“On Green Dolphin Street” was the main theme of the 1947 MGM film Green Dolphin Street. The movie was based on a book by British novelist Elizabeth Goudge called Green Dolphin Country (1944), published in the United States as Green Dolphin Street.
It starred Lana Turner, Van Heflin, Donna Reed, Richard Hart, and Frank Morgan. This is the IMDb summary, which sounds awful.
Sophie loved Edmund, but he left town when her parents forced her to marry wealthy Octavius. Years later, Edmund returns with his son, William. Sophie’s daughter, Marguerite, and William fall in love. Marguerite’s sister, Marianne, also loves William. Timothy, a lowly carpenter, secretly loves Marianne. He kills a man in a fight, and Edmund helps him flee to New Zealand. William deserts inadvertently from the navy, and also flees in disgrace to New Zealand, where he and Timothy start a profitable business. One night, drunk, William writes Octavius, demanding his daughter’s hand; but, being drunk, he errs.
And though, according to Jazz Standards website, the movie is generally panned today, it was the top box office draw of 1947 and won Academy Awards for visual and sound effects. Post-war escapism, etc., etc. (I guess).
Bronislau Kaper, a significant talent, wrote the music though “Green Dolphin Street” did not become a hit immediately. It would take ten years until Miles Davis and friends pushed it along to the point that it would become a jazz standard.
So, no, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans did not play the music for the film. They did, however, record a version in 1958 that is considered by many to be definitive, on the album ’58 Session: Featuring Stella By Starlight. Featured are Julian “Cannonball” Adderly (alto sax), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums). Quite the group.
First the Davis version. Then the trailer for the movie. If you listen closely you can almost hear the theme in the background.