The Five Pennies (1959) Reviews

WONDERFUL ol' classic that is the true story of band leader/coronet player Red Nichols who halts his career while at the top, when his only child is striken with polio - and his ultimate return to music many years later. Memorable performances and musical big band jazz numbers with a half dozen by Louie Armstrong himself. Danny Kaye had such a lovely voice. This title song so charmed me it's on my iPod now right between the Damnwells and Dave Brubeck & it has lyrics to live by.
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A relic of the late 1950s and of the Hollywood musical bio genre (most current example: "Walk the Line"), THE FIVE PENNIES makes for a relatively painless trip down memory lane as it tracks, with quite a bit of coincidence and (I suspect) whitewash, the career of 1920s-30s bandleader Red Nichols. Written & directed by Melville Shavelson, whose output of some 45 films for theatre and TV does not include any particularly memorable work, the film is pretty much paint-by-numbers, but acted with enough believability to get viewers from 1 to 10. Barbara Bel Geddes is especially good, Danny Kaye mimics a cornet player well enough but doesn't come through in his one or two "dramatic" scenes, Harry Guardino offers his usual good support, & the best surprise is watching a very young Tuesday Weld in one of her earliest roles. Some of the music is quite good, however (Louis Armstrong makes three appearances), and the DVD image is spectacular and--unusual for a 50s movie DVD transfer--widescreen!
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