Jazz cornet player Pete Kelly (Jack Webb) and his Big Seven Band have a steady gig at a Kansas City speakeasy, until Pete runs afoul of local mob boss Fran McCarg (Edmond O'Brien), who insists that the group hire a new lead singer: his alcoholic girlfriend, Rose (Peggy Lee, in an Oscar-nominated role). This stylized musical drama, set in the Prohibition era, also features Janet Leigh as Ivy Conrad, a socialite who falls for Pete.