Noir City 2026: Pete Kelly’s Blues
February 16, 2026
Jack Webb stars (and directs!) as Prohibition-era bandleader Pete Kelly who refuses to bow to a local bootlegger. With Janet Leigh as the flapper complicating Pete’s life and vocal powerhouses Peggy Lee (who earned a 1956 Best Supporting Actress nod) and Ella Fitzgerald.
Tickets
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Monday, February 16, 2026
The lone Technicolor offering of the festival has Jack Webb as a Prohibition-era bandleader who refuses to bend the knee to a local bootlegger. The actor maintains the same ironclad will that made him a star on "Dragnet", but Pete Kelly’s Blues, which he also directed, ventures further into the darkness than the procedural franchise ever could. The gangland violence and speakeasy musical numbers are skillfully recreated, especially when they collide in the astonishing final act. Webb also assembles a Murderers’ Row of supporting talent from noir stalwarts Edmond O’Brien and Lee Marvin to vocal powerhouses Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. Lee, in only her third onscreen appearance, scored a 1956 Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance as a boozy torch singer.
- Director: Jack Webb
- Principal Cast: Jack Webb, Janet Leigh, Edmund O’Brien, Peggy Lee, Lee Marvin
- Country: USA
- Year: 1955
- Running Time: 95 min.
- Producer: Jack Webb
- Screenplay: Richard L. Breen
- Cinematographers: Harold Rosson
- Editors: Robert M. Leeds
- Format: DCP
- US Distributor: Park Circus