A Song Is Born (1948)

Gangster's moll Honey Swanson goes into hiding when her boyfriend is under investigation by the police. Where better to hide than a musical research institute staffed entirely by lonely ... See full summary »

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Billy Wilder (based on the story "From A to Z" by), Thomas Monroe (based on the story "From A to Z" by),

Stars:

Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Benny Goodman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny Kaye	...	Professor Hobart Frisbee
Virginia Mayo	...	Honey Swanson
Benny Goodman	...	Professor Magenbruch
Tommy Dorsey	...	Tommy Dorsey
Louis Armstrong	...	Louis Armstrong
Lionel Hampton	...	Lionel Hampton
Charlie Barnet	...	Charlie Barnet
Mel Powell	...	Mel Powell
Buck and Bubbles	...	Dancers
Page Cavanaugh Trio	...	Cavanaugh Trio (as The Page Cavanaugh Trio)
The Golden Gate Quartette	...	Golden Gate Quartette (as The Golden Gate Quartet)
Samba Kings	...	The Samba Kings (as Russo and the Samba Kings)
Hugh Herbert	...	Professor Twingle
Steve Cochran	...	Tony Crow
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Dr. Elfini

Storyline

Gangster's moll Honey Swanson goes into hiding when her boyfriend is under investigation by the police. Where better to hide than a musical research institute staffed entirely by lonely bachelors? She gets more than she bargained for when the head of the institute Professor Hobart Frisbee starts to fall for her.

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Plot Keywords:

remake by original director | remake

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

That's Life

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Joseph Crehan (District Attorney), Robert Dudley (Justice of the Peace) and Jack Gargan (Stemnotypist) are listed in the AFI Catalog as cast members for this film, but were not seen and have been omitted from the cast list.

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Goofs

While at the resort, with everyone sitting around the table, the candles are different lengths depending on the angle of the shot.

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Quotes

Professor Hobart Frisbee: [to Miss Bragg, after she has summoned a cab for Honey Swanson] It's all yours, Crabapple Annie!

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Connections

Referenced in Superman II: Restoring the Vision (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)"
(1850) (uncredited)
from "Lohengrin"
Written by Richard Wagner
Played in the score

User Reviews

Swing and Sway with Danny Kaye

I'm truly dating myself but back in the swing days there was a bandleader named Sammy Kaye who used that as his band's slogan. Otherwise my title would have been the tag line for this film.

It was only seven years earlier that the original film, Ball of Fire also came from the Sam Goldwyn Studio. In that one Gary Cooper was one of several professors who were putting together an encyclopedia. His specialty was linguistics and he selected Barbara Stanwyck to help in learn new slang terms.

Here it's a musical encyclopedia and Virginia Mayo stumbles into the lives of the sheltered professors putting this history together. They've led such a cloistered existence that the whole jazz era has passed them by. So Kaye in the Cooper role and another professor played by Benny Goodman with Mayo get some of the best to help them along.

A Song is Born is a pleasant although a previous reviewer is correct in saying that Danny Kaye is far more subdued than usual in this film. But anytime you can get Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Barnet, and Mel Powell together for a jam session, the film automatically becomes worthwhile.

This is for every fan of jazz in the world.