Pete Kelly's Blues (1955 film)
Encyclopedia
Pete Kelly's Blues is a 1955 film based on the 1951 original radio series
. It was directed by and starred Jack Webb
in the title role. Janet Leigh
is featured as party girl Ivy Conrad, and Peggy Lee
portrays alcoholic jazz singer Rose Hopkins. Ella Fitzgerald
makes a memorable cameo as singer Maggie Jackson (a character played by a white actress in the radio series). Lee Marvin
, Martin Milner
and a very young Jayne Mansfield
also make early career appearances in minor roles.
Much of the catchy dialogue in the film was inspired by the radio series Pat Novak for Hire
, in which Webb starred for a time before creating Dragnet
.
in 1927 during Prohibition
. Jazz cornetist Pete Kelly (Webb) and his Big Seven are the house band at the 17 Club, a lower-level speakeasy at 17 Cherry Street in Kansas City when Pete is approached by new local crime boss Fran McCarg (Edmond O'Brien
), who intends to put Kelly on his own client list. McCarg gives Kelly until the end of the night to talk it over with the band and to “make up his mind”.
Before the night ends, Rudy, the overly-efficient manager of the 17 Club, orders Kelly and the band to go to the house of Ivy Conrad (Janet Leigh
), a woman with a reputation for hosting exceptionally rowdy parties and who, we find out early on, has designs on Kelly. Reluctantly, Kelly arrives at the party expecting to hear from McCarg via phone, but when the call comes through, it’s intercepted by Kelly’s hot-tempered drummer Joey Firestone (Martin Milner
), who, in a drunken stupor, blatantly turns McCarg down, telling him to “go get a ticket to nowhere”. McCarg promptly gets the word out as one of his cronies runs Kelly and his band off the road as they drive back to Kansas City.
The following night, the situation is compounded to dangerous heights when Firestone roughs up Guy Bettenhauser, McCarg’s right-hand man. Kelly tries to “call off the dogs” by phoning McCarg, and even sending someone out to track him down, but to no avail.
As the night nears the end, Kelly begins to think they're home free, but just as the band finishes their last number, two gunmen—obviously after Firestone—bust through the front door of the 17 Club. Kelly tries to save Firestone by sending him out the back door, but just as Firestone makes his way outside two more of McCarg’s men drive by and shoot him to death in the alleyway.
Tired and frustrated by his drummer’s murder, and of the subsequent departure of Al, his clarinetist (Lee Marvin
), Kelly returns to his apartment to find Ivy inside waiting for him. Although Kelly initially resists her advances (stemming from her reputation), the two soon strike up a relationship, which turns into an engagement.
In an unsuccessful attempt to quell the heat, McCarg invites himself to the 17 Club and tries to make friends with Kelly, first by telling him that Bettenhauser acted alone in Firestone’s murder, and second, to present him with a new band member: his moll, Rose Hopkins (Peggy Lee
), a would-be singer, now a heavy drinker, much to McCarg’s highly volatile consternation. The problem soon comes to a head when Rose, celebrating Pete and Ivy’s engagement, has a little too much to drink, and due to an inattentive crowd, can’t bring herself to sing. An enraged McCarg pays her in kind by chasing her to her dressing room and literally beating her senseless.
Kelly’s frustration further manifests itself when Ivy, feeling left out by Kelly’s secrecy and devotion to his work, decides to go her own way. Al drops in to see Kelly and tell him about his new job (which Kelly soon learns to be a lie), to express his feelings about Firestone’s death and Kelly’s having sold himself and his band out to McCarg, and also to take back the mouthpiece he loaned to Kelly when they first met. The two come to blows, but quickly patch things up and Al decides to return to Kelly's Big Seven (he also sheepishly puts the mouthpiece back on Kelly's horn saying "It won't fit a clarinet").
Realizing that Al is right, Kelly tries to get back in good graces with his friends by first going to McCarg to pay him off and get out from under his umbrella, but McCarg will have none of it. Kelly then goes to detective George Tennel (Andy Devine
) to try to come up with a plan to bring down McCarg. But Tennel has news for Kelly: First, Bettenhauser has skipped town. Second, Rose, the only other person besides McCarg who would know Bettenhauser's whereabouts, has suffered a nervous breakdown (obviously from the alcohol and McCarg's violent abuse), permanently leaving her with the mentality of a five-year old. In a futile attempt to find Bettenhauser, Kelly visits Rose at State Hospital, but she doesn’t even remember Kelly, much less McCarg or Bettenhauser.
Kelly returns to the 17 Club to find a message for him to meet someone at Fat Annie’s, a nearby roadhouse just inside the Kansas State line. The person waiting for him turns out to be Bettenhauser himself, who wants to cut a deal. He first tells Kelly that McCarg had hired outside guns to kill Firestone. Second, if Kelly can come up with $1,200 by daybreak, Bettenhauser will help him to beat McCarg. Kelly agrees. Bettenhauser tells him he can find cancelled checks and papers in McCarg’s office at the Everglade Ballroom.
Back at the 17 Club, Kelly arms himself, but is stopped at the door by Ivy, who wants a last dance with Kelly. But still being secretive about his ties with McCarg, Kelly insists he hasn’t got the time. At the closed Everglade Ballroom, Kelly finds the papers he needs, but before he can get out, the darkness and silence are pierced by a loud calliope which starts playing. Kelly investigates and finds that Ivy, adamant about a dance with Kelly, had followed Kelly to the ballroom, started the music and turned all the lights on. Kelly fearfully agrees to a last dance with Ivy, and soon finds himself surrounded by McCarg and two of his men, one of them being Bettenhauser!
Realizing he has been set up, Kelly shields himself and Ivy with one of the tables and a shootout quickly ensues. Bettenhauser, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, climbs up into the ceiling to get a better shot at Kelly, but Kelly shoots him first, sending him plunging through the ceiling onto the mirror ball which, along with Bettenhauser, soon crashes down on the dance floor. McCarg’s other man tries to take a shot at Kelly, but Kelly throws a chair at him, causing him to misfire and instead hit McCarg, who falls to the floor, mortally wounded. Seeing this, the gunman surrenders, throwing his gun to Kelly saying, “I got nothin’ to gain.” Kelly and Ivy beat a hasty retreat from the ballroom, stepping over McCarg who lay dying in the doorway.
The film ends back at the 17 Club with business as usual—the band still playing, Ivy and Pete back together again, and Rudy still cutting corners wherever he can.
Pete Kelly's Blues (radio series)
Pete Kelly's Blues was an American radio drama which aired over NBC as an unsponsored summer replacement series on Wednesday nights at 8pm from July 4 through September 19, 1951. The series starred Jack Webb as Pete Kelly and was created by writer Richard L...
. It was directed by and starred Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
in the title role. Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
is featured as party girl Ivy Conrad, and Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
portrays alcoholic jazz singer Rose Hopkins. Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
makes a memorable cameo as singer Maggie Jackson (a character played by a white actress in the radio series). Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
, Martin Milner
Martin Milner
Martin Sam Milner is an American actor best known for his performances in two popular television series, Adam-12 and Route 66....
and a very young Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield was an American actress working both in Hollywood and on the Broadway theatre...
also make early career appearances in minor roles.
Much of the catchy dialogue in the film was inspired by the radio series Pat Novak for Hire
Pat Novak for Hire
Pat Novak, for Hire is an old-time radio detective drama series which aired from 1946-1947 as a West Coast regional program and in 1949 as a nationwide program for ABC. The regional version originally starred Jack Webb in the title role, with scripts by his roommate Richard L. Breen...
, in which Webb starred for a time before creating Dragnet
Dragnet (series)
Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...
.
Film synopsis
The story opens in Kansas CityKansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
in 1927 during Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
. Jazz cornetist Pete Kelly (Webb) and his Big Seven are the house band at the 17 Club, a lower-level speakeasy at 17 Cherry Street in Kansas City when Pete is approached by new local crime boss Fran McCarg (Edmond O'Brien
Edmond O'Brien
Edmond O'Brien was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. and his Oscar winning role in The Barefoot Contessa...
), who intends to put Kelly on his own client list. McCarg gives Kelly until the end of the night to talk it over with the band and to “make up his mind”.
Before the night ends, Rudy, the overly-efficient manager of the 17 Club, orders Kelly and the band to go to the house of Ivy Conrad (Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
), a woman with a reputation for hosting exceptionally rowdy parties and who, we find out early on, has designs on Kelly. Reluctantly, Kelly arrives at the party expecting to hear from McCarg via phone, but when the call comes through, it’s intercepted by Kelly’s hot-tempered drummer Joey Firestone (Martin Milner
Martin Milner
Martin Sam Milner is an American actor best known for his performances in two popular television series, Adam-12 and Route 66....
), who, in a drunken stupor, blatantly turns McCarg down, telling him to “go get a ticket to nowhere”. McCarg promptly gets the word out as one of his cronies runs Kelly and his band off the road as they drive back to Kansas City.
The following night, the situation is compounded to dangerous heights when Firestone roughs up Guy Bettenhauser, McCarg’s right-hand man. Kelly tries to “call off the dogs” by phoning McCarg, and even sending someone out to track him down, but to no avail.
As the night nears the end, Kelly begins to think they're home free, but just as the band finishes their last number, two gunmen—obviously after Firestone—bust through the front door of the 17 Club. Kelly tries to save Firestone by sending him out the back door, but just as Firestone makes his way outside two more of McCarg’s men drive by and shoot him to death in the alleyway.
Tired and frustrated by his drummer’s murder, and of the subsequent departure of Al, his clarinetist (Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
), Kelly returns to his apartment to find Ivy inside waiting for him. Although Kelly initially resists her advances (stemming from her reputation), the two soon strike up a relationship, which turns into an engagement.
In an unsuccessful attempt to quell the heat, McCarg invites himself to the 17 Club and tries to make friends with Kelly, first by telling him that Bettenhauser acted alone in Firestone’s murder, and second, to present him with a new band member: his moll, Rose Hopkins (Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
), a would-be singer, now a heavy drinker, much to McCarg’s highly volatile consternation. The problem soon comes to a head when Rose, celebrating Pete and Ivy’s engagement, has a little too much to drink, and due to an inattentive crowd, can’t bring herself to sing. An enraged McCarg pays her in kind by chasing her to her dressing room and literally beating her senseless.
Kelly’s frustration further manifests itself when Ivy, feeling left out by Kelly’s secrecy and devotion to his work, decides to go her own way. Al drops in to see Kelly and tell him about his new job (which Kelly soon learns to be a lie), to express his feelings about Firestone’s death and Kelly’s having sold himself and his band out to McCarg, and also to take back the mouthpiece he loaned to Kelly when they first met. The two come to blows, but quickly patch things up and Al decides to return to Kelly's Big Seven (he also sheepishly puts the mouthpiece back on Kelly's horn saying "It won't fit a clarinet").
Realizing that Al is right, Kelly tries to get back in good graces with his friends by first going to McCarg to pay him off and get out from under his umbrella, but McCarg will have none of it. Kelly then goes to detective George Tennel (Andy Devine
Andy Devine
Andrew Vabre "Andy" Devine was an American character actor and comic cowboy sidekick known for his distinctive raspy voice.-Early life:...
) to try to come up with a plan to bring down McCarg. But Tennel has news for Kelly: First, Bettenhauser has skipped town. Second, Rose, the only other person besides McCarg who would know Bettenhauser's whereabouts, has suffered a nervous breakdown (obviously from the alcohol and McCarg's violent abuse), permanently leaving her with the mentality of a five-year old. In a futile attempt to find Bettenhauser, Kelly visits Rose at State Hospital, but she doesn’t even remember Kelly, much less McCarg or Bettenhauser.
Kelly returns to the 17 Club to find a message for him to meet someone at Fat Annie’s, a nearby roadhouse just inside the Kansas State line. The person waiting for him turns out to be Bettenhauser himself, who wants to cut a deal. He first tells Kelly that McCarg had hired outside guns to kill Firestone. Second, if Kelly can come up with $1,200 by daybreak, Bettenhauser will help him to beat McCarg. Kelly agrees. Bettenhauser tells him he can find cancelled checks and papers in McCarg’s office at the Everglade Ballroom.
Back at the 17 Club, Kelly arms himself, but is stopped at the door by Ivy, who wants a last dance with Kelly. But still being secretive about his ties with McCarg, Kelly insists he hasn’t got the time. At the closed Everglade Ballroom, Kelly finds the papers he needs, but before he can get out, the darkness and silence are pierced by a loud calliope which starts playing. Kelly investigates and finds that Ivy, adamant about a dance with Kelly, had followed Kelly to the ballroom, started the music and turned all the lights on. Kelly fearfully agrees to a last dance with Ivy, and soon finds himself surrounded by McCarg and two of his men, one of them being Bettenhauser!
Realizing he has been set up, Kelly shields himself and Ivy with one of the tables and a shootout quickly ensues. Bettenhauser, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, climbs up into the ceiling to get a better shot at Kelly, but Kelly shoots him first, sending him plunging through the ceiling onto the mirror ball which, along with Bettenhauser, soon crashes down on the dance floor. McCarg’s other man tries to take a shot at Kelly, but Kelly throws a chair at him, causing him to misfire and instead hit McCarg, who falls to the floor, mortally wounded. Seeing this, the gunman surrenders, throwing his gun to Kelly saying, “I got nothin’ to gain.” Kelly and Ivy beat a hasty retreat from the ballroom, stepping over McCarg who lay dying in the doorway.
The film ends back at the 17 Club with business as usual—the band still playing, Ivy and Pete back together again, and Rudy still cutting corners wherever he can.