The Five Pennies

The Five Pennies
Directed by	Melville Shavelson
Written by	Robert Smith Jack Rose Melville Shavelson
Produced by	Jack Rose
Starring	Danny Kaye Barbara Bel Geddes Louis Armstrong Harry Guardino Bob Crosby Bobby Troup
Cinematography	Daniel L. Fapp
Edited by	Frank P. Keller
Music by	Thorton W. Allen Sylvia Fine M.W. Sheafe Leith Stevens
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	June 18, 1959 (1959-06-18) (New York)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$3 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)

The Five Pennies is a semi-biographical 1959 film starring Danny Kaye as cornet player and bandleader Loring Red Nichols. Other cast members include Barbara Bel Geddes, Louis Armstrong, Harry Guardino, Bob Crosby, Bobby Troup, 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 (Sylvia Fine—Danny Kaye's wife), 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

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 Willia Stutsman, a.k.a. "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.

As a teenager, Dorothy (Tuesday Weld) 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.

Cast

• Danny Kaye as Red Nichols
• Barbara Bel Geddes as Willa Stutsman
• Louis Armstrong as Himself
• Harry Guardino as Tony Valani
• Bob Crosby as Will Paradise
• Bobby Troup as Arthur Schutt
• Susan Gordon as Dorothy Nichols - Ages 6 to 8
• Tuesday Weld as Dorothy Nichols - Age 13
• Ray Anthony as Jimmy Dorsey
• Shelly Manne as Dave Tough
• Ray Daley as Glenn Miller
• Valerie Allen as Tommye Eden
• Bob Hope as Himself (cameo)

See also

• List of American films of 1959

External links

• The Five Pennies at IMDb
• The Five Pennies at the TCM Movie Database
• The Five Pennies at AllMovie