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The Glenn Miller Story
Universal Pictures went the MGM route with their glossy, big budget biopic The Glenn Miller Story, which featured James Stewart in what would become one of his most popular roles.
The film follows Glenn from his days as a struggling trombone player who had to get his instrument out of hock every couple of weeks to his first job with the Ben Pollack band, where Pollack wants to hire Glenn to play trombone, but Glenn hopes to persuade the bandleader to use some of his arrangements, because it's revealed here that though he was known as a trombone player, Miller's real passion was arranging because it was part of his pursuit of something he referred to as "the sound." Of course, Pollack hires Miller to do both and the rest is history. We are also witness to Miller's lightning fast courtship of a girl from Boulder, Colorado named Helen Burger (June Allyson).
This 1954 musical valentine is lovely and nostalgic and is an entertaining trip down memory lane, but one should be reminded that this was a 1954 musical biopic and films of this genre at this time were not big on the facts, so if you're looking for a blow by blow account of the life of this legendary musician, this is probably not the place to look, but if you're looking for a warm and colorful romantic drama rich with some of the most wonderful music ever recorded, you've definitely come to the right place.
The screenplay was co-written by Valentine Davies, who wrote the screenplay for Miracle on 34th Street and is a little on the corny side. The whole Glenn/Helen romance is definitely rushed. One minute Miller's in Boulder trying to revive a romance he abandoned two years ago and the next, he's on a pay phone demanding Helen give up her life in Boulder (including a fiancee) and come to New York and marry him. And since it's a movie, she actually does it.
Director Anthony Mann has mounted this story with a loving hand, displaying special attention to Miller's glorious music. There's a scene where Miller is forced to re-write his arrangement for "Moonlight Serenade" and the look on his face when he finally hears "the sound" is an absolute joy. And who knew that his fateful phone call to Helen would eventually become one of Miller's biggest hits. I can't deny that I did get a little misty,just like Helen did, with his final arrangement of "Little Brown Jug."
Despite all of this, the anchor for this movie is the exuberant and charismatic performance from James Stewart that lights up the screen. Never been a big fan of Stewart's work, but I must admit that I have never enjoyed him onscreen more and I've seen The Philadelphia Story, Vertigo, and Bell, Book, and Candle. June Allyson is a little sugary as the devoted Helen but I've come to expect Allyson to deliver the sugar and she works really well with Stewart. Harry Morgan, George Tobias, and Barton MacLane have supporting roles and because of the subject matter, we are also privy to cameos from Gene Krupa, Louis Armstrong, James Young, Marty Napoleon, and Frances Langford. It's a little corny, but richly entertaining.
Universal Pictures went the MGM route with their glossy, big budget biopic The Glenn Miller Story, which featured James Stewart in what would become one of his most popular roles.
The film follows Glenn from his days as a struggling trombone player who had to get his instrument out of hock every couple of weeks to his first job with the Ben Pollack band, where Pollack wants to hire Glenn to play trombone, but Glenn hopes to persuade the bandleader to use some of his arrangements, because it's revealed here that though he was known as a trombone player, Miller's real passion was arranging because it was part of his pursuit of something he referred to as "the sound." Of course, Pollack hires Miller to do both and the rest is history. We are also witness to Miller's lightning fast courtship of a girl from Boulder, Colorado named Helen Burger (June Allyson).
This 1954 musical valentine is lovely and nostalgic and is an entertaining trip down memory lane, but one should be reminded that this was a 1954 musical biopic and films of this genre at this time were not big on the facts, so if you're looking for a blow by blow account of the life of this legendary musician, this is probably not the place to look, but if you're looking for a warm and colorful romantic drama rich with some of the most wonderful music ever recorded, you've definitely come to the right place.
The screenplay was co-written by Valentine Davies, who wrote the screenplay for Miracle on 34th Street and is a little on the corny side. The whole Glenn/Helen romance is definitely rushed. One minute Miller's in Boulder trying to revive a romance he abandoned two years ago and the next, he's on a pay phone demanding Helen give up her life in Boulder (including a fiancee) and come to New York and marry him. And since it's a movie, she actually does it.
Director Anthony Mann has mounted this story with a loving hand, displaying special attention to Miller's glorious music. There's a scene where Miller is forced to re-write his arrangement for "Moonlight Serenade" and the look on his face when he finally hears "the sound" is an absolute joy. And who knew that his fateful phone call to Helen would eventually become one of Miller's biggest hits. I can't deny that I did get a little misty,just like Helen did, with his final arrangement of "Little Brown Jug."
Despite all of this, the anchor for this movie is the exuberant and charismatic performance from James Stewart that lights up the screen. Never been a big fan of Stewart's work, but I must admit that I have never enjoyed him onscreen more and I've seen The Philadelphia Story, Vertigo, and Bell, Book, and Candle. June Allyson is a little sugary as the devoted Helen but I've come to expect Allyson to deliver the sugar and she works really well with Stewart. Harry Morgan, George Tobias, and Barton MacLane have supporting roles and because of the subject matter, we are also privy to cameos from Gene Krupa, Louis Armstrong, James Young, Marty Napoleon, and Frances Langford. It's a little corny, but richly entertaining.