The Five Pennies ( 5 Pennies )

The Five Pennies (DVD) (*)

$21.99

Original Title: 5 Pennies
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Golden Globes
Oscar Academy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
Danish ( Subtitles )
Dutch ( Subtitles )
English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
English ( Subtitles )
Finnish ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
French ( Subtitles )
German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
German ( Subtitles )
Norwegian ( Subtitles )
Swedish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
113 min

Aspect Ratio:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Anamorphic Widescreen
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1959 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Melville Shavelson

Written By:
Jack Rose
Melville Shavelson

Actors:
Danny Kaye ..... 'Red' Nichols
Barbara Bel Geddes ..... Willa Stutsman
Louis Armstrong ..... Himself
Harry Guardino ..... Tony Valani
Bob Crosby ..... Wil Paradise
Bobby Troup ..... Artie Schutt
Susan Gordon ..... Dorothy Nichols - Ages 6 to 8
Tuesday Weld ..... Dorothy Nichols - Age 13
Ray Anthony ..... Jimmy Dorsey
Shelly Manne ..... Dave Tough
Ray Daley ..... Glenn Miller
Valerie Allen ..... Tommye Eden

Synopsis:

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.

Loring 'Red' Nichols is a cornet-playing country boy who goes to New York in the 1920s full of musical ambition and principles. He gets a job playing in Wil Paradise's band, but quits to pursue his dream of playing Dixieland jazz. He forms the 'Five Pennies' which features his wife, Bobbie, as vocalist. At the peak of his fame, Red and Bobbie's daughter, Dorothy, develops polio. Red quits the music business to move to Los Angeles where the climate is better for Dorothy. As Dorothy becomes a young teen, she learns of her father's musical past, and he is persuaded to open a small nightclub which is failing until some noted names from his past come to help out.

True life chronicle of Jazz great Loring "Red" Nichols who grew from obscurity to become one of the great horn players of 1920s Dixieland, but then faced personal crisis when his daughter came down with polio. He quit his music career to care for her, but then made a well-known comeback.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 07 December, 2010.

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