The Most Beautiful Girl in the World is a show tune from the 1935 Rodgers and Hart musical Jumbo. It was introduced on stage by Gloria Grafton and William J. McCartney, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart. The song comes from the Jumbo score and has become a jazz and pop standard. Recordings by Ted Straeter (#27) and Tommy Dorsey (#21) reached the Billboard Top 40 in 1952-53. Other notable versions have been recorded by Sonny Rollins, Les and Larry Elgart, Vaughn Monroe, Vic Damone, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. In the 1962 MGM film Jumbo, the tune was sung by Jimmy Joyce, replacing the voice of Stephen Boyd. The song remains closely tied to the Jumbo musical and to the Rodgers and Hart legacy.
