Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)

"Pete Kelly's Blues" is a 1955 crime drama directed by and starring Jack Webb. Webb is most notable behind the scenes and in front of the camera as "Joe Friday" in the popular television series "Dragnet" (1951-1959, 1967-1970). Additionally, there was the film "Dragnet"…

Blake Bergman "Various Spaghetti"

Needed more Ella Fitzgerald the lack of Ella Fitzgerald in this is a crime.

cmcguffin

I read that when he was 13, Scorsese followed this film from theater to theater in NYC and you can definitely see its DNA in a lot fo his films. Jack Webb is a little too stiff sometimes, but his direction is so fluid and interesting and the script by Richard L. Breen is…

Marya E. Gates

Pretty bland crime drama has three good things—gorgeous Technicolor, a strong (if brief) Janet Leigh performance, and a captivating, surprisingly violent ending.

Brian Rowe

An impressive stylish evocation of prohibition days and like Webb other work most of the choices feels odd and the acting is pitched in a strange mix of didactic and intense. More interesting peculiar than good, but a little memorable all the same.

Filipe Furtado

I didn't get around to watching much of TCM's "Jazz in Film" retrospective, so I decided to check out Pete Kelly's Blues. Starring and directed by Dragnet's Jack Webb, the 1927-set drama filmed in vibrant WarnerColor by cinematographer Harold Rosson is notable primarily for…

theironcupcake

If you have Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee, why do you even bother with a story and don't just fill 90 minutes with song? No, honestly, why bother with a story? And that one in particular? (Side note: Peggy Lee got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for this,…

Christof

"Gosh, I'm sorry to see me go." [removes gun from box of dry macaroni]

NOT LEVANA

They sure loved films about the prohibition in the 1950s! This a bland film. It’s almost like the creators followed a step-by-step guide on how to make a generic musical mobster prohibition film. Ironically, the film has similarities to Some Like It Hot which of course came…

Abbie