A Song Is Born

This article is about the 1948 film. For the song, see A Song Is Born (song).
A Song Is Born
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHoward Hawks
Screenplay byHarry Tugend (adaptation, uncredited)
Story byBilly Wilder
Thomas Monroe
Produced bySamuel Goldwyn
StarringDanny Kaye
Virginia Mayo
Benny Goodman
Tommy Dorsey
Louis Armstrong
Lionel Hampton
Charlie Barnet
Mel Powell
Steve Cochran
CinematographyGregg Toland
Edited byDaniel Mandell
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release dates
  • October 19, 1948 (1948-10-19) (Premiere-New York City)[1]
  • November 6, 1948 (1948-11-06) (U.S.)[1]
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.3 million[2]
Box office$2.4 million (US rentals)[3]

A Song Is Born (also known as That's Life),[4] starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo, is a 1948 Technicolor musical film remake of Howard Hawks' 1941 movie Ball of Fire with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. This version was also directed by Hawks, based on the story "From A to Z" by Billy Wilder and Thomas Monroe, adapted by Harry Tugend (uncredited) and produced by Samuel Goldwyn and released by RKO Radio Pictures.

Filmed in Technicolor, it featured a stellar supporting cast of musical legends, including Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman (with Al Hendrickson as cameo), Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, and Benny Carter. Other notable musicians playing themselves in the cast include Charlie Barnet (with Harry Babasin as cameo), Mel Powell, Louis Bellson, The Golden Gate Quartet, Russo and the Samba Kings, The Page Cavanaugh Trio, and Buck and Bubbles. Other actors include Steve Cochran and Hugh Herbert. Mary Field reprises her role as Miss Totten from Ball of Fire.

  1. ^ a b "A Song is Born: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  2. ^ Variety (4 February 2018). "Variety (February 1948)". New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ "Top Grossers of 1948", Variety 5 January 1949 p 46
  4. ^ A Song Is Born at the TCM Movie Database