“Taking a Chance on Love” was written by Vernon Duke (music), John La Touche and Ted Fetter, (lyrics), and published in 1940.
It was introduced in 1940 on Broadway in the show Cabin in the Sky, a production notable for its all black cast, and performed by Ethel Waters and Dooley Wilson.
In 1943, a feature film versionwas released, starring Waters and Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, in which the song was featured.
The IMDb describes the plot:
A compulsive gambler dies during a shooting, but he’ll receive a second chance to reform himself and to make up with his worried wife.
One assessment suggests a difference of opinion regarding the racial politics of the production:
Some remember Cabin in the Sky for its intelligent and witty script, which some claimed treated its characters and their race with a dignity rare in American films of the time. Others, like actress Jean Muir, described Cabin in the Sky’s racial politics as “an abomination,” arguing that moviegoers should write to the studios when they saw “old stereotypes of Negro caricature” like those in the film
A Benny Goodman cover featuring Helen Forrest reached #1 in 1943 and the song has since become a jazz standard.