"A Certain Smile" is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

from the 1958 film of the same name. The song was written by

Sammy Fain Sammy Fain (born Samuel E. Feinberg; June 17, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American composer of popular music. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he contributed numerous songs that form part of The Great American Songbook, and to Broadway theatre. ...

and

Paul Francis Webster Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award. Life and career Webster was born in New York City, United St ...

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

performed the song in the film, and the song reached No. 4 on the UK chart. The song was nominated for the 1958

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 th ...

Background

The music was written

with lyrics by

for the 1958 film of the same name, based on the novel, also titled ''

A Certain Smile ''A Certain Smile'' was originally published in French as ''Un certain sourire'' by the Paris publisher Juillard in 1956. It was the second novel by Françoise Sagan and was written in two months. Two translations into English then followed in 195 ...

'', by

Françoise Sagan Françoise Sagan (born Françoise Delphine Quoirez; 21 June 1935 – 24 September 2004) was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois char ...

, who appeared in the 1958 film as a bar singer, performing the title song. Mathis's recording, with backing orchestration by

Ray Ellis Ray Ellis (July 28, 1923 – October 27, 2008) was an American record producer, arranger, conductor, and saxophonist. He was responsible for the orchestration in Billie Holiday's ''Lady in Satin'' (1958). Biography Raymond Spencer Ellis wa ...

and released in June 1958 (4-41193), backed with "Let It Rain". The song reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 14 on the US chart.

Charts

Other recorded versions

The song has been covered by artists such as: *

Astrud Gilberto Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema". Biography Astrud Gilbert ...

recorded it for her 1966 album, '' A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness''. *

Jay and the Americans Jay and the Americans are an American rock group who formed in the late 1950s. Their initial line-up consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (born Howard Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (born Sandy Ya ...

released a version of the song on their 1963 album, ''At the Cafe Wha?''Jay and the Americans, ''At the Cafe Wha?''
Retrieved February 4, 2012

Popular culture

*The song was featured in the 2010 BBC production of ''

A Passionate Woman ''A Passionate Woman'' is a British two-part drama mini-series that aired on BBC One from 11 to 18 April 2010. Plot In 1950s Yorkshire, Betty Stevenson, a married mother of one, falls in love with her Polish neighbour, Alex Crazenovski aka "Cra ...

''.

References

1958 songs 1958 singles Songs written for films Songs with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster Songs with music by Sammy Fain Johnny Mathis songs Jay and the Americans songs Columbia Records singles Fontana Records singles {{1950s-pop-song-stub