Romance inachevée

It is said that Miller could never remember precisely the moment he decided to emphasize his new reed section sound... But it was during this disheartening interim, that he realized the unique sound, produced by the clarinet holding the melodic line while the tenor sax plays the same note, and supported harmonically by three other saxophones - just might be the individual and easily recognizable style that would set his band apart from all the rest...

Photographed in color, Anthony Mann's 'The Glenn Miller Story' is purely a time trip to those years, when Glenn Miller's band ruled the record charts and anchored the airwaves... The film, beautifully captured Miller's spirit and follows his life story with reasonable fidelity... It is one of the most charming and touching musical biography...

Appearing in glasses and winning grin, Stewart kisses Allyson, holding her face lightly with his fingers, the same way he detains his trombone slide... Stewart applied his natural musical expertise, playing on the trombone... Miller's style was there. The original sound was there. The real music was there. The mix was there...

The film traces Miller's romance and marriage to his college sweetheart, Helen Burger, and his progress from a free-lance trombonist and arranger to band leader...

The pop music styles of '20s sweet and jazz bands were getting ready for the Big Band or Swing era of the '30s... About this time, Miller began writing charts that would one day to be his band's stock in fame, the clarinet "lead" sound over the saxophones... Miller's imagination, strong will, and determination kept his aspirations alive.. His music, a careful mixture of swing, jazz, and improvisation, flowed like spring with matchless string of hit records ( "Moonlight Serenade," "String of Pearls," "Pennsylvania 6-5000", "Little Brown Jug," "In the Mood," & "Chattanooga Choo Choo," among others...

The constant impact of radio broadcasts, and the drawing power at dance pavilions built and sustained the momentum of Miller's popularity...

June Allyson, who regularly played the little, lip-quivering waiting wife, again she is the petite and husky-voiced woman who, once married, is supportive and inspirational.. She finances Glenn what he needs to start his own band... Her scenes with Stewart have such a natural, easy-going on the screen, that we get completely drawn into their lives... Also featuring in the film are such legendary figures as Frances Langford, Gene Krupa, and Louis Armstrong...

With its unique jazz sound, 'The Glenn Miller Story' is a competent musical heart warmer with a well-cast star and successful reproduction of the Miller sound...

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")

James Stewart in one of his best roles of the 1950s playing the late bandleader in the embellished story of his life; June Allyson plays his wife – one of her best roles and I believe one of her personal favourites.

Watching the real Miller in ‘Orchestra Wives' and then watching this, Stewart is really a revelation in this role. All the hits of the band are represented – Moonlight Serenade, In The Mood, Tuxedo Junction, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Pennsylvania 65000. Some artistic licence has been taken but the whole is funny, celebratory, and at the end fairly touching. One of the best Hollywood biopics, right in the middle of a glut of them (Love Me or Leave Me, With a Song In My Heart, The Eddy Duchin Story, Night and Day, Words and Music, Three Little Words …).

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