Biopic of famous jazz drummer, Gene Krupa, who becomes a sensation but cannot handle success and life in the fast lane and ends-up broke, struggling with drugs and alcohol.Biopic of famous jazz drummer, Gene Krupa, who becomes a sensation but cannot handle success and life in the fast lane and ends-up broke, struggling with drugs and alcohol.Biopic of famous jazz drummer, Gene Krupa, who becomes a sensation but cannot handle success and life in the fast lane and ends-up broke, struggling with drugs and alcohol.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
Videos1
- Bar Owneras Bar Owner
- (uncredited)
- Minor Roleas Minor Role
- (uncredited)
- Stripperas Stripper
- (uncredited)
- Stagehandas Stagehand
- (uncredited)
- Fatheras Father
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
- Taglines
- He hammered out the savage tempo of the jazz era!
- Genres
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaWhen the film opened in Krupa's hometown of Chicago at the Schiller Theatre on January 15, 1960 both Gene Krupa and Sal Mineo were on hand to greet the public and sign "fan fotos."
- GoofsIn the spring and summer of 1930, Krupa made 7 records with Bix in NYC., most famously Barnacle Bill the Sailor in an All-Star band hand picked by Hoagy Carmichael which included Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Venuti & Lang.
- Quotes
Gene Krupa: What are we giving away here?
Guitarist: The most! On sip and you're gone from the vale of tears.
Gene Krupa: Reefers?
Guitarist: Reap the tender weed. Or as the peasants say: tea. And I don't mean Oolong.
Gene Krupa: So that's what they look like. Huh?
Guitarist: Don't give me that, Daddy-O. How else would you get that crazy kick on your drums.
Gene Krupa: Oh, come off it Jack. You think I need anything like that to get me out there?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Police Story: The Broken Badge (1978)
That is essentially "The Gene Krupa Story", with bobby soxer heartthrob Sal Mineo replacing Cassidy, Krupa replacing Sinatra, and the look of 1959 replacing 1970. Mineo was the Cassidy of his generation, with about the same level of acting talent but harder working and more willing to take direction.
Like the imagined "Cassidy as Sinatra" film, the idea was to expand the target audience by including someone who would attract teen and pre-teen girls. In this "The Gene Krupa Story" was successful and the film had good box office. The downside was that big band fans generally considered the whole production laughable. My father was a huge Krupa fan and he hated this film with an unprecedented passion. In part for the cheap production design and in part because of Mineo and the reasons for his casting, but largely because of the many factual omissions and distortions. To him the only saving grace was that they used Krupa's actual drumming, to which Mineo is generally in sync although there are times when he is beating a tom and the sound is that of a cymbal.
Like most Hollywood bio movies ("The Lou Gerhig Story", "The Al Jolson Story", etc.) Krupa's mother was violently opposed to her son's ambitions, in this case she and her husband want him to be a priest. But he leaves the seminary to set out for New York with Eddie Sirota (James Darren) and Eddie's composer girlfriend, Ethel (Susan Kohner). After a rough three months Ethel is forced to take a job as a telephone operator and her romantic interest switches to Gene.
Gene's career takes off and he begins running with a fast crowd of 1930's musicians (who sound strangely like a Maynard G. Kreb's take on the 1950's beat scene). A jazz singer named Dorissa Dinell (Susan Oliver) connects him with some dope dealers and the film gets a lot like "Reefer Madness" (but with a 1959 setting). Which may account for a surreal montage of newspaper headlines chronicling his rise to national fame and his fall in a drug bust. There is even an "I told you so" phone call from mom. This has ramifications beyond Krupa as the entire jazz world is outed as dope fiends and corrupter of America's youth. When the chips are down, Dorissa bails on Gene with the classic exit line: "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a town I'd better get out of." Gene is reduced to playing in strip clubs with other beatnik musicians wearing dark glasses. When it seems like he can't go on another day Ethel re- enters his life and things begin to break his way once again.
For the aging sequences Mineo could draw upon the example James Dean, who he worked with in both "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Giant". Dean was faced with the same challenge in "Giant" and Mineo's attempt here is clearly superior. So much so that what could have been the film's biggest liability is actually a strength. And Mineo successfully mimics Krupa distinctive drumming style and facial expressions, details that he worked on with Krupa himself. There are seven drum solo set pieces, mostly medium shots that capture the spirit if not the actual magic of a Krupa performance.
Susan Kohner shows considerable range in two of her 1959 films, this one and "Imitation of Life". Here she will remind you of Eva Marie Saint's "On the Waterfront" character, a considerable contrast with the overwrought racially conflicted daughter she played in the other film. The likable James Darren (later to star in television's "The Time Tunnel") is a better singer than an actor. His scenes with Mineo are pretty awful, certainly the film's worst moments, and the fault does not lie with Mineo who tends to play up or down to the level of whoever he shares a scene. The hard working Mineo simply did not have enough talent or training to salvage a scene gone bad and really needed to be surrounded by a strong cast to help him sell his characterizations. Susan Oliver ("Butterfield 8") gets the best role and has a lot of fun with her character, benefiting from having almost all of the film's good lines. "Snow me again, junior, because I didn't quite get your drift." When I see her in a film I am always reminded of her classic guest-staring appearance as the sizzlingly hot female prisoner Barney and Andy have to cope with in episode 4-18 of "The Andy Griffith Show".
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
- aimless-46
- Nov 14, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Drummer Man
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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