Orchestra Wives

Orchestra Wives is a refreshing swingers movie. Glenn Miller is excellent and Ann Rutherford is beautiful. The music is very well done by the great one (Glenn Miller). We should embrace this type of movie for its gentle music and great acting. Movies like Orchestra Wives are coming Back.

On Australian television, this movie has always been shown as the second half of a double bill, following 'Sun Valley Serenade'. It's a neat balancing act, the upbeat nature of 'Sun Valley Serenade' being brought back to earth by the semi-documentary flavour of 'Orchestra Wives'. The latter is a compelling movie and as another reviewer pointed out, it didn't do well in the USA. At a guess I'd put this down to the non-melodramatic but seemingly realistic performances - unusual at the time. Having been a fan of Ann Rutherford since enjoying her in the 'Andy Hardy' movies, I was struck by her excellent but out of character performance. Once again the Nicholas Brothers provide the most memorable scene but all in all, it's a fine screenplay with great production values.

I love this movie! It has the great Glen Miller band and features Tex Beneke. It also has the fabulous Nicholas Brothers in a WONDERFUL finale! In addition, the costumes that the "wives" wear should be in a time capsule; they are really great and perfectly reflect the best fashions of the day. The plot is to be tolerated as it creates a framework for music, dance and beauty that lifts the soul!!! Thumbs up!! What a treat to see Jackie Gleason playing the bass. Also, Tex Beneke was a voice I had only heard on records. It is delightful to see him try his hand at acting. Ann Rutherford is so lovely, and I just find the whole film a fluffy treat. The music is just the best and I always delight in the Nicholas Brothers.

It's Glenn Miller and his orchestra all right, even though the producers called him Gene Morris or something like that, and there is lots of music played by them. This movie seems to be almost unknown, yet it should by on the top of the list of every Glenn Miller fan. The sound is not bad for a 1942 recording.

The story line ... is not worse than those of hundred other movies, past and present, without redeeming musical numbers. It's about the few wives or girl friends traveling with the band, who do not necessarily make the musicians' hardships on the road any easier. In the style of these older movies, things are happening at a good clip and are never too melodramatic.

Glenn Miller plays "Glenn Miller" pretty well in a low-key manner and looks quite realistic. How could they make such great music with the smoking and the bad food at odd hours?

You gotta hand it to GLENN MILLER AND HIS ORCHESTRA. Their leader may lack acting charisma but he's got a band that plays great tunes with that unmistakable Miller sound and some good band singers to do the tunes justice. And the producers of this movie were wise to use The Nicholas Bros., an acrobatic dance trio that do outstanding routines to "I've Got A Gal in Kalamazoo".

But the plot, well that's another story. It's one of those catty backstage plots about a group of orchestra wives and the jealousy that erupts when an innocent young girl (ANN RUTHERFORD) joins the group only to discover that her husband's ex-flame is still carrying the torch for him, and will stop at nothing to win him back. What happens among the group is pretty hard to swallow, but it's just a device to make way for hearing Miller and his band in their glory days.

As in SUN VALLEY SERENADE, it's the musical numbers that knock the film out of pedestrian and into the winner's circle with numbers like "Serenade in Blue", "At Last", "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo", and "People Like You and Me". It's also a pleasure to rediscover singers like Marion Hutton, Tex Benecke, Ray Eberle and The Modernaires.

Pretty ANN RUTHERFORD and handsome GEORGE MONTGOMERY do nicely in the romantic leads and it's s fun way to spend time listening to Miller and his boys. CAROLE LANDIS, MARY BETH HUGHES and LYNN BARI sharpen their claws on some sassy dialog. It's fun!