The Gene Krupa Story drums. Considerable liberty was taken with the actual timeline of events in Gene's life; for example, the picturing of Bix Beiderbecke arriving at a party in Krupa's New York apartment in approximately 1934, several years after Beiderbecke had actually died. The Gene Krupa Story The Gene Krupa Story (also known as Drum Crazy) is a 1959 biopic of American drummer and bandleader Gene Krupa. The conflict in the film centers on Krupa's rise to success and his corresponding use of marijuana. The young Gene Krupa (Sal Mineo) brings home a set of drums and puts them in the family room.
Gene Krupa to changing fashion, but he never adjusted to the bebop style of jazz. In 1954, Krupa returned to Hollywood to appear in the films "The Glenn Miller Story" and "The Benny Goodman Story". In 1959, the movie biography "The Gene Krupa Story" was released; Sal Mineo portrayed Krupa, and the film included a cameo by Red Nichols. During the 1950s, Krupa often played at the Metropole near Times Square in Manhattan. He continued to perform in famous clubs in the 1960s, including the Showboat Lounge in northwest Washington, D.C. Increasingly troubled by back pain, he retired in the late 1960s