The Best Things in Life Are Free is a 1956 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz. The film stars Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, and Ernest Borgnine as the real-life songwriting team of Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson of the late 1920s and early 1930s, and Sheree North as Kitty Kane, a singer (possibly based on Helen Kane).
In 1957, the year after the film was released, it received an Oscar nomination for Lionel Newman in the category of Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.
Contents
Cast
Gordon MacRae as Buddy DeSylva
Dan Dailey as Ray Henderson
Ernest Borgnine as Lew Brown
Sheree North as Kitty Kane
Tommy Noonan as Carl Frisbee
Murvyn Vye as Manny Costain
Phyllis Avery as Maggie Henderson
Larry Keating as Winfield Sheehan
Tony Galento as Fingers
Norman Brooks as Al Jolson
Jacques d'Amboise as Specialty dancer
Roxanne Arlen as Perky Nichols
Byron Palmer as Hollywood star
Gordon Richards as Butler
Reception
Critical response
Premiering in September 1956, The Best Things in Life Are Free was met with mixed reviews. Some reviews called it "the biggest new musical this year" and others "a musical-comedy that could've been produced on a higher budget with bigger and better production numbers".
Box-office performance
Being a musical, though a modestly produced one, the movie was fairly expensive to produce. The film ended with a budget of $2.86 million and made just over $4 million at the box office, earning $2,250,000 in North American rentals in 1956.
Songs
"Lucky Day"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva
Sung by Dan Dailey
"If I Had a Talking Picture of You"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva
Sung by Byron Palmer
"Here Am I, Broken Hearted"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva
Sung by Gordon MacRae
"Button up Your Overcoat"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva
Sung by Dan Dailey and Gordon MacRae
"Good News"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva
Sung by Gordon MacRae
"You're the Cream in My Coffee"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva
Sung by Dan Dailey