Ella Fitzgerald

From a 1934 talent contest at the Apollo theatre in Harlem, the film follows Ella's extraordinary journey across five decades as she reflects the passions and troubles of the times in her music and her life.

Jack Webb directed and stars in this musical melodrama, along with Janet Leigh, Edmond O'Brien, Peggy Lee, Lee Marvin, Ella Fitzgerald, Martin Milner, Herb Ellis, and Jayne Mansfield. The leader of a jazz band and his fellow musicians try to stand up to a gangster who is extorting them for agent's fees in prohibition-era Kansas City. Several jazz greats perform. A television series was based on this film. Peggy Lee was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.