Editing Cole Porter (section)

===1940s and postwar===
[[File:Astaire, Fred - Never Get Rich.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Fred Astaire]] in ''You'll Never Get Rich'']]
''[[Panama Hattie]]'' (1940) was Porter's longest-running hit so far, running in New York for 501 performances despite the absence of any enduring Porter songs.<ref>Citron (2005), p. 185</ref> It starred Merman, [[Arthur Treacher]] and [[Betty Hutton]]. ''[[Let's Face It!]]'' (1941), starring [[Danny Kaye]], had an even better run, with 547 performances in New York.<ref>Kimball (1984), p. 299</ref> This, too, lacked any numbers that became standards, and Porter always counted it among his lesser efforts.<ref>Citron (2005), p. 189</ref> ''[[Something for the Boys]]'' (1943), starring Merman, ran for 422 performances, and ''[[Mexican Hayride (musical)|Mexican Hayride]]'' (1944), starring [[Bobby Clark (comedian)|Bobby Clark]], with [[June Havoc]], ran for 481 performances.<ref>Kimball (1984), pp. 320 and 343</ref> These shows, too, are short of Porter standards. The critics did not pull their punches, complaining about the lack of hit tunes and the generally low standard of the scores.<ref>Citron (2005), p. 190</ref> After two flops, ''Seven Lively Arts'' (1944) (which featured the standard "[[Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye]]") and ''[[Around the World (musical)|Around the World]]'' (1946), many thought that Porter's best period was over.<ref>Citron (2005), p. 193</ref>

Between Broadway musicals, Porter continued to write for Hollywood. His film scores of this period were ''[[You'll Never Get Rich]]'' (1941) with Astaire and [[Rita Hayworth]], ''[[Something to Shout About (film)|Something to Shout About]]'' (1943) with [[Don Ameche]], [[Janet Blair]] and William Gaxton, and ''Mississippi Belle'' (1943–44), which was abandoned before filming began.<ref>Kimball (1984), pp. 295, 313 and 335</ref> He also cooperated in the making of the film [[Night and Day (1946 film)|''Night and Day'']] (1946), a largely fictional biography of Porter, with [[Cary Grant]] implausibly cast in the lead. The critics scoffed, but the film was a huge success, chiefly because of the wealth of vintage Porter numbers in it.<ref>Citron (2005), pp. 211–14</ref> The biopic's success contrasted starkly with the failure of [[Vincente Minnelli]]'s film ''[[The Pirate (1948 film)|The Pirate]]'' (1948), with [[Judy Garland]] and [[Gene Kelly]],<ref>Kimball (1992), p. 13–15</ref> in which five new Porter songs received little attention.<ref>Citron (2005), p. 215</ref>

[[File:Cole-Porter-and-Jean-Howard.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Porter and [[Jean Howard]] in early 1954]]
From this low spot, Porter made a conspicuous comeback in 1948 with ''Kiss Me, Kate''. It was by far his most successful show, running for 1,077 performances in New York and 400 in London.<ref>Citron (2005), p. 419</ref> The production won the [[Tony Award]] for [[Tony Award for Best Musical|Best Musical]] (the first Tony awarded in that category), and Porter won for best composer and lyricist. The score includes "[[Another Op'nin', Another Show]]", "Wunderbar", "[[So In Love]]", "We Open in Venice", "[[Tom, Dick or Harry (song)|Tom, Dick or Harry]]", "I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua", "[[Too Darn Hot]]", "[[Always True to You in My Fashion|Always True to You (in My Fashion)]]", and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare".<ref>Kimball (1984), pp. 387–99</ref>

Porter began the 1950s with ''[[Out of This World (musical)|Out of This World]]'' (1950), which had some good numbers but too much [[Camp (style)|camp]] and vulgarity,<ref>Citron (2005), p. 220</ref> and was not greatly successful. His next show, ''[[Can-Can (musical)|Can-Can]]'' (1952), featuring "[[C'est Magnifique]]" and "[[It's All Right with Me]]", was another hit, running for 892 performances.<ref>Kimball (1984), p. 422</ref> Porter's last original Broadway production, ''[[Silk Stockings]]'' (1955), featuring "[[All of You (Cole Porter song)|All of You]]", was also successful, with a run of 477 performances.<ref>Kimball (1984), p. 438</ref> Porter wrote two more film scores and music for a television special before ending his Hollywood career. The film ''[[High Society (1956 film)|High Society]]'' (1956), starring Bing Crosby, [[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Grace Kelly]], included Porter's last major hit song "[[True Love (Cole Porter song)|True Love]]".<ref name=NROReview/> It was adapted as a stage musical [[High Society (musical)|of the same name]]. Porter also wrote numbers for the film ''[[Les Girls]]'' (1957), which starred Gene Kelly. His final score was for the CBS television special ''[[Aladdin (TV special)|Aladdin]]'' (1958).<ref>Kimball (1984), p. 468</ref>