Benton.

July 9, 1957 Elvis Presley's second film, Loving You, has its US premiere (Elvis does not attend since he got a special showing the night before).

February 22, 1957 Gladys and Vernon Presley, Elvis' parents, are filmed in the audience as their son performs "Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do" for Loving You. After his mother's death, Elvis will never watch the scene again.

February 13, 1957 Filming is completed on the UK's first rock and roll movie, Rock You Sinners.

January 23, 1957 Bill Haley & his Comets attend the Australian premiere of their movie Don't Knock The Rock while on tour there.

January 21, 1957 Filming begins on Elvis Presley's second movie, Loving You.

December 7, 1956 Rock! Rock! Rock!, one of the earliest Rock and Roll movies, opens in theaters. The film features the popular disc jockey Alan Freed along with Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers and LaVern Baker.

December 1, 1956 One of the first rock movies, The Girl Can't Help It, opens in America. Featuring performances by Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, The Platters and Fats Domino, the film stars Jayne Mansfield as an aspiring singer.

October 13, 1956 The Bill Haley film Don't Knock The Rock starts filming.

October 12, 1956 Massively influential DJ Alan Freed's second film, Don't Knock The Rock, starring Little Richard, Bill Haley, and the Treniers, opens in New York.

April 6, 1956 Having impressed Paramount Studios with his screen test five days earlier, Elvis Presley is signed to a seven-year, three-picture deal worth nearly half a million dollars.

April 1, 1956 Elvis Presley gets his film career going with a screen test at Paramount Studios, where he performs a scene from The Rainmaker. He lands a contract and ends up starring in 31 movies.

March 21, 1956 The movie Rock Around The Clock, about a concert promoter (played by DJ Alan Freed) who brings Rock and Roll to the masses, opens in theaters. The film stars Bill Haley and His Comets and is named after their hit song. It is one of the first movies based on rock music and aimed at teenagers.

September 29, 1954 The original musical version of A Star Is Born, featuring Judy Garland, opens in Hollywood. The first non-musical version debuted in 1932 as What Price Hollywood?, starring Constance Bennett.

February 10, 1954 The Glenn Miller Story, a biopic about the bandleader starring Jimmy Stewart, opens in theaters.

July 26, 1942 Judy Garland and Gene Kelly record a cover of "For Me And My Gal" for their film of the same name.

August 15, 1939 After five directors, several script drafts, and endless casting changes, the movie musical The Wizard Of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

February 18, 1938 Bob Hope's film The Big Broadcast of 1938 debuts in New York. The film introduces Hope's signature song, "Thanks For The Memory."

November 15, 1934 Gene Autry appears in his first film, In Old Santa Fe, becoming the first "singing cowboy" on the silver screen.