Pete Kelly's Blues is a gangster movie musical where all the songs are diegetic and most of them are great – including numbers by Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee. But this movie is awfully directed, and honestly I am still not really sure I understand what the film's conflict was or how it resolved. Edmond O'Brien plays a gangster and the most wooden Jack Webb (who also directed) plays the cornet-player Pete Kelly. O'Brien is taking most of the band's money, ok... I get that. But I think somehow this is supposed to be Kelly's fault. In any case everyone seems to resent him.
In any case, whatever this was it didn't work.
