Pete Kelly And His Big Seven

Pete Kelly's Big Seven is a group created for a series of 1950's crime dramas.

Pete Kelly's Big Seven originally appeared in the American radio drama Pete Kelly's Blues, which aired over NBC as an unsponsored summer replacement series on Wednesday nights at 8pm(et) from July 4 through September 19, 1951. The series starred Jack Webb as Pete Kelly and was created by writer Richard L. Breen, who had previously worked with Webb on Pat Novak for Hire; James Moser and Jo Eisinger wrote most of the other scripts. Set in Kansas City in the 1920s, the series was a crime drama with a strong musical atmosphere (Webb was a noted Dixieland jazz enthusiast).

Pete Kelly's Big Seven next appeared in "Pete Kelly's Blues," a 1955 musical crime film based on the 1951 radio series. The film was directed by and starred Jack Webb. The cast also included Janet Leigh, Edmond O'Brien, and Peggy Lee. Ella Fitzgerald made a cameo as singer Maggie Jackson.

Pete Kelly's Big Seven showed up again in "Pete Kelly's Blues," a 1959 television series starring William Reynolds. The TV show was created by Jack Webb, based on the 1951 radio series and the 1955 film. The TV series starred Connee Boswell as Savannah Brown.

In the original radio series, Pete Kelly was a musician, a cornet player who headed his own jazz combo, "Pete Kelly's Big Seven." They worked at 417 Cherry Street, a speakeasy run by George Lupo, often mentioned but never heard. Kelly, narrating the series, described Lupo as a "fat, friendly little guy." The plots typically centered on Kelly's reluctant involvement with gangsters, gun molls, FBI agents, and people trying to save their own skins. The endings were often downbeat.