"The Singin' Idol" is a very good installment of "Kraft Television Theatre". And, like so many of the best live teleplays from this era, Hollywood soon came calling and made a full-length movie out of it. In some cases, such as "Requiem for a Heavyweight", the TV version is better. But in others, the movie version is better...such as with "Marty", "12 Angry Men" and this story, which was remade as "Sing Boy Sing".
Nearly the entire cast of this "Kraft Television Theatre" would not appear in the movie version, though Tommy Sands starred in both and this made him, somewhat briefly, a big star. In the case of Sands, he was perfect for the role...so why bother recasting?!
The two films are very similar and are a morality tale about a rock 'n roll star who is at the top of the game...but also struggles with reconciling this with his gospel roots. However, the movie is different because it really makes the singer's agent (sort of a Colonel Parker type) to be a real sleazy jerk. He's jerky in the TV version...he's practically Satan in the movie. For me, this is the reason I prefer the movie. Both are very good but the part of the manager really set the two productions apart.
My advice is this: watch BOTH films. As both are on YouTube, this is pretty easy to do.
Nearly the entire cast of this "Kraft Television Theatre" would not appear in the movie version, though Tommy Sands starred in both and this made him, somewhat briefly, a big star. In the case of Sands, he was perfect for the role...so why bother recasting?!
The two films are very similar and are a morality tale about a rock 'n roll star who is at the top of the game...but also struggles with reconciling this with his gospel roots. However, the movie is different because it really makes the singer's agent (sort of a Colonel Parker type) to be a real sleazy jerk. He's jerky in the TV version...he's practically Satan in the movie. For me, this is the reason I prefer the movie. Both are very good but the part of the manager really set the two productions apart.
My advice is this: watch BOTH films. As both are on YouTube, this is pretty easy to do.