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Mystery Theater

Drama: Classic & Period

Hollywood greats star in classic dramas from the golden days of American radio

Mystery Theater: Pete Kelly's Blues: Gus Trudeau

Pete Kelly's Blues: Gus Trudeau

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Mystery Theater, Pete Kelly's Blues: Gus Trudeau

An old friend of 1920s jazz cornet player Pete Kelly is suspected of murdering a mobster.

An old friend of 1920s jazz cornet player Pete Kelly is suspected of murdering a mobster. Stars Jack Webb. From NBC in 1951.

An old pal of roaring 1920s jazz cornet player Pete Kelly is suspected of murdering a mobster. 

Stars Jack Webb as Pete Kelly with his 'Big 7' jazz group. 

Set in a 1922 Speakeasy at 417 Cherry Street, Kansas City, where a heady mix of gangsters, pulpy thrills and spills are readily available. 

Pete Kelly's Blues may have only run for three months on American radio, but it spawned a whole film in the mid-1950s. A novel mix of hard-boiled thriller and musical interludes, Jack 'Dragnet' Webb not only stars but also directs. 

A keen fan of jazz in real life, Webb did not miss the opportunity to get some of the genuine article into the series. It's fair to say happy endings weren't high on the agenda. 

Written by Joe Eisinger. 

Music by Dick Cathcart, with scoring by Matty Matlock. 

First broadcast on NBC in the USA in 1951. 

4 Extra's MYSTERY THEATER showcases American radio's golden years of the 1940s and 50s, when many of Hollywood's greatest screen stars were regular performers, often re-enacting film roles.

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