By Diane VanHoozer
Good films do not have an expiration date. Being relatively new in terms of storytelling, movies are a unique medium that creates experiences for audiences in all walks of life. The birth of as we know them today can be traced back about a century ago with the technology to synchronize sound and moving images. With more and more films being released every year on every screen, finding new stories to enjoy has never been easier. However, as with most mediums, with variety comes the novelty of ‘new’. This has given some the idea that the newest is always the best option and that unless a film is exceptionally good, movies have an expiration date. I do not believe this to be the case. Allow me to introduce to you a movie that was released 65 years ago that is one of my personal favorites: The Five Pennies (1959).
Produced by Paramount Pictures, The Five Pennies (1959) is a musical that is loosely based on a true story. It was directed by Melville Shavelson, and stars Danny Kaye, Barbra Bel Geddes, and Louis Armstrong. Kaye plays Red Nichols, a small-town jazz musician who moves to New York City to try to make it big. He eventually succeeds and forms a band that has some of the greats in it like Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman. However, when his daughter contracts polio he gives it all up to take care of his family. It’s a story that involves integrity, sacrifice, and when is it important to do what you love versus to be with the ones you love. If you like jazz, history, or old-fashioned family values being carefully discussed in your stories, you might like this movie.
If you are not a fan of musicals, I still highly recommend this movie. It is not simply a musical but a diegetic musical. Because it is about a composer and musician, every singing or main musical scene is purposely sung by characters who know they are singing. They don’t break out into song because their emotions get too big, and they barely dance if at all. When Nichols puts his daughter to sleep, he sings her a lullaby. When Nichols and his wife are in a hospital waiting room, they are too emotional to sing, but they recite lyrics to a hymn because they are trying to focus on hope.
If you do like music and musicals though, the complexity of the music will be what interests you. The film’s title comes from the real-life band that Red Nichols led in the late 1920’s, but the recurring theme of the movie is a lullaby that is an original song called The Five Pennines. It appears multiple times in the movie, but it also appears with two other stacking melodies that are also lullabies. At a few points in the film, there are a few moments with full counterbalance duets. An example is when Louis Armstrong is singing “Goodnight, Sleep Tight” in a nightclub scene, then Danny Kaye starts singing “Lullaby in Ragtime”, then Susan Gordon, who was about eight at the time, joins in and sings “The Five Pennies”. All three songs stack beautifully on top of each other yet are as wholesome as individual songs.
The movie has some heavy scenes to it, but I watch it whenever I’m in the mood to be cheered up. Danny Kaye’s signature humor keeps the darkness of childhood illness and daily struggles of life to a light level. Perfect for movie night when you just want to watch something beautiful. You can rent this movie on Amazon Prime, YouTube, or Apple TV, for less than five dollars. You can also stream the soundtrack on Spotify or YouTube.
