Movies Like Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)

Pete Kelly's Blues is a 1955 crime, drama, music film from Jack Webb with a MovieMagicScore of 6.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Robin and the 7 Hoods and Blues in the Night.

Crime Drama Music

Robin and the 7 Hoods

1964

Set in Prohibition era Chicago, bootlegger Robbo and his cronies refuse to pay the greedy Guy Gisborne a cut of their profits after Guy shoots mob boss Big Jim and takes over. When Big Jim's daughter, Marian, gives Robbo a large sum, believing he has avenged her father's death, the gangster donates to an orphanage, cementing his reputation as a softhearted hood.

6.1

MagicScore

Blues in the Night

1941

A struggling band find themselves attached to a fugitive and drawn into a series of old feuds and love affairs, as they try to stay together and find musical success.

6.2

MagicScore

Chasing Trane

2017

An account of the life of the brilliant jazz musician John Coltrane (1926-67), a gifted saxophonist, an extraordinarily talented thinker whose original, avant-garde work has impacted and influenced people all over the world. A story about music's ability to entertain, inspire and transform.

7.3

MagicScore

The Cotton Club

1984

Harlem's legendary Cotton Club becomes a hotbed of passion and violence as the lives and loves of entertainers and gangsters collide.

6.5

MagicScore

Once Upon a Time in America

1984

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

8.4

MagicScore

The Roaring Twenties

1939

After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.

7.5

MagicScore

Miller's Crossing

1990

Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.

7.4

MagicScore

Bugsy Malone

1976

New York, 1929, a war rages between two rival gangsters, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan. Dan is in possession of a new and deadly weapon, the dreaded "splurge gun". As the custard pies fly, Bugsy Malone, an all-round nice guy, falls for Blousey Brown, a singer at Fat Sam's speakeasy. His designs on her are disrupted by the seductive songstress Tallulah who wants Bugsy for herself.

6.6

MagicScore

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

1960

Jack Diamond and his sickly brother arrive in prohibition New York as jewelry thieves. After a spell in jail, the coldly ambitious Diamond hits on the idea of stealing from thieves himself and sets about getting close to gangster boss Arnold Rothstein to move in on his booze, girls, gambling, and drugs operations.

5.8

MagicScore

#10

Bloodrunners

2017

By 1933, Prohibition has proven a booming enterprise, where average citizens break the law, hide in the shadows and operate at night. The new world order has even lined the pockets of corrupt cops like Jack Malone. He collects a 'luxury tax' from every bootlegger and scofflaw in the small town he has sworn to protect. While shaking down the newest speakeasy in the local underground, Jack and his men uncover a clan of vampires hell bent on taking over the town. Now Chesterfield, an ancient vampire, and his horde must hide their secret at any cost. The bloody result leaves several bodies and innocent townsfolk taken as lambs to await the slaughter. With nowhere else to turn, Jack joins forces with a busboy and a crazy preacher to save the town and make a final stand against Chesterfield and his vampires.

4.7

MagicScore

#11

Kansas City

1996

A pair of kidnappings expose the complex power dynamics within the corrupt and unpredictable workings of 1930s Kansas City.

6.1

MagicScore

#12

Whiplash

2014

Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.

8.4

MagicScore

#13

American Pop

1981

The history of American popular music runs parallel with the history of a Russian Jewish immigrant family, with each male descendant possessing different musical abilities.

6.9

MagicScore

#14

Jam Session

1942

Duke Ellington and Orchestra perform 'C Jam Blues'.

6.2

MagicScore

#15

Dixieland Droopy

1954

John Pettibone (Droopy), a dog whose love of Dixieland music is not appreciated by those around him, has a lucky meeting with Pee-Wee Runt and his All-Flea Dixieland band at the circus.

6.9

MagicScore

#16

The Sucker

1965

In this Franco-Italian gangster parody, a shopkeeper on his way to an Italian holiday suffers a crash that totals his car. The culprit can only compensate his ruined trip by driving an American friend's car from Naples to Bordeaux, but as it happens to be filled with such contraband as stolen money, jewelry and drugs, the involuntary and unwitting companions in crime soon attract all but recreational attention from the "milieu".

7.4

MagicScore

#17

Soul

2020

Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful audition at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth.

8.1

MagicScore

#18

Shoot the Piano Player

1960

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.

7.2

MagicScore

#19

'Round Midnight

1986

Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius.

7.1

MagicScore

#20

Sweet and Lowdown

1999

In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.

6.8

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Pete Kelly's Blues?

The top films similar to Pete Kelly's Blues by MovieMagicScore are Robin and the 7 Hoods (6.1), Blues in the Night (6.2), Chasing Trane (7.3). Each shares crime/drama/music themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Pete Kelly's Blues worth watching?

Pete Kelly's Blues holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.1/10 from 28 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Pete Kelly's Blues?

Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) is a crime, drama, music film directed by Jack Webb, starring Jack Webb, Janet Leigh, Edmond O'Brien.

Where can I find more recommendations like Pete Kelly's Blues?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more crime recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Robin and the 7 Hoods Movies like Blues in the Night Movies like Chasing Trane Movies like The Cotton Club Movies like Once Upon a Time in America Movies like The Roaring Twenties

About movies like Pete Kelly's Blues

This ranked list pairs Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), a crime and drama and music film from Jack Webb, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Jack Webb take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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