
The Five Pennies was a semi-biographical 1959 film starring Danny Kaye as cornet player and bandleader 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. Unfortunately, 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.
Danny Kaye
Louis Armstrong
The Five Pennies