''Pete Kelly's Blues'' is a 1955 musical crime film based on the 1951 radio series of the same name. It was directed by and starred

Jack Webb John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, most famous for his role as Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise), ''Dragnet'' franchise ...

in the title role of a bandleader and musician. Janet Leigh is featured as party girl Ivy Conrad, and Edmond O'Brien as a gangster who applies pressure to Kelly.

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

portrays alcoholic jazz singer Rose Hopkins (a performance for which she received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role).

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

makes a cameo as singer Maggie Jackson.

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and prematurely white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Although initially typecast as th ...

Martin Milner Martin Sam Milner (December 28, 1931 – September 6, 2015) was an American actor and radio host. He is best known for his performances on two television series: '' Route 66'', which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964, and '' Adam-12'', which ...

, and

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, ''Playboy'' Playmate, and sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. He ...

also make early career appearances. Much of the dialogue was written by writers who wrote the radio series '' Pat Novak for Hire'' (1946–1949), and the radio version of ''Pete Kelly's Blues'' (1951), both of which Webb starred in for a time before creating '' Dragnet''.

Plot

Jazz cornetist Pete Kelly (Jack Webb) and his Big Seven are the house band at the 17 Club, a

speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a beer flat or blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. In the United State ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

in 1927 during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

. Crime boss Fran McCarg ( Edmond O'Brien) is moving in on the local music scene and wants a percentage of the band's meager earnings. When the band resists, Kelly decides to decline the strongarm and see what happens. After the night's last set, Rudy, the club manager, orders Kelly and the band to the mansion of Ivy Conrad ( Janet Leigh), a wealthy

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women prominent after the First World War and through the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee length was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their ...

with a reputation for hosting rowdy parties. Reluctantly, Kelly arrives at the party and leaves a message for McCarg to call him there. When the call comes through Kelly is busy fending off Ivy's advances; instead, it is intercepted by Kelly's drunk, hot-tempered drummer, Joey Firestone (Martin Milner), who abusively turns McCarg down. Kelly and his band are run off the road by unknown assailants as they drive back to town and Firestone is thrown out of the car over its hood. The following night, Firestone roughs up Guy Bettenhauser, McCarg's top hired gun. Kelly desperately tries to patch things up, but to no avail. As the band finishes its last number, two gunmen burst through the front door of the club. Kelly tries to save Firestone by sending him out the back, but Firestone is shot to death in the alleyway. Tired and frustrated by his drummer's murder, and the subsequent departure of his long-time friend and clarinetist, Al (Lee Marvin), Kelly returns to his apartment to find Ivy asleep in his bed. Although he initially tries to throw her out, then resists her advances, the two strike up a relationship that turns with the passing months into an engagement. Later, all the local band leaders meet secretly to decide how to respond to McCarg's pressure. When Kelly reaffirms that he will put up no resistance, the rest cave in. Detective George Tennel (

Andy Devine Andrew Vabre Devine (October 7, 1905 – February 18, 1977) was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in American frontier, Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers ...

), who is trying to take McCarg down, tries to enlist Kelly's help but is refused. McCarg again tries to befriend Kelly, telling him that Bettenhauser acted alone in Firestone's murder. He also presses his moll, Rose Hopkins (Peggy Lee), a one-time talented songbird gone to the bottle, on the band. Her singing rapidly improves, but not her drinking. One night, soused, she cannot bring herself to overcome an unruly crowd and quits mid-song. An enraged McCarg chases her to her dressing room and beats her senseless, causing her to tumble down a flight of stairs in a heap. Kelly then turns to Tennel, who informs him that Bettenhauser has skipped town. Al drops in to see Kelly. The two come to blows over Kelly's capitulations, but patch things up, and Al rejoins the band. In a burst of spine, Kelly tries to buy his way out, but McCarg intimidates him into continuing. Meanwhile, Ivy, feeling left out by Kelly's dedication to his music, decides to go her own way. Kelly gets a message to meet someone who turns out to be Bettenhauser. He tells Kelly it was McCarg who ordered Firestone's death, but if Kelly can come up with $1,200 by daybreak, he will help him take down McCarg. Kelly agrees. Bettenhauser then tells Kelly he can find incriminating bank checks and papers in McCarg's office at the Everglade Ballroom. Back at the club, Kelly arms himself, but is waylaid by a clueless Ivy, who wants a last dance with him. He insists he does not have the time. Kelly rifles a desk in McCarg's office, but before he can get what he needs the ballroom's riotous orchestrion begins to blare; Ivy is there, insisting on her dance. Kelly fretfully agrees, but soon finds himself surrounded by McCarg and two of his torpedoes. One of them is Bettenhauser, who had set him up. A wild shootout ensues. Kelly barricades himself behind wooden tables. Bettenhauser climbs into the rafters to get a better angle, but gets plugged. McCarg's other man tries to shoot Kelly, but Kelly throws a chair at him, causing him to hit and mortally wound McCarg instead. Seeing this, the gunman gives up, saying he has nothing left to gain risking his life. Back at the 17 Club, it is business as usual – the band lively playing, Ivy and Pete back together, and Rudy finding ways to cut more corners.

Cast

as Pete Kelly * Janet Leigh as Ivy Conrad * Edmond O'Brien as Fran McCarg *

as Rose Hopkins *

as George Tenell *

as Al Gannaway *

as Maggie Jackson *

as Joey Firestone * Than Wyenn as Rudy Shulak * Herb Ellis as Bedido * John Dennis as Guy Bettenhauser *

as Cigarette Girl * Mort Marshall as Cootie Jacobs * Moe Schneider as Band member (Big 7) * George Van Eps as Guitarist (Big 7) * Ray Sherman as Band member (Big 7) * Matty Matlock as Band member (Big 7) * Eddie Miller as Band member (Big 7) * Nick Fatool as Drummer (Big 7) * Jud De Naut as Bassist (Big 7)

References

External links

* * *
Senses of Cinema: ''Pete Kelly's Blues'' by John Flaus

Movie trailer featuring Jack Webb with behind-the-scenes comments about the ''Pete Kelly's Blues'' movie
{{Ella Fitzgerald 1955 films 1955 crime drama films American crime drama films American musical drama films American romantic drama films Films about prohibition in the United States Films based on radio series Films set in 1915 Films set in 1919 Films set in 1927 Films set in Jersey City, New Jersey Films set in Kansas City, Missouri Films set in New Orleans Jazz films Mark VII Limited films Warner Bros. films Films directed by Jack Webb CinemaScope films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language crime drama films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links