This second entry in the ground-breaking series helps set the pace. The cool jazz sounds echo throughout, along with Pete's unflappable demeanor. That plus a noirish atmosphere announce the arrival of urban hip. A few random comments follow.
Catch that glaring eye mock-up on the nightclub front; it's big enough to unsettle viewers of any decade. Also, catch that neat camera work that projects a lengthening shadow of a man exiting a room instead of just letting him exit. It's that sort of visual imagination that distinguished the series. Then there's poor, beautiful Edie, hanging on to her man, as he goes inexorably about his business. Come on Pete, first things first. Speaking of business, the plot revolves around a murdered jazzman, and is fairly standard except for the recurring jazz motif. Mustn't forget the jailed Streetcar making cool sounds on his cell bars. After years of bruised ears listening to cons banging on bars, this is a definite departure. Note too the brief discussion of the aesthetics of jazz music-- you don't "understand" the sounds, instead you sort of roll with them. In short, it's an experience, not a concept. All in all, this provocative early entry belongs in the front rank of the series and helps set the pace.
(In passing—it's an interesting cast. As shown here, Black man Leigh Whipper was an actor of compelling talents. In the classic western The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), it's his street-wise preacher that lends the movie its peculiar sense of soul. So if you haven't seen it, please do. Then there's Carlo Fiore, Marlon Brando's long-time buddy and hanger-on (IMDB). Here he does a good job banging on both the xylophone and the prison bars. And finally there's the unknown Patricia Powell who projects a vivid sense of superiority that shows talent. Too bad she has only 8 film credits in an unexplained abbreviated career.)