:
Danny Kaye,
Danny Kaye,
Barbara Bel Geddes,
more...
:
Melville Shavelson,
Melville Shavelson
see all cast/crew...
: Not Rated
: Paramount
: Drama, Biopics, Musicals
: 117 min.
: English
: English
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The Five Pennies is the life story of influential jazz cornetist Red Nichols, played here by a remarkably straight-faced Danny Kaye. The somewhat romanticized screenplay chronicles Nichols' rise from obscurity, annotates the many future bandleaders who would play with Nichols' "Five Pennies," and details his self-destructive streak and (seeming) inability to conform to changing musical tastes. Weaving in and out of the main story is a sentimental subplot concerning Nichols' physically impaired daughter Dorothy, played by Susan Gordon as a child and by Tuesday Weld (in her movie debut) as a young woman. Nichols's long-suffering wife is portrayed by Barbara Bel Geddes. The storyline occasionally lapses into sappiness and the ending is almost impossibly lachrymose, but the musical highlights save the day. Especially memorable is Danny Kaye's duet with Louis Armstrong. Among the real-life musicians who grace the supporting cast of The Five Pennies are Bob Crosby, Ray Anthony, Shelly Manne, and, as Jimmy Dorsey, Bobby Troup. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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| Nichols & Pennies
by talltale
January 6, 2006 - 10:11 AM PST
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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 and 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, and 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. This is one of Paramount's "VistaVision" movies, and the transfer is sparkling, colorful, crisp and--unusual for a 50s film transfer--widescreen! |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 5.50)
2 Votes
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