The Five Pennies
| The Five Pennies | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Melville Shavelson |
| Produced by | Jack Rose |
| Written by |
Robert Smith Jack Rose Melville Shavelson |
| Starring |
Danny Kaye Barbara Bel Geddes Harry Guardino Bob Crosby Louis Armstrong Tuesday Weld |
| Music by |
Thorton W. Allen Sylvia Fine M.W. Sheafe Leith Stevens |
| Cinematography | Daniel L. Fapp |
| Edited by | Frank P. Keller |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 117 mins. |
| Country | United States |
| Box office | $3 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)[1] |
The Five Pennies was a semi-biographical 1959 film starring Danny Kaye as cornet player and bandleader Loring Red Nichols. Other cast members included Barbara Bel Geddes, Harry Guardino, Bob Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Susan Gordon, and Tuesday Weld. The film was directed by Melville Shavelson.
The film received four Oscar nominations: Best Musical Scoring (Leith Stevens), Best Original Song (Danny Kaye's wife Sylvia Fine), Best Cinematography (Daniel L. Fapp), and Best Costumes (Edith Head).
The real Red Nichols recorded all of Kaye's cornet playing for the film soundtrack. The other musicians in Red's band were not asked to provide their musical contributions and the sound of his "band" was supplied by session players.
Plot summary
Red Nichols (Kaye) is a small-town cornet player who moves to New York City in the 1920s and finds work in a band led by Wil Paradise (Crosby). He meets and marries singer Bobbie Meredith (Bel Geddes), and the two form their own Dixieland band called "The Five Pennies" (a play on Nichols' name, since a nickel equals five pennies). As their popularity peaks, their young daughter Dorothy (Susan Gordon) contracts polio and the family leaves the music business, moving to Los Angeles. When Dorothy becomes a teen (Tuesday Weld) she learns of her father's music career and persuades him go on a comeback tour. The tour borders on failure until several notable musicians from Nichols' past appear to save the day.
Trivia
The drummer in the scenes with Louis Armstrong was Vel Tino, Sr.
Features an energetic Charleston and an exaggerated Tango with Lizanne Truex and Danny Kaye, who hammed up the Tango during the rehearsal to such a degree that the director added it to the scene.
References
- ↑ "1959: Probable Domestic Take", Variety, 6 January 1960 p 34
External links
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