John Ashley played villains in two films for AIP, Dragstrip Girl and Motorcycle Gang, and had been well received and was having some success as a singing star, so AIP came up with this more sympathetic vehicle for him.
The plot has Ashley as a rich kid who loves singing rock n roll and driving fast, who has to pretend to be good in order to inherit a pile of money. A whole bunch of shenanigans ensue - Ashley puts on glasses and pretends to be intellectual to impress his doddery old aunts, he sings rock, he puts on a beard and pretends to be a beatnik so he can sing in public (he even does a press interview and becomes famous).
There's a whole bunch of storylines - a good girl with the hots for Ashley (Jody Fair), some car stealing thieves, a snobby lawyer, a trashy blonde, a brawl or two, a car fanatic (Henry McCann), Gene Vincent as himself. It's got an everything but the kitchen sink vibe - the tone is quite light.
Ashley's limitations are exposed to be honest - he was an okay actor, with good looks and a competent singing voice. I don't think he was a great comic actor - though I'm not sure who could've pulled this off. Maybe it would've suited Frankie Avalon more - he was more obviously comic. Ashley was better as a villain.
Plenty of tunes and energy and silliness.
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