The Glen Miller Story (1954)

The Glen Miller Story
Directed by Anthony Mann
Written by Valentine Davis and Oscar Brodney
1954/USA
Universal International Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Sy’s Assistant: He’s trying five saxes with a trumpet lead.

Si Schribman: Maybe it’s good and maybe it ain’t, but it’s radical![/box]

This is a very pleasant biopic with outstanding swing music provided by Glenn Miller and his orchestra.

Glenn Miller (James Stewart) keeps his trombone in the pawn shop between gigs.  He is more interested in arranging music than the trumpet, however.  Finally, his arrangements are noticed and he is hired by a band.  That is his signal to begin his brief courtship of Helen Burger (June Allyson), a girl he dated in college but hasn’t talked to in years. Although she is engaged to someone else, before we know it they are married.

Helen encourages him to form his own band.  The rest of the movie follows the orchestra from its shaky beginnings to great success.  All of this is accompanied by Glenn Miller’s biggest hits.  With Harry Morgan as a pianist and George Tobias as a backer.

This is quite outside director Mann’s normal range of genre pictures and he shows himself to be a competent director of “A” movies as well.  The whole thing is very solid if not particularly remarkable.  I enjoy big band music and liked it a lot.

Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brkv5YVXbKI

Clip with Louis Armstrong