Rock 'n' roll and the 1950's. Vols 1-4

United States, 1988

Film
Please note

Sorry, we don't have images or video for this item.

Rock ‘n’ roll and the 1950’s presents in four volumes a collection of rare and historical footage without commentary that captures the energy and values of the 1950s that embodied the Rock & Roll culture. Featured is live performance clips along with movie trailers, advertisements and other footage that describe the mood of the day and it’s cultural values. Included are televised performances of: Bill Haley and The Comets, Fats Domino, The Platters, Gene Vincent, the Everly Brothers, Bobby Darin, Charlie Grace, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and of course Elvis Presley.

Content notification

Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.

Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.

How to watch

This work has not been digitised and is currently unavailable to view online. It may be possible for approved reseachers to view onsite at ACMI.

Learn more about accessing our collection

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

production company

Diamond Productions

Video 45

Duration

01:42:00:00

Production places
United States
Production dates
1988

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

316011

Language

English

Audience classification

G

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → United States - Social life and customs

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - United States

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Cultural relativism

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Culture - Social aspects

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social change

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social values

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → United States - Social conditions

Historical films

History → History

Music & Performing Arts → Big band music

Music & Performing Arts → Bop (Music)

Music & Performing Arts → Music

Music & Performing Arts → Music - 20th century

Music & Performing Arts → Music - United States

Music & Performing Arts → Musicians, American

Music & Performing Arts → Popular music

Music & Performing Arts → Rock music

Performance

Performance → Music - Performance

Short films

Short films → Short films - United States

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/92694--rock-n-roll-and-the-1950s-vols-1-4/ |title=Rock 'n' roll and the 1950's. Vols 1-4 |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=17 June 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}