[Dixielandjazz] Pete Kelly's Blues DVD Available in Limmitted Quanity

[Robert Ringwald]

I was talking to the pianist Ray Sherman, lamenting the fact that a couple years ago I had tried  to get the film Pete Kelly's Blues from Netflix and they didn't have it.  

He said that he was able to purchase a DVD of the film on Amazon.  He said the sound was enhanced and that it was very good.  He of course played piano in the film and was seen on-camera.  

I purchased two copies, one for me and one for a friend.  The last I heard, there were only 11 copies left.  

I haven't seen the film since it came out in about 1955.  At the time it turned me on to OKOM even more.  I was already a fan of Lu Watters, Bob Scobey, Lawson Haggart, Eddie Condon, Firehouse 5+2, etc.  

 I never had the idea that I'd eventually get to know most of the guys in the Pete Kelly Big 7 and even get to play with some of them.  Of course, let me qualify that statement --  I was never up to their caliber of musicianship.  

Nick Fatool played on the sound track but he told me that he was so busy at the time working the studios, that he didn't have time to hang around the set and be on camera.  

I have a beautiful picture of my daughter singing when she was very little, probably about 7, with Nick playing drums, looking at her and smiling really big.  Nick's wife told my wife that she had not seen him smile like that in years.  

Anyway, there are a few copies of the film left on Amazon so if any of you want them, get 'em while the getting is good.  

See below, 

--Bob Ringwald


Cast (in credits order) verified as complete
     Jack Webb ...  Pete Kelly
     Janet Leigh ...  Ivy Conrad
     Edmond O'Brien ...  Fran McCarg
     Peggy Lee ...  Rose Hopkins
     Andy Devine ...  George Tenell
     Lee Marvin ...  Al Gannaway
     Ella Fitzgerald ...  Maggie Jackson
     Martin Milner ...  Joey Firestone
     Than Wyenn ...  Rudy Shulak
     Herbert Ellis ...  Bedido (as Herb Ellis)
     John Dennis ...  Guy Bettenhouser
     Jayne Mansfield ...  Cigarette Girl
     Mort Marshall ...  Cootie Jacobs
     Moe Schneider ...  Band member (Big 7)
     George Van Eps ...  Guitarist (Big 7)
     Ray Sherman ...  Band member (Big 7)
     Matty Matlock ...  Band member (Big 7)
     Eddie Miller ...  Band member (Big 7)
     Nick Fatool ...  Drummer (Big 7)
     Jud De Naut ...  Bassist (Big 7)
      rest of cast listed alphabetically:
     Don Abney ...  Piano Player (uncredited)
     Perry Bodkin ...  Tuxedo Band member (uncredited)
     Nesdon Booth ...  Squat henchman (uncredited)
     Teddy Buckner ...  Cornet Soloist (uncredited)
     Dick Cathcart ...  Trumpet Player / Webb's Cornet Double (uncredited)
     Harper Goff ...  Tuxedo Band Banjo Player (uncredited)
     Jester Hairston ...  Mourner, Pre-Credit Sequence (uncredited)
     Donald Kerr ...  Drunk in Speakeasy (uncredited)
     William Lazeras ...  Dako (uncredited)
     Hank Mann ...  Argumentative Husband in Speakeasy (uncredited)
     Harry Morgan ...  (uncredited)
     'Snub' Pollard ...  Waiter (uncredited)
     Herman S. Saunders ...  Pianist at Jazz Club (uncredited)
     Joe Venuti ...  Tuxedo Band member (uncredited)


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