''Pete Kelly's Blues'' is a 1955 musical crime film based on the 1951 radio series. It was directed by and starred Jack Webb in the title role of a bandleader and musician.

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...

is featured as party girl Ivy Conrad, and

Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien w ...

as a gangster who applies pressure to Kelly. Peggy Lee portrays alcoholic jazz singer Rose Hopkins (a performance for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role). Ella Fitzgerald makes a cameo as singer Maggie Jackson (a character played by a white actress in the radio series).

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alt ...

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 a ...

, and

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...

also make early career appearances. Much of the dialogue was written by writers who wrote the radio series ''

Pat Novak for Hire ''Pat Novak, for Hire'' is an old-time radio detective drama series which aired from 1946 to 1947 as a West Coast regional (produced at KGO in San Francisco) program and in 1949 as a nationwide program for ABC. The regional version originally s ...

'' (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 blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...

in Kansas City in 1927 during Prohibition. Crime boss Fran McCarg (

) 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 (

), a wealthy flapper 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 Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature fil ...

), 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

* Jack Webb as Pete Kelly *

as Ivy Conrad *

as Fran McCarg * Peggy Lee as Rose Hopkins *

as George Tenell *

as Al Gannaway * Ella Fitzgerald as Maggie Jackson *

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

as Cigarette Girl * Mort Marshall as Cootie Jacobs * Moe Schneider as Band member (Big 7) *

George Van Eps George Abel Van Eps (August 7, 1913 – November 29, 1998) was an American swing and mainstream jazz guitarist. Biography George Van Eps was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, into a family of musicians. His three brothers – Fred ...

as Guitarist (Big 7) * Ray Sherman as Band member (Big 7) *

Matty Matlock Julian Clifton "Matty" Matlock (April 27, 1907 – June 14, 1978) was an American Dixieland jazz clarinettist, saxophonist and arranger. Early years Matlock was born in Paducah, Kentucky, April 27, 1907, and raised in Nashville beginning in 1917. ...

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

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links