Watch The Glenn Miller Story For Free

To me, this movie is perfection.

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

THE GLENN MILLER STORY is a biopic of the famous 1940s-era musician, here played by James Stewart in a story directed by Anthony Mann. The two made many such films during the 1950s, many of them westerns, and all of them are watchable, although some more than others. This one I was less interested in, purely because I didn't find the subject matter as interesting as other biopics.Now, it's hard to fault THE GLENN MILLER STORY as a film in itself. It charts the usual rise to fame in a chronological order, and the attention to scene and detail is fine. The whole thing hangs together on the lynch pin of Stewart himself, who puts his all into the role and comes across completely convincing as a result. The music scenes are lively and entertaining, it's just that the non-music stuff drags and feels a little dated.

Dramatizes the prolonged struggles of Big Band icon Glenn Miller to front his own financially viable band and to discover a signature band sound that audiences would embrace. It also serves as a tribute to his many popular songs after he discovered the band sound he was looking for. It also dramatizes his much resisted, eventually successful, attempt to somewhat modernize military march music, as exemplified by his "St. Louis Blues March", and his many off-the-parade-field entertainment performances for the troops and UK civilians, either live or via radio. It includes renditions of a dozen or so of his standards, plus various other numbers. The musical aspects are nicely mixed with his personal life, including financial woes, and his initially problematic resumption of his romantic relationship with his future wife, Helen(June Allyson). Once they connect, June is consistently a major player in the film. Fictional Chummy MacGregor(Harry Morgan) serves as Glenn's constant music and personal buddy throughout. After Glenn joins the service, he seems to be acting as his substitute in the Miller household. Buddy teams, of course, were a common device in Hollywood films. Sometimes, the two often were at odds with each other(reluctant buddies), which much added to the drama and comedy. The Dorsey brothers provided a real life example, much exploited in their biop. No such conflicts here. Of course, many of the specific details in Miller's personal life presumably were improvised.If you prefer to have the real Glenn Miller present in the film, you will have to try to find an old VHS or DVD copy of the two films that featured his band : "Sun Valley Serenade" and "Orchestra Wives". I rate the former as more entertaining than the present film, with the latter film being less so. I rate John Payne's character in the former film, as not far behind Jimmy Stewart, who plays Miller in the present film. However, Sonja Henie, the lead female in the former film, is much more interesting than June Allyson's character in the present film. Her impish character, determined to steal her chosen man from his fiancé, skiing and ice skating exhibitions, and occasional dancing and singing scenes, are far superior entertainment to June's rather bland character, admittedly constrained by historical considerations. Sonja added a youthful charm and spunkiness that June often brought to her '40s films, where she often included some dancing and singing, but which had somewhat faded in her '50s films, where she usually did straight dramatic roles.The present film includes about twice as many Miller standards as in "Sun Valley Serenade", including 5 numbers featured in that film, but excluding the theme song "It Happened in Sun Valley". Several were done more interestingly in that film. "I Know Why", from that film, was being played when Miller's trumpet player supposedly split his lip(looks very fake!), supposedly instigating Miller to conceive his signature band sound. None of the several new Miller standards from "Orchestra Wives" was included in the present film. "Little Brown Jug", not included in either of these films, pops up several times in the present film, including being the last song featured in the film, broadcast from Paris, after Miller's disappearance. Along with "Moonlight Serenade", it functions as the personal theme song for Glenn and Helen.Jimmy Stewart was an excellent choice to play Miller. We don't usually think of him as being a musical actor. However, in his pre-Hollywood days, he did some singing and musical instrument playing. In a few of his early films, he did a bit of singing, and played a music teacher and musical instrument store owner in "Pot 'O Gold". I wonder, if Miller had lived, would he have been asked to play himself in this film, as did the Dorseys in their film biop? Based on his performance in his two Hollywood films, Stewart provided a more pleasing personality and was much more at ease in films.June was also a good choice as Miller's sweet cheerleading wife, she and Stewart having been a popular lead team in "The Stratford Story". However, I found that this older June had lost some of her youthful appeal. She began her Hollywood career about a decade earlier, mainly as a singer/dancer with down home charm. Unfortunately, her historical role in this film didn't allow her any stage singing or dancing.In contrast to Miller and Helen, I liked the upbeat early version of "Moonlight Serenade", with words and a stage dancing routine. It's nice to try out radically different arrangements and contexts of standards. I also liked the too brief instrumental partial rendition of "Over the Rainbow", although this had not yet been composed in the historical period dramatized. ..The buzz bomb during the outdoor playing of "In the Mood" reminds us of the danger to Brits at home, even late in the war. However, recent thinking is that probably Glenn died from a British bomb ejected in a no-fly zone over the English Channel. The poor weather, as suggested in the film, may have contributed to this tragedy.

The primary goal of a good biopic is to educate the audience about a man's life, and to perhaps offer a unique insight into the personal life, ambitions and motivations of a relatively well-known personality. 'The Glenn Miller Story (1953)' accomplishes only one of these objectives. The straightforward title of Anthony Mann's picture already offers a hint at the nature of the film itself, which is a rather pedestrian retelling of the life of jazz musician Glenn Miller. As far as biopics go, the film is undemanding and, in terms of storytelling, dwells well within the lines of conventionality, but the sheer charisma of James Stewart, in addition to an absolutely incredible jazz soundtrack, makes it a far better film than it has any right to be. Aside from his long-unexplained disappearance, which the film doesn't explore in any detail, the life of Glenn Miller is arguably no more exciting than any other successful musician, but perhaps director Anthony Mann simply made the decision to enable him to play "Moonlight Serenade" on no less than three occasions. However, it's such a perfect musical composition that I don't blame him.Talent is certainly an important ingredient for success, but even the most talented musicians must rely on dedication and sheer luck before they become famous. Glenn Miller (1904-1944) spent the first few years of his musical career in virtual anonymity, the public seemingly finding nothing in his work to distinguish him from the thousands of other aspiring musicians. However, after charmingly tempting his ex-college sweetheart (June Allyson) into a New York marriage, and spending years chasing a seemingly unreachable dream, Miller finally struck fame and success, his musical arrangements and Miller band performances making him a very rich and popular man, indeed. In 1942, at the peak of his career, Miller voluntarily joined the Armed Forces to, in his own words, "put a little more spring into the feet of our marching men and a little more joy into their hearts." One of the film's most heartwarming sequences concerns Miller's attempts to modernise the traditional military marching song, with his "St. Louis Blues March" tossing some blues and jazz into the mix. The resulting broad smiles of the parading soldiers alone make the film worth watching.Jimmy Stewart, as always, brings his characteristic charm and cheerfulness to the role. In real life, Miller was said to possess a stern and think-skinned personality that sometimes alienated his musicians, but the picture doesn't even attempt to explore this issue, and, with Stewart in the leading role, it couldn't possibly have worked, anyway. The chemistry between Stewart and June Allyson differs little from what we've seen before, but it does succeed in being genuinely touching at times. Of course, the real star of the film is the music, and the audience is treated to a well-selected succession of memorable jazz tracks, most notably "Moonlight Serenade," which I find to be a perfect piece of music. Other songs include "Little Brown Jug," "We Must Be Vigilant," "In the Mood," "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and even Louis Armstrong turns up to perform "Basin Street Blues."

Glenn Miller suffered from the same criticisms that jazz musicians (Hancock, Turrentine, Hubbard) I listened to in the 70's suffered: he is too commercial. Jazz is supposed to allow for improvisation according to the "purists." Miller's heavily orchestrated music left little room for that.No matter, he dominated the charts and jukeboxes of the 40's just as Elvis and the Beatles would in the following decades because he developed a new sound that the kids went for.This film, starring the great James Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Philadelphia Story, It's a Wonderful Life) and June Allyson (Too Young to Kiss, The Stratton Story), with superb support by Harry Morgan ("M*A*S*H", "Dragnet") shows the struggles Miller went through to achieve his sound and his final success as a band leader up to his death in a plane crash (a la Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Jiles Perry Richardson).The film not only has great music by Miller, but some of the big stars of the day in Frances Langford, Louis Armstrong, Gene Krupa, and Ben Pollack.A well deserved Oscar for Sound, and nominations for the musical score and the screenplay.Trivia: Like Amelia Earhart, Miller has never been found.