The Pied Piper of Cleveland

Infobox Film
name = The Pied Piper of Cleveland


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director = Arthur Cohen
producer = Bill Randle
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starring = Bill Randle
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country = flagicon|USAUnited States
language = English
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imdb_id = 0243490

"The Pied Piper of Cleveland: A Day in the Life of a Famous Disc Jockey" is an American musical documentary film produced in the fall of 1955 documenting the career of disc jockey Bill Randle. Arthur Cohen directed the film, which was produced by Bill Randle himself.

Included in the film was live footage shot at several live shows at local high schools and auditoriums on and around October 20, 1955. Performers featured included Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and His Comets, Pat Boone, LaVern Baker, Roy Hamilton, Johnnie Ray and others. This was the first film Presley ever appeared in, and is the "movie short" referred to by Randle when he introduced Presley on his first national TV appearance on "Stage Show" in early 1956. It was Bill Haley's second film appearance after his group appeared in the 1954 short film, "Round Up of Rhythm".

A plaque commemorating one of the filmed performances is located at Brooklyn High School in the Cleveland area, and was installed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The original forty-eight minute film was supposed to be cut down to a twenty minute "short" for national distribution, but never made it that far. As of 2005, 50 years after its was produced, the movie remains unreleased. There is some dispute over whether or not this film actually exists, although it was shown publicly, albeit only once in Cleveland, and excerpts were also aired on a Cleveland television station in 1956.

According to music historian Jim Dawson, Randle, before his death, sold the rights to the film to PolyGram, although it has been reported that Universal Studios has the negatives of the film in its vaults.

The Alien Autopsy connection

"Pied Piper of Cleveland" achieved bizarre notoriety in the 1990s when it was linked to the infamous "Alien Autopsy" film circulated by producer Ray Santilli. According to Santilli, he was attempting to obtain a copy of "Pied Piper" from a man who claimed to have been the cinematographer on the film. Instead of the rare Elvis film, Santilli claims, the cameraman offered him footage he claimed to have shot in the late 1940s of an alleged autopsy of an alien recovered from one of the UFO crash sites.

The FOX network produced a popular documentary, "" centered around this footage, which was later debunked (by FOX) as being a hoax. This has led to some claims that "Pied Piper" is likewise a hoax, however documentation supporting the film's existence predates the Alien Autopsy affair by many years.

References

* Jim Dawson, "Rock Around the Clock: The Record That Started the Rock Revolution" (San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2005)
* Bert L. Worth and Steve D. Tamerius, "Elvis: His Life from A to Z" (Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1990).

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243490/ IMDB link]
* [http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/earlyelvis.htm Bill Randle]
* [http://hometown.aol.com/musbuff/page45.htm When Elvis Conquered Cleveland]