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This is the sentimental biography of the life of Ernest Loring (Red) Nichols, a trumpeter/band leader during the 1930's. Danny Kaye does a great job playing Red and Barbara Belgeddes plays his wife, Bobbie. Tuesday Weld plays his daughter, Dorothy. The movie follows Red through his career as a great jazz trumpeter who gives up music for family. A must see for Danny Kaye and Big Band fans. Some of the members of Red's "Five Pennies", as his band was known, were Glenn Miller and Jimmy Dorsey. Louis Armstrong puts on a stellar musical performance as himself. Red Nichols does the trumpet solos. Great music, good family viewing.

Sentimental biography of a famous jazzman , Red Nichols, stars Danny Kaye paying tribute to this great musician by providing a terrific acting and whose traumatic private life was a little shocking for Hollywood standards . Along the way , there appears Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong who plays his horn and croons in that famed gargling-granite voice. Other famous horn players and Big Band icons as Bob Crosby, Ray Anthony and Shelly Manne join the fun.

The plot is plain and simple , an engaging biographic chronicle , featuring perormances from legendary musicians as Bob Crosby, , Bobby Troup , Ray Anthony , Luis Armstrong and Red Nichols magnificently played by Danny Kaye who cuts loose with his trademark musical clowning . The film is a Danny Kaye recital , he plays his horn , sings ,and puts some faces and grimaces . Sylvia Fine , Kaye's wife , is the lyricist , composer , besides associate producer and dialogs writer , and responsible for many of the best known musical routines and songs for her husband . This is a mirth as well as melancholic rhapsody in which the duo starring : Danny Kaye as the extraordinary jazzman and Barbara Bel Geddes as the woman who he loved , both of whom giving awesome performance . An engaging and charming film , though tends to be overlong and slow-moving at times , concerning a dramatic portrayal of a horn player who fights to fill his need for music , while becomes trapped in some dramatic misfortunes . Accompanying them a lot of wonderful of secondary actors and musicians , such as : Harry Guardino , Bob Crosby, Bobby Troup , Susan Gordon , Ray Anthony, Shelly Manne and a teen Tuesday Weld. What the script lacks in originality is amply made up for the extraordinary music and outstanding cast . Highlights the moving musical score by composer Leith Stevens and colorful cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp , while enjoyable apperance by Louis Armstrong make it a must-see for Jazz enthusiasts .

This musical drama was competently made by one of the best Golden Hollywood directors , Melville Shavelson. His movies have a special penchant for recapturing a particular atmosphere , many of this movies are about real people but they remain muted in impact . A notorious screenwriter , Bob Hope and Danny Kaye features Shavelson's movies when he became filmmaker and his films with them are the most successful such as : ¨The seven tittle Foys¨ , Beau James¨, ¨On the Double¨ and ¨Five pennies¨ . Shavelson's later pictures were made for TV and mostly biographies as ¨The great Houdini¨ , ¨Ike¨, ¨Ike : the war years¨, and ¨The legend of Valentino¨ which remains the best work on the subject to date . Two of the best films resulted to be ¨¨Cast a giant shadow¨ , an epic movie with all-star-cast dealing with the birth of Israel and one of his biggest hits was ¨Yours , mine and ours¨. The Five Pennies (1959) rating : 7/10 . Better than average. The flick will appeal to Jazz lovers and Danny Kaye, Louis Armstrong fans.

Danny Kaye is known for his comic roles; for his laughter, his singing, his dancing, his light-hearted humor. But this movie presents a different Danny Kaye - serious, brooding, consumed with guilt, confronted by really serious problems - and here Danny Kaye shines. This movie is proof that if he had to, Danny Kaye could have been one of the greatest dramatic actors in the history of motion pictures. There is no question about that. In this movie, Kaye puts aside the clowning to play a subdued, moody and introspective character who nevertheless is still likable and worthy of attention. And it works! In the movie he wins over the audience, he wins over his family, he wins over his friends. And who can ever forget the scene with Louis Armstrong? Kaye's character overcomes all obstacles to triumph and to be loved. Only a highly skilled and sensitive actor could have done the job, and in this movie Danny Kaye proved that he had the requisite qualities to transform what could have been little more than a sudsy soap opera into a powerful statement about a man who, along with his family, not only survives but sets an example for others. For this reason, this movie is a powerful and compelling work of art.

The Five Pennies Danny Kaye plays Red Nichols, a famous coronet player of yesteryear. I found this story a notch better "fair" and nicely aided by the musical talent of Louis Armstrong. Kaye and Armstrong's duet on "When The Saints Go Marching In" is the highlight of the film.

For a classic movie, the stereo in here is amazing, especially on the songs. In one instance, there are three people singing and their voices all coming out separately on different speakers. Pretty good for just the tape. Now that a DVD has been released, I wonder what the sound on that is like?

The story starts to lag a bit near the end when Kaye starts to feel sorry for himself and this goes on and on as he retires from playing. However, there is a nice, sentimental upbeat ending.

Notes: Kaye and Barbara Bel Geddes, who plays Red's wife "Bobbie," never age in the film even though it spans 15 or more years! It's interesting to see Tuesday Weld as a teenager.

my favorite bit of this film is at the end, I care not how factual it is. I find a lump in my throat every single time I see it and I am usually blubbing like a baby by the end credits. It is a wonderful story of a very talented man and of a great time in musical history, the scenes with 'Satchmo' Louis Armstrong are another particular favorite as he usually steals the scene. The little girl actress put s in a fine and mature performance as 'Red' Nicols's daughter. But as usual Danny Kaye is nothing short of majestic he is perfectly at home miming to Lorne 'Red' Nicols cornet playing. The story is beautiful as is the acting. Don't forget to pack your Kleenex when you watch it though. Excellent family entertainment twenty out of ten......