"A Certain Smile" is a popular

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

. It was written for the 1958 film of the same name

A Certain Smile (film)

A Certain Smile is a 1958 drama film directed by Jean Negulesco, based on the book of the same name.-Cast:* Rossano Brazzi as Luc Ferrand* Joan Fontaine as Françoise Ferrand* Bradford Dillman as Bertrand Griot* Christine Carère as Dominique Vallon...

 based on the novel A Certain Smile

A Certain Smile

A Certain Smile , written in a two month period then published in 1956, is Françoise Sagan's second book. It tells of a student's love affair with a middle-aged man.-Plot introduction:...

 by Françoise Sagan

Françoise Sagan

Françoise Sagan – real name Françoise Quoirez – was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Hailed as "a charming little monster" by François Mauriac on the front page of Le Figaro, Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois...

. The song was nominated for the 1958 Academy Award for Best Original Song

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 . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...

.

The music was written by Sammy Fain

Sammy Fain

Sammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...

, the lyrics by Paul Francis Webster

Paul Francis Webster

Paul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...

. The song was published in 1958

1958 in music

-Events:*February - 45,000 peoplein one week watch performances of "rokabirī" music by Japanese singers at the first Nichigeki Western Carnival....

. The song has been covered by artists such as Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis

John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...

, who appeared in the 1958 film as a bar singer who sang the title song, reaching #4 on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 and Astrud Gilberto

Astrud Gilberto

Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...

, who recorded it for her 1966 album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness

A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness

- Personnel :* Astrud Gilberto – Vocals* Walter Wanderley – organ* José Marino – bass* Claudio Slon – drums* Bobby Rosengarden – percussion* João Gilberto – guitar * Creed Taylor – producer...

.

Jay and the Americans

Jay and the Americans

Jay and the Americans was a pop music group popular in the 1960s. Their initial lineup consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane , Kenny Vance and Sandy Deanne , though their greatest success on the charts came after Traynor had been replaced as lead singer by Jay Black.-Early years:They were...

 released a version of the song on their 1963 album, At the Cafe Wha?.

The song was featured in the 2010 BBC production of "A Passionate Woman".