242nd Street

By R.C.

THE IDOLMAKER

Directed by Taylor Hackford

Screenplay by Edward DiLorenzo

Remember the rock-'n'-roll '50s? The era of Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Little Richard, the doo-wop boys on the corner and Elvis on your 12-in. TV? Do you want to relive those glory days in a movie theater? Then go straight to a revival of The Girl Can't Help It or The T.A.M.I. Show, because The Idolmaker is something else, and less. I recalls one withered branch of pop nostalgia: the South Philly sound of Fabian and Frankie Avalon, which is to genuine early rock as Fritos are to grits. Frankie sang of Dede Dinah and sounded like the revenge of the adenoids. Fabian, legend has it, could sing on key only on alternate Thursdays, and his records were said to be creative sutures of dozens of different takes. Frankie will be remembered as the wet blanket at the Beach Party movies; Fabian, in a more enlightened time, may be lauded as an unsung pioneer of aleatory music.

Bob Marcucci, who pomaded and promoted the lads into teen idols, served as technical adviser for The Idolmaker. This Is His Story, as it might have been told to a '50s reporter for Hep Cat -- or to Busby Berkeley. The setting is The Bronx, the characters are Italian, the language is coarse, but the story is one long, carefully embroidered cliche that has its roots in Berkeley's old Warner Bros, musicals. Ray Sharkey has the Warner Baxter role: the tough, brilliant old pro. Peter Gallagher is the ghost of Fabian with the soul of Ruby Keeler: the lucky, plucky ingenue. Sharkey nurses and rehearses his protege, shouts and seduces, puts him through heck and then shoves him onstage. Sure enough: Gallagher goes out there a young ster, but he comes back a star.

Maybe he will. Gallagher's stage presence apes Mick Jagger more than the Fabulous Fabe, and the songs sound as if they came from Broadway rather than Broad Street. But the numbers have a dynamic drive that should awaken cherry Coke memories in middle-aged kids and urgent anticipation in today's teens. Paging Peter Gallagher for a spot on American Bandstand -- and the Idolmaker makers to put on film the story behind the album that really summarizes their vision of '50s rock 'n' roll: Annette Sings Anka.

-- R.C.

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