***SPOILERS***Fast music and hard drinking film directed by the late John Cassavetes, who himself died of acute alcoholism at age 59, with singer actor in his first dramatic role Bobby Darin as jazz musician John "Ghost" Wakefield. It's "Ghost" who ends up losing his Mojo, artistic talent, and never able to get his groove back, in playing jazz music, when he meets and falls heads over heels for pretty blond Polish American Princess Jess Polanski, Stella Stevens, who ends up screwing him or screwing up his head in more ways then one. "Ghost" who took his music very seriously and considered himself a serious jazz musician started to lose his interest in jazz as well as his band by trying to make Jess the band's, who plays only instrumental music, lead singer.
The fact that Jess couldn't carry a note she just hummed her way through a song had "Ghost's" fellow jazz musicians leave in disgust and start a band of their own without their former band leader "Ghost" Warefield. Menawhile the emotionally unstable, in knowing she's a no talent when it comes to music, Jess loses it and ends up as a B-girl picking up guys who buy her drinks and spend the night with her in cheap bars and hotel rooms mostly on the city docks to support herself. "Ghost" in the end realized what a first class creep he is and tries to make up with his band, who want nothing at all to do with him, as well as Jess who by then became suicidal. With his life and career in music now in shambles "Ghost" can only look back at the past and see what a mess he made of his life, and those around him like Jess, and start all over again in possibly another profession like prize fighting or professional wrestling.
P.S This was the last film that Vince Edwards made before he hit it big on network TV as the kind understanding and non violent, he only raised his scalpel not his fist on the show, top neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Casey. This was totally opposite to the character that he played in the movie the hard drinking and brawling neighborhood sh*t-kicker Irish Tommy Sheehan. It was Tommy who not only was able to out-drink wine drinking champ Nick Boboleuos, Nick Dennis, under as well as over the table but still be able to stay on his feet and take on the entire bar of hard drinking dock workers until help, the police, arrived.
The fact that Jess couldn't carry a note she just hummed her way through a song had "Ghost's" fellow jazz musicians leave in disgust and start a band of their own without their former band leader "Ghost" Warefield. Menawhile the emotionally unstable, in knowing she's a no talent when it comes to music, Jess loses it and ends up as a B-girl picking up guys who buy her drinks and spend the night with her in cheap bars and hotel rooms mostly on the city docks to support herself. "Ghost" in the end realized what a first class creep he is and tries to make up with his band, who want nothing at all to do with him, as well as Jess who by then became suicidal. With his life and career in music now in shambles "Ghost" can only look back at the past and see what a mess he made of his life, and those around him like Jess, and start all over again in possibly another profession like prize fighting or professional wrestling.
P.S This was the last film that Vince Edwards made before he hit it big on network TV as the kind understanding and non violent, he only raised his scalpel not his fist on the show, top neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Casey. This was totally opposite to the character that he played in the movie the hard drinking and brawling neighborhood sh*t-kicker Irish Tommy Sheehan. It was Tommy who not only was able to out-drink wine drinking champ Nick Boboleuos, Nick Dennis, under as well as over the table but still be able to stay on his feet and take on the entire bar of hard drinking dock workers until help, the police, arrived.