‘The Five Pennies’: An Inspiring Musical Prodigy

Danny Kaye headlines this film tribute to a talented cornetist and bandleader.

(L–R) Jack Benny, Danny Kaye, and Red Nichols in a publicity photo for “The Five Pennies.” Paramount Pictures

NR | 1h 57m | Biography, Drama, Music| 1959

Hollywood has made a lot of wonderful movies chronicling the lives and careers of amazing musicians. One of the most charming and entertaining is “The Five Pennies” from 1959, starring Danny Kaye as Loring “Red” Nichols, a talented jazz cornetist and bandleader.

Directed by Melville Shavelson, the film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Cinematography for Daniel L. Fapp, Best Costume Design for Edith Head, Best Musical Scoring for Leith Stevens, and Best Original Song for the title song, which was written by Sylvia Fine. Fine was Danny Kaye’s wife, and she contributed four charming new songs to this film. The rest of the soundtrack comprises various jazz standards.

Red Nichols

Nichols grew up in a musical family, since his father led a brass band. He was a child prodigy, playing “The Carnival of Venice” on the cornet when he was only 5 years old. For those unfamiliar with this piece, it’s basically a theme and variations. It includes double- and triple-tonguing (placement of the tongue to achieve certain sounds), with a very fast tempo.

In the film, Nichols plays the main character’s horn parts himself. Kaye is very believable as a cornet player. At this time in Hollywood, actors would go to great lengths to convincingly portray a character, sometimes taking music, singing, or dancing lessons to execute an artistic skill realistically. For instance, Kaye carefully practiced cornet fingering for months so that he could accurately fake playing the instrument in the movie.

Standing: Bobbie Meredith (Barbara Bel Geddes) and Red Nichols (Danny Kaye) with the Five Pennies band, in "The Five Pennies." Paramount Pictures

Nichols experienced culture shock when he went to New York to join a band. Growing up in Ogden, Utah, he found himself the butt of many jokes from his fellow musicians and bandleader. He mutters under his breath, “Someday you’ll all be working for me.”

Fast forward a few years down the road, and it’s true. He starts his own band called Red Nichols and the Five Pennies, aptly named as a take on his name and because it has five musicians, plus Red and his wife, Willa Stutsman (Barbara Bel Geddes).

A Prodigious Musician

An important message in this movie is to not let people put you down because of your youth. He has some new ideas about Dixieland music, which the other musicians don’t understand. For instance, he writes out all his solo parts instead of just improvising on the spot as the other jazz musicians do. He believes that when you do something great, you’ll want to repeat it in the future, which is only possible when you write things down.

Louis Armstrong (as himself, L) and Red Nichols (Danny Kaye), in "The Five Pennies." Paramount Pictures

When he goes to a speakeasy with some friends and gets a teacup full of alcohol, he doesn’t at first realize what kind of establishment it is. He has no idea what he is drinking, so he quickly becomes inebriated. He ends up going onstage with Louis Armstrong, demanding that his friends give him his cornet. He starts playing with Louis, to everyone’s great surprise. The two musicians later become good friends and have another great scene together. This time, Nichols brings his 5-year-old daughter with him to hear Louis. She sings the adorable theme song, “The Five Pennies,” with the band.

The Path to Success

“The Five Pennies” is an inspirational story for any artist who is feeling discouraged. It can be difficult to achieve success. Sometimes that doesn’t happen using conventional means of finding opportunities to develop one’s talent, whether as an instrumentalist, singer, dancer, choreographer, composer, arranger, or any other artistic discipline.

In this story, Nichols refuses to stay in a band where his arranging talent is not only ignored but also treated with disrespect. He asks the pompous bandleader Wil Paradise, played by Bing Crosby’s brother Bob, to look at some of his arrangements, but Paradise just tells him to sit down, shut up, and play. Red decides he can’t be held down like that, so he quits. He realizes he has to forge his own path in the music world.

Nichols is a reminder to not wait around for someone to give us an opportunity. We are the masters of our own destinies. Don’t believe what people say about us; instead, follow what we know to be true about ourselves. The only limitations we have are those we put on ourselves.

This movie is available on DVD from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walmart, and eBay. You can watch it for free online on Kanopy and Hoopla; all you need is a public library card or university login. It’s also available to rent or purchase on all the major streaming platforms.

‘The Five Pennies’ Director: Melville Shavelson Starring: Danny Kaye, Barbara Bel Geddes, Louis Armstrong Not Rated Running time: 1 hour, 57 minutes Release Date: Aug. 1, 1959 Rated: 4 stars out of 5

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