Romance inachevée

"The Glenn Miller Story" appears on cable-TV from time to time. It is an historically accurate piece about a beloved man whose music defined an era.

Miller is portrayed as a gracious and kind man -- an officer and a gentleman. We see Jimmy Stewart's affectionate portrayal of this simple man who spent his short musical career searching for a particular sound. The results got the whole world dancing to his new beat: Swing! The music in this movie will surely get you on your feet!

The driving force in Glenn Miller's life was his love for his wife, Helen, amicably played by June Allyson.

A "must-see", movie classic. Be sure to bring a hanky!

The Glenn Miller Story is a biographical tribute to a man who is always ranked as one of the great swing bandleaders of the late thirties to middle forties era. It is indeed fortunate that when James Stewart puts a pair of glasses on, he does actually look like the real Glenn Miller. I don't know what Helen Miller looked like, but I'm sure she was as supportive to her husband as June Allyson was to her screen hubby.

The Miller story begins with Stewart and pal Harry Morgan on the road as musicians. Stewart plays a slide trombone and has ideas of how the orchestra should sound as a whole. He spends a lot of time writing arrangements for the entire band. When they're not done right as is graphically shown in a scene when Miller's famous Moonlight Serenade is performed, he decides to form his own band.

He's still looking for that particular sound that he wants his orchestra to have and he chances on it in one of the more interesting scenes in the film. Swing fans when they hear it will recognize it as the genuine Glenn Miller.

One glaring fault for purists though is while the instrumentals are performed nicely, the vocal part of the Miller band is left out of the film. For whatever reason singers, Ray Eberle, Marian Hutton (Betty's sister)and most of all Gordon "Tex" Beneke are not in the film. In fact Chattanooga Choo Choo, Beneke's most famous number, is performed in the film by Frances Langford as herself.

My favorite scene in the film is the nightclub scene in Harlem on the Miller wedding night. June was definitely a patient wife, but hey, if you got a chance to jam with Louis Armstrong, you drop EVERYTHING for that opportunity. Gene Krupa and other top jazz musicians are in that scene with Stewart and Satchmo, making it a real treat for jazz aficionados.

For American music we are indeed fortunate that Glenn Miller succeeded in his quest for the right sound which is so lovingly captured in this film.

Not their best collaboration, my personal favourite is 'Winchester 73', but of the ones personally seen (not all but most) 'The Glenn Miller Story' is up there among their better ones. While there's more to see of their collaborations, none of the ones seen are less than good.

Biopics are very difficult to get right, especially ones of famous people in entertainment (i.e. film) and music (composing, singing, playing instruments). For example often coming to life when in action (whether acting, singing, composing or playing), but some suffer from the biographical elements not faring as good, with a tendency to play fast and loose with the facts. There are some great ones, some good ones, some uneven ones and some hugely problematic ones.

Luckily, 'The Glenn Miller Story' is one of the near-great ones. On a musical front it is nothing short of exceptional, no complaints there, but it was thoroughly enjoyable as a biopic too regardless of it not being a true account and very scratch surface because of not suffering from pacing or tone problems. Stewart is note-perfect in a role that plays to his strengths, despite him portraying a big band icon Stewart not only plays Miller with utter conviction but the performance also epitomises everything that Stewart himself is about and what made him such a great actor.

'The Glenn Miller Story', when it comes to Mann is very much removed from his darker and more psychological westerns that also star Stewart (the films that he's perhaps chiefly famous for), but there is not once a sense that he is beyond his comfort zone in an atypical genre for him, far from it. To me, actually, even with a lighter touch (much needed), without it ever feeling too much, it is one of Mann's stronger overall directorial efforts when it comes to his collaborations with Stewart.

As said to be expected, the music is exceptionally bewitching, with all the hits included and it was so wonderful to hear so many classics in one film. This said, 'The Glenn Miller Story' does have much more than a great performance and music. As well as June Allyson personifying charm and spunk, the supporting cast are just as good, with a superb Harry Morgan and cracking appearances from Louis Armstrong, Gene Krupa, The Modernaires and Frances Langford. The chemistry between Stewart and Allyson is irresistible, and 'The Glenn Miller Story' is handsomely mounted and beautifully filmed with lavish use of colour.

Script-wise, 'The Glenn Miller Story' a vast majority of the time succeeds, with a nice and well balanced dose of humour that makes one feel good and tender sentiment, while the story's warm heart and bags of charm more than makes up for any misgivings of it being inaccurate and only scratching the surface. Really liked the characters and felt myself caring for them.

My only complaints really are the rather too sudden ending that should have been more sombre and the central relationship being portrayed somewhat too perfectly and sugar coated, which does despite the irresistible chemistry mean that parts do fall into saccharine-overboard camp occasionally.

In conclusion, a near-great film and it is easy to see why of all Stewart and Mann's collaborations 'The Glenn Miller Story' is generally one of the more fondly remembered ones. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The unemployed trombone player Glenn Miller (James Stewart) is always broken, chasing his sound to form his band and hocking his instrument in the pawn house to survive. When his friend Chummy MacGregor (Henry Morgan) is hired to play in the band of Ben Pollack, the band-leader listens to one Glenn's composition and invites him to join his band. While traveling to New York, Glenn visits his former girlfriend Helen Berger (June Allyson), in Boulder, Colorado, and asks her to wait for him. Two years later he quits the band and proposes Helen that moves to New York to marry him. After the success of "Moonlight Serenade", Glenn Miller's band becomes worldwide known and Glenn and Helen and their two children have a very comfortable life. Duting the World War II, Glenn enlists in the army and travels to Europe to increase the moral of the allied troops. In the Christmas of 1944, he travels from London to Paris for a concert to be broadcast; however his plane is never found in the tragic flight.

Glenn Miller was the great idol of my father and I recall that in my childhood, he loved the albums (long-plays) of this American musician and usually commented his tragic end. I do not know how many times I listened to hits like "Moonlight Serenade", "String of Pearls", "Pennsylvania 6-5000", "Little Brown Jug", "In the Mood", "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and other Glenn Miller's musics when I was a kid. This is the first time that I watch "The Glenn Miller Story" and the awesome combination of the music of Glenn Miller and James Stewart. Further, the lovely June Allyson shows a wonderful chemistry with James Stewart and together with the stunning Louis Armstrong, Frances Langford, Ben Pollack, Gene Krupa, Barney Bigard, James Young, Marty Napoleon, Arvell Shaw, Cozy Cole, Babe Russin and others personalities, they make a great tribute to a magnificent American musician and composer. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Música e Lágrimas" ("Music and Tears")

This warm movie deals with Music of the Big Band Era living again thanks to the legendary and popular musician Glenn Miller : James Stewart who looks exactly every inch the trombonist. Concerning his emotive life from his poor starts as a humble trombonist and subsequently bandleader , his intimate love story , marriage to June Allyson, until his early death by a plane crash during WWII .Being one of the best and charming musical biographies ever to come out of the classic Hollywood . See it and hear it as never before !. It was a time that changed the world and one man put it to music.! . Their love made such wonderful music !.

An enjoyable and really attractive biography whose music had all of American tapping its feets. It results to be an agreeable drama with emotion, romance, well shot musical stage and packed to the gills with a clutch of successful tunes. Main and support cast are frankly wonderful . Stewart is terrific and even fakes the trombone playing well under score by Henry Mancini. While June Allyson as his beloved wife is awesome and sympathetic. Along with a nice plethora of secondaries such as : George Tobias, Harry Morgan, Charles Drake, Barton McLane, James Bell, and guest appearances from Louis Armstrong, Ben Pollack and Gene Krupa.

Of course, Glenn's music is the highlight of the movie, including the wonderful hit tunes as "Little Brown Jug" , "Chattanoga Choo Choo" , "In the Mood", "Moonlight Serenade" , "String of Pearls" , "Pennsylvania 6-5000". The picture colorfully photographed by William H Daniels was competently directed by Anthony Mann, delivering convincing portrayals of the characters. Mann was a Western expert as proved in "Bend the River, A Far Country, The Man From Laramie, The Naked Spur, Tin Star Winchester 73" . But Mann also directed other genres as wartime : "Men in War , Strategic Air Command" , Noir Film : "T-Men, Railroad" and Historical : "El Cid, Fall of the Roman Empire" , and Musical : "The Glenn Miller story", among others. Rating : 7.5/10. Notable, better than average.