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The Five Pennies (Dena; Paramount). The basic trouble with movie biographies of famed jazz musicians is that the camera is not a horn. What matters about the average music man is the music he makes; what he does with the rest of his life is sometimes too dull for words or too rich for the censor. And since good music is seldom enough to make up for a bad story, the smart moviemaker tries to strengthen his corn section with a couple of side men. In this case, the added attractions are Danny Kaye and Louis ("Satchmo") Armstrong, who have a ball and save the show.

The subject of the story is Ernest Loring ("Red") Nichols (Actor Kaye), a hot cornet and well-known bandleader of the late '20s, whose "Five Pennies" --Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Miff Mole, Jack Teagarden. Peewee Russell, Fud Livingston and Wingy Manone all worked for him at various times--were later worth their weight in greenbacks. In real life, Red missed the big money in the '30s and made a comeback in 1944. His film biography is heavy with heroics and sentimentality, but Satchmo is almost worth the price of admission. At 59, he still grins, gravels, and blasts away on the trumpet with enormous energy. And Comedian Kaye, whenever the script gives him a chance, does mimic wonders to fatten up a part that is really from hunger.

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