Saturday Night "Fever"! :)

Well, it's actually Saturday morning, but I'm sure you won't mind seeing these stills of Jack Kelly in A Fever In The Blood any time of day!

In this 1961 feature film JK plays ambitious district attorney "Dan Callahan", who throws an innocent murder suspect under the bus during a ruthless bid to become a gubernatorial candidate.

Callahan listens intently to Senator Alex Simon (Don Ameche), who also intends to seek the governor's office. (That's actor Parley Baer behind JK.)

Accompanied by the press, Callahan himself arrests the murder suspect, Thornwall (Rhodes Reason):

The same scene seen in color (detail from an Italian fotobusta):

Callahan grills the real killer (Robert Colbert) on the stand as Judge Leland Hoffman (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) looks on.



BONUS: A lurid 1961 newspaper ad for Fever which mentions Bart Maverick and Stu Bailey (Zimbalist's character in 77 Sunset Strip):

 

TRIVIA: A Fever In the Blood was referenced in the recent miniseries Feud: Bette and Joan. Director Robert Aldrich tries to convince Warner Bros. chief Jack Warner to let him hire Bette Davis and Joan Crawford for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? by bluntly pointing out that WB films such as A Fever in the Blood flopped because they had no "stars". 

But, JK will always be a star to us. To read (and see) much more about him in A Fever in the Blood, please click here and here.

JK at the "Finnish" Line! :)

Howdy Everyone!

Now, here's something you don't see everyday--a Finnish poster for an American western!

This amazing addition to the Kellection advertises the 1953 Audie Murphy oater Gunsmoke (no connection to the famous TV series). I love the swirling pistol smoke motif. And, of course, I love the fact that Jack Kelly (as "Curly Mather") occupies a pretty fair chunk of the poster, although his name appears nowhere.  Here's a close-up:

The image of JK on the poster came from a still which can be viewed here.

Well, please stay tuned--I'm not "Finnished" sharing JK treasures with you! :)

Remembering...

 

Kathleen Crowley

 

1929-2017

 

 

Ms. Crowley, who appeared in eight episodes of Maverick (five with Jack Kelly), passed away at age 87 on Sunday, April 23, 2017, at her home in Green Bank, NJ (which was also her birthplace). After a career in films and television, Ms. Crowley married in 1969 and retired in the early 1970's to raise her son.  Her obituary in the Hollywood Reporter revealed that "She later became the bridgetender (the person that opens and closes the span to accommodate waterway traffic) for the Green Bank New Road Bridge..."

In 1961, Ms. Crowley described what it was like working with JK on the "Dade City Dodge" episode of Maverick: "Working with a professional like Jack is a real pleasure...It doesn't seem like there's been almost four years between my two Maverick shows. [First show was "The Jeweled Gun" in 1957.] And the rehearsals for this one went just as smooth as the other; you'd think we were on-camera instead of just running through the lines and action."

 

Rest in peace, Ms. Crowley.

 

 

 

One Sunday Afternoon With Jack Kelly :)

Howdy!

Here's another amazing pic of Jack Kelly from his early career days at Universal-International Studios.

 

Dated 1951, it shows JK in an opening night scene directed by Sophie Rosenstein from "One Sunday Afternoon" (a play written by James Hagan) which was presented as part of the annual "Inside U-I" stage show. Some writing on the back of the photo says, "Scenes presented on stage as acting exercises to audiences of studio's directors and producers."

More writing on the back of the still identifies JK's leggy co-stars as Gale Storm (L) and Ava Norring (R), although I'm not quite sure if the lady on the left really is Ms. Storm. Anyway, JK appears to be saying "Cheers!" at the sight of Ms. Norring's glamourous gam.

I found this 1951 photo of actors in the U-I workshop online. JK is sitting in the front row; I'm sure you'll recognize some other familiar faces (such as Russell Johnson), too:

I also found some more pix from the "Inside U-I" show in a 1954 issue of Photoplay magazine. The story, "Puttin' On An Act", says, "Movie audiences will never see the U-I talent show. It's strictly a family affair...For several weeks every year U-I's huge Phantom Stage (so-called because it was built for the [1924] movie Phantom of the Opera) hums with activity. Youngsters gleefully go through their own routines or watch Estelle Harman, head of the talent department, put others through their paces."

"Though it looks like bedlam, there's method in the madness. This year's show, the third put on by the studio, is part of a million-dollar talent program which has more than earned its keep. The show called 'Inside U-I', is designed not only to give U-I contract players extra experience, but to display their versatile and sometimes unsuspected off-beat talents. Through these shows,  U-I's young players have again and again obtained better breaks, not only on their own lot, but also on loan-outs. For executives from all the other studios scramble for invitations to this glorified--and exclusive--Amateur Show."

Well, it's no act and I'll give my all to bring you much more about JK in TDS...please stay tuned! :)