Not a bad bio as bio's go. I'm sure what you see in the film is NOT what really happened in real life for the most part. Still an enjoyable viewing, especially some great musical numbers like BLACK BOTTOM and BIRTH OF THE BLUES. Nice performances by all, especially Ernest Borgnine. Unfortunately this Fox MOD is in the pan and scan version, not Cinemascope as presented in cinemas. Strange that Fox, who invented the Cinemascope process would release some of their scope films flat. This really ruined my viewing experience. There is a disclaimer at the beginning that THIS FILM IS FORMATTED TO FIT YOUR SCREEN. This may have been true several years ago, but now 95% of the population have wide screen TV's, so why would a company who invented the scope process send out films in pan an scan? A tragedy indeed.

Dan Dailey as Ray Henderson, Gordon Macrae as Buddy De Sylva, and Ernest Borgnine as Lew Brown, were born to play these roles.The Best Things in life are free, captures the 1920's superbly. And I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when these three writers were coming up with their never to be forgotten song standards.Hollywood churned out many biog's of their songwriters in the 40's and 50's, and this is by far the most entertaining, and interesting. I disagree with every negative review.When is comes to all of America's great songwriters from the past, I'm betting that the average American could not put the songwriters name to their favorite song from the 20's 30's and 40's. And this is a crime.From Tin Pan Alley, to the great depression in 1929, and the Hollywood musical when most songwriters left New York to work in the Hollywood factory's to write up the great musicals that are still enjoyed today, these songwriters have been largely forgotten when it comes to the songs they wrote.I'm an Englishman aged 65 on April 10th 2013, and I've studied the lives and works of the Great American songwriters since my late teens. And I believe that all Americans should know the name of the songwriters or writers who composed their favorite song standard.Henderson, De-Silva and Brown, were indeed up there with Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin etc. What a legacy these writers and more, have left to the world in the finest songs ever written.

It's hard to believe Michael Curtiz directed this film. Mr. Curtiz, one of the most distinguished directors of the American cinema, doesn't bring anything new to this tired 20th Century Fox movie.Maybe the three men at the center of the movie, the great song writing team of De Sylva, Brown and Henderson were too bland to merit a film that celebrated their lives. They made their mark in the theater in the early part of the 20th century, but as it plays on the screen, this musical feels dull and out of place. Some of the trio's best songs are heard in the movie. Songs like Birth of the Blues, which Gordon MacRae sings with panache. Also they wrote that sappy Al Jolson's standard, Sunny Boy, which is sung by the star in black face.Perhaps the casting was the wrong choice for this movie. Gordon MacRae doesn't show any spark as Buddy DeSylva. Dan Dailey is also an enigma, the way he plays Ray Henderson. Ernest Borgnine is the only one that shows some life in his interpretation of Lew Brown. Sheree North is the good Kitty Kane, who played in most of the shows this trio wrote.

Henderson, De Sylva, and Brown. Not exactly in the same league as Berlin, Porter, or Rodgers and Hart/Hammerstein. Still, you may know a few of their songs as they've lingered through the years - 'The Birth of the Blues', for example, or 'Button Up Your Overcoat'; they also wrote the campus musical 'Good News'.The three mismatched songwriters are played here by Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, and Ernest Borgnine. Yep, and he even has a song or two. The stand-out though has to be MacRae's superb rendition of 'The Birth of the Blues', in which he proved yet again why he was in the top handful of singers in the movies. Girly support is from Sheree North, but she isn't very memorable. Nor, in fact, is the story of this trio - perhaps musical biopics were tired by 1956, or we were just wise to the cliches.'The Best Things In Life Are Free' is worth a look when there are no superior musicals on, and is a fairly good example of colour and Cinemascope of the period. But a great musical, it isn't.