"A Kiss to Build a Dream On" is a song composed by

Bert Kalmar Bert Kalmar (February 10, 1884 – September 18, 1947) was an American songwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. He was also a screenwriter. Biography Kalmar, a native of New York City, left school at an early ag ...

Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American actor, pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight ...

. In 1935, Kalmar and Ruby wrote a song called "Moonlight on the Meadow" for the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

film '' A Night at the Opera'' (1935) but the song was not used. Hammerstein later adapted the lyrics to be "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and it was recorded by

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...

in 1951. It was also performed by Armstrong as well as by

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

with

William Demarest Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 27, 1983) was an American character actor, known especially for his roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and for playing Uncle Charley in the sitcom '' My Three Sons'' Demarest, ...

, by Sally Forrest, and by Kay Brown (virtually the entire cast performed part or all of the song) in the 1951 film ''The Strip'', and was a sort of recurring theme in the film. The song was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed ...

in 1951 but lost out to “ In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening”.

Other recordings

*Another popular recording was made by one of ''The Strip'' film's guest-stars,

Monica Lewis Monica Lewis (born May Lewis; May 5, 1922 – June 12, 2015) was an American jazz singer and film actress. Lewis was the longtime voice of Chiquita Banana in that company's animated ad campaign, beginning in 1947. Biography Early life Lewis was ...

, and in early 1952, the version by Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra, with vocalist Johnny Parker, made it to the Pop 20 chart in the United States. *

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

recorded it for his

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...

in 1951 and it was later included in the deluxe, 22-track version of the album ''

Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around ''Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around'' was Bing Crosby's fourth album for Decca and his fifth LP, recorded and originally released in 1956 on vinyl as Decca DL 8352. This was a concept album of sorts, as Bing covered some of his mus ...

''. *Sung by Richard Chamberlain, the song gained considerable exposure due to it being on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of his 1962 hit, " Theme from Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight)". * k.d. lang's version was included on the album '' A Wonderful World'' (2002). *

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

covered the song for his 2004 album, '' Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3''. *

Deana Martin Deana Martin is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer Dean Martin. Film and television Martin was born in Manhattan to Dean Martin and his first wife, Elizabeth Anne "Betty" McDonald. She moved to Beverly Hills, Californ ...

recorded the song and it was released on her album, ''Volare'' in 2009 by Big Fish Records.

In popular culture

* An instrumental version is heard in the background in the 1950 film ''

Mister 880 ''Mister 880'' is a 1950 American light-hearted romantic drama film directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire and Edmund Gwenn, about an amateurish counterfeiter who counterfeits only one dollar bills, and manages ...

'' at the 21:39. * The version of Hugo Winterhalter and his orchestra is played twice in the flashbacks scenes of Mexican 1965 short film '' Tajimara'', the first story included in the feature film ''Los Bienamados''. * The song was featured in the soundtrack of the 1993 film ''

Sleepless In Seattle ''Sleepless in Seattle'' is a 1993 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Nora Ephron, from a screenplay she wrote with David S. Ward and Jeff Arch. Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the film follows a journalist (Ryan) who, despite ...

'' and the 1951 film ''

The Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...

''. * It was played as a background track during Yuri and Ava's party in the 2005 film ''

Lord of War ''Lord of War'' is a 2005 American crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol, and co-produced by and starring Nicolas Cage. The film was released in the United States on September 16, 2005, to positive reviews and gros ...

''. * It was featured in the introductory sequence of the 1998 video game ''

Fallout 2 ''Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game'' is a 1998 role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Productions. It is a sequel to ''Fallout'' (1997), featuring similar graphics and game mechanics. The ...

''. * It was featured in episode 2 of the 2014 TV series ''

Grantchester Grantchester is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about south of Cambridge. Name The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Grantesete'' and ''Graunts ...

''. * The Bollywood picture '' Parineeta'' has a song based on the original tune called "Kaisi Paheli Zindagani". * It was featured as Jenny's favorite song in '' The Cry of the Owl''. * It plays in the background in season one, episode 4 of the television series ''

Sex Education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...

''. *

Amber Rubarth Amber Rubarth is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, Japan, South Korea and South Africa . Winner of the NPR Mountain Stage New Song Contest, her eighth album, ‘Wildflower ...

released a live binaural version on "Sessions from the 17th Ward" (2012) featuring

Dave Eggar Dave Eggar is an American cellist, pianist and composer. Early life Eggar was a musical prodigy as a child, beginning to play the cello and piano at age three and performing as a singer and actor on Broadway and at the Metropolitan Opera at a ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiss To Build A Dream On Jazz songs Louis Armstrong songs Songs with lyrics by Bert Kalmar Songs with music by Harry Ruby 1935 songs Songs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Songs about dreams Songs about kissing