Great Short Stories: #41-50

41. "The Monkey's Paw" (1902) by W.W. Jacobs. This is the story Jacobs is remembered for, but as you've seen I've listed a number of his works, there is more to commend in his bibliography than just this one tale. That said, this is one of the all-time great short stories. I'm sure you already know (or think you know?) the story and its moral: be careful what you wish for.

"The Monkey's Paw" can be found in The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

42. "The Well" (1902) by W.W. Jacobs. Another fine story by Jacobs, this relates the falling out between two brothers, culminating in one's disappearance. When the beloved of the remaining brother loses a ring inside an old well, he suddenly becomes quite perturbed and determined to retrieve the ring alone. Why doesn't he want anyone else looking inside the well?

"The Well" can be found in The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

43. "The Adventure of the Second Stain" (1904) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Another great Sherlock Holmes story, this involves the titular second stain - one stain lies on the rug, the other on the floor. Why was the rug moved after the murdered man died?

"The Adventure of the Second Stain" can be found in The Complete Sherlock Holmes. You can read the text online here.

44. "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" (1904) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A great Holmes story where a man goes about smashing busts of Napoleon, seemingly insane. It takes Holmes to realize that there's more going on here.

"The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" can be found in The Complete Sherlock Holmes. You can read the text online here.

45. "The Country of the Blind" (1904) by H.G. Wells. "In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king," so goes the proverb. In this wistful story, a mountain climber discovers the country of the blind, but finds that the proverb does not hold true. He soon discovers that his senses may be superior, but they mean less than nothing in a society which has made to do without.

"The Country of the Blind" can be found in The Country of the Blind and Other Selected Stories. You can read the text online here.

46. "Number 13" (1904) by M.R. James. A frightening James story which slowly builds up to one immensely effective moment. A guest in a hotel notices some odd occurrences. The room seems smaller during the night, larger during the day. At night, he sees a room next to him numbered "13." He can't find number 13 during the day. And someone is in that room.

"Number 13" can be found in Complete Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

47. "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" (1904) by M.R. James. Possibly James' finest story, certainly one of his best-known. Between his fun prose, James brings out a terrific ghost story about a man who digs up an unusual whistle, then blows into it. Unfortunately for him, something answers the call.

"Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" can be found in Complete Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

48. "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" (1904) by M.R. James. This was my first exposure to James, it was in a filmstrip collection along with Amelia Edward's "Phantom Coach." A researcher solves the riddle of Abbot Thomas' supposed hidden treasure, but when he reaches in to take it...well, it's a moment that lived long in my imagination.

"The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" can be found in Complete Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

49. "A Tropical Horror" (1905) by William Hope Hodgson. A ship at sea is visited by a creature from the depths, something apparently prehistoric...something with little love for humans. Told in frantic passages as the narrator tries to conceal himself from the sea creature which tears through his fellow crewmen.

"A Tropical Horror" can be found in The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson Volume 3. You can read the text online here.

50. "A Suspicious Gift" (1906) by Algernon Blackwood. Blackwood is best regarded for his supernatural tales, but this one manages to terrify without bringing in anything otherwordly. A man takes in a strange guest who has a gift of money for him. So what's the catch? And why does the guest walk so strangely?

"A Suspicious Gift" can be found in The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

George Tuska, RIP

"We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

It's interesting that so few of the significant comic book creators have passed on. I mean, Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Gene Colan, Jerry Robinson, Steve Ditko and so many other earlier creators are still with us. It's strange, then, that the industry was hit by two deaths this week - one being letterer Joe Rosen, the other artist George Tuska, each of them veterans since the 1940s.

It's sad that Tuska's art hasn't been more widely appreciated. Perhaps he wasn't suited to the super hero work most associate him with. After all, back in the 1950s he worked in all types of genres for Atlas. He did westerns...

...He did war comics...

...And he did horror comics.

But he must be best remembered for his work on Iron Man, which ranged ten years of his career. It included drawing the Archie Goodwin run of the late 60s which for many was a highlight of the series. My favorite Goodwin-Tuska story was the one where an LMD (android) usurps Tony Stark's life.

That same story was also the debut of Madame Masque, one of the best villains in Iron Man's rogues gallery.

If nothing else, George Tuska will be fondly remembered by Iron Man fandom. I know that I won't soon forget him. Rest in peace, Mr. Tuska.

Great Short Stories: #31-40

31. "A Scandal in Bohemia" (1891) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. One of the best Sherlock Holmes stories, this is the famous tale of Irene Adler, the woman who outsmarted Holmes. It's a great story that shows Holmes at his best, even though he meets his match. Much has been made of Moriarty as Holmes' ultimate nemesis, but Adler is the only one of his adversaries who proved a genuine intellectual equal.

"A Scandal in Bohemia" can be found in The Complete Sherlock Holmes. You can read the text online here.

32. "Lot No. 249" (1892) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is a mummy story, although it follows some of the traditional zombie story maneuvers as well. A young man has found a way to command a mummy to do his bidding and he sees it as his opportunity to eliminate all of his rivals.

"Lot No. 249" can be found in Return From the Dead. You can read the text online here.

33. "Lost Hearts" (1893) by M.R. James. This is one of James' earliest tales and it's rather unlike the main body of his work (I'll be listing a lot of them over the next two days). A poor child is taken in by a doctor who provides for his every need. But it seems that children have a way of disappearing around his home...

"Lost Hearts" can be found in Complete Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

34. "How the Brigadier Won His Medal" (1894) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Of all the great Brigadier Gerard stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this is certainly one of them. If you know Doyle for Holmes or the Lost World you should try a Brigadier Gerard story, they're quite different and very funny. In this tale, Gerard is sent on what could only be an impossible task - impossible for any man but Gerard! The only problem is his superiors meant for him to be captured. Poor Gerard, ever bringing competance to the job of an incompetant.

"How the Brigadier Won His Medal" can be found in Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard. You can read the text online here.

35. "Canon Alberic's Scrap Book" (1895) by M.R. James. Now then, this is another M.R. James story, but it follows a formula he used time and again thereon. A researcher visiting an old church befriends the parson, who shows him an incredible text full of rare illustrations from chuch history. He's quite eager to be rid of it...and before the day is over, the researcher learns why...

"Canon Alberic's Scrap Book" can be found in Complete Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

36. "The Open Boat" (1897) by Stephen Crane. Based on an incident which occurred to Crane, this is the story of four men cast adrift in a lifeboat trying desperately to save themselves as the situation grows increasingly bleak.

"The Open Boat" can be found in The Open Boat and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

37. "The Damned Thing" (1898) by Ambrose Bierce. A fine combination of wit and horror, this quick tale recounts the circumstances surrounding the unusual death of a hunter who believes there are things existing slightly outside man's ken, but not necessarily beyond that of nature.

"The Damned Thing" can be found in The Spook House. You can read the text online here.

38. "Drums of the Fore and Aft" (1898) by Rudyard Kipling. An excellent story about two young men who play in a regiment band and find themselves stranded on the battlefield when the rest of their party retreats. The duo see only one course open to them: they march, trying to inspire their forces to come back and continue the fight.

"Drums of the Fore and Aft" can be found in War Stories and Poems. You can read the text online here.

39. "Captain Rogers" (1901) by W.W. Jacobs. A familiar tale with a twist; a good man raising his daughter alone is confronted by a figure from his past who knows him as "Captain Rogers," a wanted man. He uses this information as blackmail to get whatever he wants from the man, gradually forcing him out of his own home and property and threatening to take his daughter as well. It all leads up to a well-earned twist...

"Captain Rogers" can be found in The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

40. "An Adulteration Act" (1902) by W.W. Jacobs. A humourous story of a doctor and a lawyer who are shanghaied and forced to serve aboard a ship at sea. The two men are ill-prepared for lives of drudgery and to regain their old lives they use the only strengths they have - those of their normal vocations.

"An Adulteration Act" can be found in The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

Great Short Stories: #21-30

21. "The Phantom Rickshaw" (1885) by Rudyard Kipling. In this ghostly yet whimsical story, a man is pursued by the phantom image of a woman he spurned, following him everywhere in her rickshaw. It seems to be a manifestation of his own guilty conscience, believing he drived her to her death, but no amount of psychoanalysis seems able to drive the phantom away.

"The Phantom Rickshaw" can be found in The Phantom Rickshaw and Other Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

22. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson. Again delving into novellas, this is Stevenson's great tale of Jekyll letting out his other side, but discovering that the more exercise he grants his baser self, the more powerful it becomes and he faces the threat of losing out to himself.

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" can be found in Three Tales. You can read the text online here.

23. "The Horla" (1887) by Guy de Maupassant. This is easily Maupassant's best-remembered story, one which has been given particular attention because of his own descent into madness (Maupassant suffered from syphilis). A man is haunted by an invisible...something. A Horla. As he becomes more and more convinced of the reality of his premonitions, his actions seem more and more like madness to those around him.

"The Horla" can be found in The Complete Works of Guy de Maupassant. You can read the text online here.

24. "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" (1888) by Rudyard Kipling. This is a sad story about a young boy from India sent to be raised in England. The boy encounters difficulties, partly due to culture shock, but he also develops a horrible persecution complex and when he finds himself punished regardless of whether he does good or ill, he sees no point in trying to be good.

"Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" can be found in The Man Who Would be King and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

25. "The Man Who Would be King" (1888) by Rudyard Kipling. This is Kipling's great story of two men who seek to carve out a kingdom for themselves and, against all odds, succeed; the problem is that having become kings by setting themselves up as gods, the fiction can only hold for so long...

"The Man Who Would be King" can be found in The Man Who Would be King and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

26. "Hautot Senior and Hautot Junior" (1889) by Guy de Maupassant. This is a strangely cynical yet affecting work by Maupassant. As he lies dying from a hunting accident, Hautot tells his son his shameful secret: he kept a mistress. The son sets out to put things right with his father's woman, but discovers she is now like a part of his family.

"Hautot Senior and Hautot Junior" can be found in The Complete Works of Guy de Maupassant. You can read the text online here.

27. "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (1890) by Ambrose Bierce. This is Bierce's best-known tale, told with simplicity and forcefulness. During the US Civil War, a man is sentenced to be hung over a bridge. He survives the hanging and a pursuit begins, but...well, as you may already know, the escape occurs only in his mind and the entire tale comprises the hopes of a man at the moment of his death.

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" can be found in The Spook House. You can read the text online here.

28. "The Five Orange Pips" (1891) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is one of the most remarkable of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, memorable because it's the story in which the villains are the Klu Klux Klan and that it's one of the few times Holmes solves a mystery, but fails the case!

"The Five Orange Pips" can be found in The Complete Sherlock Holmes. You can read the text online here.

29. "The Graveyard Sisterhood" (1891) by Guy de Maupassant. Another cynical romance by Maupassant; a man comforts a woman weeping over the grave of her beloved and is drawn into a relationship with her; he realizes just a little too late that he's being played.

"The Graveyard Sisterhood" can be found in The Complete Works of Guy de Maupassant. You can read the text online here.

30. "The Red-Headed League" (1891) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is a great Holmes story about a red-haired man who is hired for a job seemingly because of his hair color. After losing the unusual job he asks Holmes to investigate and it turns out the man wasn't wanted for the color of his hair, but for the proximity of his home to the bank!

"The Red-Headed League" can be found in The Complete Sherlock Holmes. You can read the text online here.

Great Short Stories: #11-20

11. "Ethan Brand" (1851) by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this tale, a man seeks to learn what the "unpardonable sin" could be. Tackling the problem as an experiment, he makes test subjects of several people, deceiving them into committing murder and other terrible acts, but in each case he can see how they could be forgiven. The ultimate revelation of his actions is this: intentionally drawing others into evil is the unpardonable sin.

"Ethan Brand" can be found in Twice-Told Tales. You can read the text online here.

12. "A Terrible Night" (1856) by Fitz-James O'Brien. In this disturbing tale, two men go hunting in the woods somewhere in northern Canada. After becoming lost they chance upon a cabin and the reclusive but proud inhabitant allows them to spend the night. However, the two begin to fear that their host has plans to rob and kill them, so they sleep in shifts to keep an eye on him. The ultimate horror of the evening is much worse than they could have imagined.

"A Terrible Night" can be read online here.

13. "The Phantom Coach" (1864) by Amelia B. Edwards. I first encountered this story in a filmstrip back in junior high school and it left quite a mark upon me; bereft of the film's illustrations, I don't think it's as terrifying, but Edwards still weaves what is to my mind the best of the "phantom coach" style of tales, of which there were many in the 19th century (her colleague Dickens wrote a couple). In this tale, a man lost in the snow accepts a lift from a mysterious coach. There's something not quite right about his fellow passengers...

"The Phantom Coach" can be found in Classic & Victorian Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

14. "The Trial for Murder" (1865) by Charles Dickens. In this story, a juror finds himself strangely compelled by the case he's been made to sit in on. He never knew the victim, he does not know the defendant. How is it that he seems possessed of the full details of the crime and is assured of the defendant's guilt? And is there really a 13th juror?

"The Trial for Murder" can read online here.

15. "The Signal-Man" (1866) by Charles Dickens. This eerie story relates the plight of a railway line signal-man who has premonitions of disaster and lives in perpetual fear that his premonitions will come true; the story's protagonist tries to convince him that his fears are groundless, yet he unwittingly has a part to play in the man's future.

"The Signal-Man" can be found in Three Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

16. "Green Tea" (1872) by Sheridan Le Fanu. Le Fanu is not a well-known name but he's well-regarded by those who know him and stories like "Green Tea" exhibit the reason why. It's a psychological ghost story written in an open, conversational style that may even make you laugh...until the story's phantom monkey appears.

"Green Tea" can be found in Green Tea and Other Strange Tales. You can read the text online here.

17. "Sire de Maletroit's Door" (1877) by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this story, a young cavalier fleeing from his enemies steps inside an open door; he soon has cause to regret this action when he finds himself in the home of a wealthy man determined to find the person who impregnated his daughter. As a criminal, the cavalier cannnot expose his motivation without incriminating himself and so is given a choice: marry his daughter or die.

"Sire de Maletroit's Door" can be found in New Arabian Nights. You can read the text online here.

18. "The Suicide Club" (1878) by Robert Louis Stevenson. Here's where I'm fudging the definition of "short story" just a little. "The Suicide Club" is more properly a novella or even a mini-anthology; it is essentially three short stories which together tell one great story. However, it's mainly the first of these stories which I'm enamored with - "The Young Man With the Cream Tarts." It's this part of the story which is really about the titular Suicide Club. In it, a young prince out to enjoy himself in secrecy joins a club where suicidal people unable to kill themselves play cards every night to choose from amongst their ranks a killer and a victim. The prince's problems really begin when he is chosen to be a victim! This was a story I first encountered on the radio show Escape, but protagonist Prince Florizel turned up in a few more of Stevenson's works.

"The Suicide Club" can be found in New Arabian Nights. You can read the text online here.

19. "A Ruse" (1882) by Guy de Maupassant. Really, this is an awful, tasteless, cynical and terrible story. And yet, it's told with such zest and audacity that I do rather like it. A physician relates a story about an evening where he was called to aid a married woman whose lover had unexpectedly died. He must contrive a means to get the body out of her home before her husband returns. It's all a build-up to an awful punchline, but so far as cynical humour goes, this is one of Maupassant's best.

"A Ruse" can be found in The Complete Works of Guy de Maupassant. You can read the text online here.

20. "Markheim" (1885) by Robert Louis Stevenson. This is a great crime story telling the desperate actions of a killer trying to escape the scene of the crime but plagued by self-doubts and fears of capture. His own conscience stirs against him as he comes closer and closer to discovery.

"Markheim" can be found in Three Tales. You can read the text online here.

Great Short Stories: #1-10

In my school days I was exposed to short stories in English classes as part of my course material, but I didn't really develop an interest in the format until I became obsessed with old-time radio. Many of the radio dramas I enjoyed - notably those used on Escape - utilized short stories to great effect as they were well suited to the half-hour format of most programs. As the programs exposed me to certain stories and authors I began searching out the print versions of those works, then finding more stories by my favorite of those authors and then seeking out additional authors who were said to be similar to them. I love that the format gets through the plots quickly and often with a deft sense of economy.

I've read an especially large amount of short stories since delving into the University's collections, grabbing thick anthologies here and there. I've read so much that I felt the need to share my recommendations for great short stories. Beginning today and over the next nine days, I'll list my 100 favorite short stories, including information on where to buy or read online where able. This list will be in chronological order and won't have much beyond the 1950s.

1. "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" (1837) by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This is the prototype of "fountain of youth" stories, demonstrating the yearning to be young again outwardly, but that inward youth is not so easily obtained. Like so many stories of its sort, the miracle which grants youth is lost by the story's end, but it leads to a final paragraph that is quite funny.

"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" can be found in Twice-Told Tales. You can read the text online here.

2. "A Predicament" (1838) by Edgar Allan Poe. This story is best enjoyed when read alongside "How to Write a Blackwood's Article," but I think the absurdism stands well on its own. This is one of Poe's best humourous stories and pokes fun at some of the conventions he later adopted himself!

"A Predicament" can be found in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. You can read the text online here.

3. "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839) by Edgar Allan Poe. This is one of the great Poe stories and is likely familiar to many; the story of a woman buried alive by her brother and highlighted by an unforgettable climax where the protagonist reads from The Mad Trist as unusual sounds in the house seem to mirror every passage of the text.

"The Fall of the House of Usher" can be found in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. You can read the text online here.

4. "The Man That Was Used Up" (1839) by Edgar Allan Poe. This is another of Poe's humourous tales, featuring a general who is well regarded by everyone the protagonist meets, and yet they seem simultaneously evasive on the subject. When the protagonist finally meets the general he learns the great man's secret: most of his body has been replaced with prosthetics. He has, in brief, been "used up."

"The Man That Was Used Up" can be found in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. You can read the text online here.

5. "Never Bet the Devil Your Head" (1841) by Edgar Allan Poe. This is easily Poe's funniest story, the tale of a gambling man whose ultimate wager is to bet the Devil his head. When the Devil accepts his terms, he has to put his money where his mouth is...that is, if he still had a mouth...

"Never Bet the Devil Your Head" can be found in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. You can read the text online here.

6. "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1842) by Edgar Allan Poe. Another of Poe's best-known tales, this is the story of the man imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition and left in a darkened prison to face two dilemmas: first, an immense pit which he's expected to blindly stumble into and second, an immense bladed pendulum which descends from the ceiling, drawing ever closer to his body.

"The Pit and the Pendulum" can be found in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. You can read the text online here.

7. "The Black Cat" (1843) by Edgar Allan Poe. For my money, this was Poe's most disturbing story. The narrator is a drunk who kills his cat in a fit; later, he obtains a new cat but begins to fear it's the old cat reincarnated. When he kills his wife in another fit he tries desperately to conceal his crime, but the cat isn't through with him yet and his own pride brings about his fall.

"The Black Cat" can be found in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. You can read the text online here.

8. "The Gold Bug" (1843) by Edgar Allan Poe. This is Poe's great treasure hunt story, featuring a cipher and the fortune of Captain Kidd hidden beneath a skull. What maintains interest is that the treasure hunter seems to be a madman, but is actually following the seemingly-insane directions to the treasure.

"The Gold Bug" can be found in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. You can read the text online here.

9. "The Telltale Heart" (1843) by Edgar Allan Poe. If "the Black Cat" was Poe's most disturbing, I think this was Poe's single best work. This is the classic story of a murderer whose guilty conscience manifests as the sound of a heartbeat emanating from the place where he buried his victim. Adaptations to other media try too hard to delve into the narrator's motivation, making it about the killer's need for money or want of love; the actual story is stripped bare - it's a killer's confession and everything from the murder scene to the tormented imaginations of the killer are suspenseful and thrilling.

"The Telltale Heart" can be found in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. You can read the text online here.

10. "The Cask of Amontillado" (1846) by Edgar Allan Poe. And this is the last tale by Poe to make it on my list; this is another of his great stories and I encourage anyone who thinks they know the story to sit down and read it for themselves. The flashes of grim humour are really engaging and the climax - Fortunato being sealed up inside a wall by Montressor - is some of Poe's best work.

"The Cask of Amontillado" can be found in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. You can read the text online here.

Pete Kelly's Blues

I remember thumbing through the entertainment section of the newspaper one summer morning over 10 years ago when I found an article about the worst television shows of all time. I took some exception to the article, mainly because I knew enough about the history of television to know that the truly bad programs were obscure, not generally popular. Among the inclusions in the author's list that I disagreed with was Dragnet, which was singled out for Jack Webb's performance as Joe Friday.

Webb's Dragnet originated in radio (1949-57), spawned a theatrical film (1954) and two television series (1951-59 & 1967-70). Joe Friday is certainly Webb's best-known role in his career for having spread across so many decades and separate generations, but the restrained, monotone he adopted as Friday was not the full measure of his talent, as fans of his radio career are well aware.

On radio, Webb once starred in his own comedy program, strangely enough! The zany Jack Webb Show ran in 1946. He also turned up as a guest star in many dramatic programs where he played a variety of characters, including the Escape episode "Ring of Thoth" in which he played a French mummy (seriously! check it out!). But after Dragnet, Webb's fans know him best as the wiseguy Pat Novak in Pat Novak for Hire (1946-49). Pat Novak is one of the best-regarded detective programs among fans of radio drama because of its clever dialogue. Virtually every episode followed the same plot: Novak walks in on some shady dealings and Inspector Hellman (Raymond Burr) tries to pin a crime on him; he turns to his boozer friend Jocko Magidan (Tudor Owen) to help dig up evidence to vindicate himself. Here's a typical piece of Novak's dialogue:

"They were the sort of guys who might have been born, but you didn't want to bet on it. The one in the door was a big guy with bushy eyebrows that met near his nose, and the way they ran across his face, you got the idea he got tired of the old ones and grafted on a vine instead. His face wasn't much better. It looked more like a relief map than a face. It was pockmarked and the color of moldy bread. And you knew if a woman kissed him, she'd get blood poisoning."

Novak and Hellman's violent exchanges definitely stood out against those of most fictional detective-police relations of the time. A typical show like Boston Blackie depicted a thick-headed police officer who unreasonably blames the protagonist for everything until the hero shows him up and humiliates him. Novak would always succeed, but had to take a physical beating from Hellman along the way; Hellman's menacing presence ran so much deeper than any other radio police official, there was clearly no love between them.

Anyway, now we arrive at 1951 and Webb produced a new radio program called Pete Kelly's Blues. Its run on radio was limited to a few months but it followed a pattern similar to Pat Novak. Set in the 1920s, Kelly was a trumpet player in a jazz band who constantly ran afoot of organized crime and had to keep himself clear in the eyes of the mob, rather than the police. Dialogue on the show was much like that used on Novak:

"My name’s Pete Kelly. I play cornet. You’ll find us at 417 Cherry Street, Kansas City, it’s a standard speakeasy. Before prohibition the building housed a cleaning and dying plant. It hasn’t changed much. The vats came in handy. Its still tough to get a clear gin but a lady likes the idea of a drink to match the color of her dress. The lease is owned by George Lupo. He’s a flat, friendly little guy who wouldn’t harm a fly. There’s no money in harming flies. We start every night about ten and play til the customers get that first frightening look at each other in the early light. Lupo’s working on a scheme to push the dawn back for at least one more hour. I don’t think he’ll make it, but I wouldn’t want to risk a buck against him."

Somehow, Webb was able to translate Pete Kelly's Blues to another medium, as he had done for Dragnet. In 1955, it became a motion picture directed by Webb himself and featuring plenty of jazz music with some numbers by Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald and a supporting cast with Janet Leigh and Lee Marvin.

As on the radio program, Pete Kelly is a 1920s bandleader just barely keeping out of trouble with the mob. When his drummer is murdered by gangsters, Kelly has to fall in line with mobster Fran McCrag, but he can see that if he stays under his thumb, darker times are ahead. Again, the dialogue is faithful to the radio version:

"If you're looking for a new way to grow old, this is the place to come. 1 7 Cherry Street, Kansas City. It's a speakeasy one flight down. It was a brownstone at first. After that an undertaker had the place, but he went to Chicago to get a piece of the flu epidemic and Rudy Shulak took over. Rudy got a booze contract out of Joplin and bought some tablecloths, it's been a gin bin ever since. There's even a little business on the side for shut-ins. Rudy's a puny little guy. Sew an extra button on his vest, he'd fall down. But he's all right. The beer's good, the whiskey's aged, if you get here late in the day. On top of that, he knows where to spend money. He knows where to save it. And he's good to the help. He pays scale with a $5 kickback. I play cornet and run the band. We play from 1 0 till 4 with a 20-minute pizza break. The hours are bad but the music suits us. There's one other thing about Rudy's and that's trouble. You can get it by the yard, the pound, wholesale or retail."

Part of what makes the film version of Pete Kelly's Blues so captivating is the visual style, all the more remarkable coming from a director who spent most of his time at the other end of the camera (and is also the film's leading man). There are some terrific shots in this movie, notably the shoot-out scene in the climax set on a ballroom floor with great wide shots of three gunman encircling Kelly and his girl.

Pete Kelly's Blues is a rather obscure film, all told, but it's well worth checking out; if you never thought much of Webb as an actor, it might change your mind. It will certainly open your eyes to his skill as a director!