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

Bert Kalmar

Bert Kalmar was a Jewish American lyricist.He was born in New York, New York. He ran away from home at the age of 10 to become a magician at a tent show, and retained an interest in magic all his life. He never got much of an education, but decided to make a career in show business...

, Harry Ruby

Harry Ruby

Harry Ruby was a Jewish American songwriter and screenwriter.After failing in his early ambition to become a professional baseball player,...

 and Oscar Hammerstein II

Oscar Hammerstein II

Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...

 in 1935. It was recorded by Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

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

Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...

 and William Demarest

William Demarest

Carl William Demarest was an American character actor. He frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles.-Early life and career:...

 in the 1951 film "The Strip," and was a sort of recurring theme in the film. Another popular recording was made by one of the movies guest-stars, Monica Lewis, and in early 1952, the version by Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra, with vocalist Johnny Parker

Johnny Parker

Johnny Parker was a rugby league player in the Australian competition, the New South Wales Rugby League.Parker played 11 matches for Eastern Suburbs club in the years 1936 & '41...

, made it to the Pop 20 chart in the United States.

Sung by Richard Chamberlain

Richard Chamberlain

George Richard Chamberlain is an American actor of stage and screen who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare .-Early life:...

, the song gained considerable exposure due to its being on the 'B' side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 of his 1962 hit: "Theme from Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight)

Theme From Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight)

"Theme From Dr. Kildare " is the name of a song written by Jerry Goldsmith, Pete Rugolo and Hal Winn.The song was the theme for the television series Dr. Kildare...

".

Rod Stewart covered the song in his 2004 album, Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3

Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3

Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3, released in 2004, is Rod Stewart's third album of Pop standards. The album was dedicated to the Tartan Army.-Chart Performance:...

.

In Fiction

• The song was featured in the soundtrack of the 1993 film Sleepless In Seattle
  Sleepless in Seattle
  The film was originally to have been scored by John Barry, but when he was given a list of 20 songs he had to put in the film, he quit.#As Time Goes By - Jimmy Durante #A Kiss to Build a Dream on - Louis Armstrong #Stardust - Nat King Cole...
  
  and the 1951 film The Strip
  The Strip (1951 film)
  The Strip is a 1951 film starring Mickey Rooney, Sally Forrest and William Demarest. It was directed by Leslie Kardos, photographed by Robert Surtees.-Plot:Stanley Maxton is a drummer in the rhythm section of a night club orchestra...
  
  .
• It was played as a background track during Yuri and Ava's party in the 2005 film Lord of War
  Lord of War
  Lord of War is a 2005 French-German-American action drama film written and directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Nicolas Cage. It was released in the United States on September 16, 2005, with the DVD following on January 17, 2006 and the Blu-ray Disc on July 27, 2006.Cage plays an illegal arms...
  
  .
• It was featured in the introductory sequence of the 1998 video game Fallout 2
  Fallout 2
  Fallout 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in 1998. The game's story takes place in 2241, 80 years after the events of Fallout...
  
  .
• The Bollywood picture Parineeta
  Parineeta (2005 film)
  Parineeta is a Bollywood musical film adaptation of the 1914 Bengali novella, Parineeta by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Directed by debutant Pradeep Sarkar, the film was based upon a screenplay by the film's producer, Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film featured Vidya Balan, Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt...
  
  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
  The Cry of the Owl (2009 film)
  The Cry of the Owl is a 2009 thriller film based on the book of the same name, directed by Jamie Thraves and staring Paddy Considine, Julia Stiles, and Karl Pruner. The film uses many of the names of the original book, unlike the 1987 French film adaptation of the same story.The film received...
  
  .