Review – A Song Is Born

An audience is bored, is more like it. Rare indeed is the movie in which Danny Kaye gets upstaged, but it happens here for a couple of reasons. The main attraction of this production is the host of big band greats who turn in performances; indeed, fans of the era and its music should see this by all means. Unfortunately, that’s about all there is to it. The bulk of the picture’s running time is devoted to a trite (and I believe recycled) plot about a gangster’s girlfriend who plays a music nerd (Kaye) for a sap in order to escape the police, naturally falling in love with him in the process. Kaye has few if any chances to do the kind of physical comedy that made him a star, so he spends most of his time looking awkward. Come for the music if it’s your cup of tea, but don’t feel like you have to stay for the story. Mildly amusing