Are you reading for the second half of Noir City’s “Face the Music?” A work in progress.
We’ve got lots of rare surprises and great music.
Watch for Part 3 to be added in February. The Festival will be touring to eight cities this year including Portland, Seattle, Hollywood and New York.
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Noir City Music Director Nick Rossi, Eddie Muller and Ms Noir and Festival songstress Elizabeth Bougerol introducing “To Have and Have Not.”
Noir City Music Director Nick Rossi, Eddie Muller and Ms Noir and Festival songstress Elizabeth Bougerol introducing “To Have and Have Not.”
Courtesy of Film Art Gallery
There was a Pete Kelly’s Blues radio show before the film.
“Pete Kelly’s Blues was conceived by Jack Webb and grew out of his love of Jazz and was created in collaboration with writer, Richard L. Breen. Webb began his career as a late-night disc jockey playing Jazz records in San Francisco and spent a lot of time in Jazz clubs.” He brought it to radio in 1951, two years after Webb became a success with Dragnet on radio. The film came out in 1955 and a short-lived TV series aired in 1957.
Read about it here and then listen to a selection of the shows here.
It is hard to find good quality musical clips from the film. Though shot in Technicolor the best quality clip of Ella Fitzgerald singing the title song is in black and white and is actually appropriately more noir.
Another black and white clip, this time of Peggy Lee singing “He Needs Me.” Slightly out of sync but worth a watch.
A little action in this excitingly staged dance hall fight scene.
A rare find—Jack Webb hosts this special 1955 promotional special for his film Pete Kelly’s Blues, with live TV performances by Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Anthony.
On the set interview with Otto Preminger and Frank Sinatra
Read behind the scenes stories courtesy of TCM.
Listen to selections from the soundtrack album by Elmer Bernstein performed by the Chico Hamilton Quartet.
Director Michael Curtiz, Elvis and Dolores Hart.
‘Hard Headed Woman’ was cut from the movie, except for the last few bars–speculation is that Paramount didn’t want to pay the royalties to the song writers if the whole song was used.
Title song, King Creole, written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller Recording date: January 23, 1958
Colonel Parker and Elvis on the set
KING CREOLE JAPANESE “DRUMS COVER” EP.
LEGENDARY & ULTRA SCARCE 4 TRACK 1966 LIVING STEREO COMPACT 33 JAPAN ONLY ULTRA LIMITED RELEASE EP.
Dixieland Rock
An exciting chase scene
Trouble
Jim Mitchum and his father Robert
Sandra Knight goes for a drive with Robert Mitchum
Keely Smith sings Baby Won’t You Please Come Home
Keely Smith with Mitchum
Robert Mitchum didn’t sing the title song in the 1958 movie but theme hit the national record charts in 1962. He co-wrote it with Don Raye.
Listen to the complete Bernard Herrmann “Concerto Macabre for Piano and Orchestra” (from Hangover Square)
You can also watch the finale that the Concerto accompanies but we suggest you only do so it you have already seen the complete film so its context makes sense. It is quite spectacular, though the print quality on this clip is only fair.
The complete score can be heard here. Stephen Sondheim credited this score (which he first heard at the movies as a teenager) as an unconscious inspiration for the feel of “Sweeney Todd.” More on this in his book “Finishing the Hat” and in this 2009 interview with Peter Stein.
Listen to the 1946 radio adaptation of Hangover Square with Vincent Price replacing the film’s star, Laird Cregar, but with the female leads, Linda Darnell and Faye Marlow.
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