He often collaborated with lyricists Sid Kuller and Ray Golden, including songs for the Marx Brothers ("Sing While You Sell") and Tony Martin ("Tenement Symphony").
At the beginning of his career Hal Borne worked for RKO Radio Pictures as the rehearsal pianist for Fred Astaire.
[1] In 1941 he collaborated with Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster and Kuller on the progressive all-black revue Jump for Joy, which was supported by many Hollywood liberals of the time, such as Groucho Marx, Mickey Rooney, and Orson Welles.
[2] Borne joined ASCAP in 1942 and was one of the composers for Ray Golden's 1950 revue Alive and Kicking, featuring Jack Cassidy, Bobby Van and Carl Reiner and the debut of Gwen Verdon.
He scored the nudie film Not Tonight Henry in 1960, and in 1963 he composed most of the songs for the infamous first topless mainstream movie Promises!