Don't get me wrong... I've always loved Jimmy Stewart in whatever movie he was in... EXCEPT this one!
I got being a Glenn Miller fan from my mother. I have over a dozen Glenn Miller LPs and albums, plus a few original "Bluebird" 78s, and both movies the band made. I think I know Glenn Miller's story.
Besides the inaccurate details (expected in Hollywood biographies), Stewart's hesitant, bumbling portrayal of Miller is sickening. It is all too obvious that Stewart never held a trombone or conducted a band before, in contrast to Miller who was a slick professional musician all his adult life. I don't know who would have played Miller better, but it's not a Jimmy Stewart-type role.
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Reply by Lemon Juice
on March 2, 2017 at 11:44 AM
In the Miller biography by George T. Simon it was disclosed that Miller's widow had complete control over that movie. Stewart not only had to pass muster for her, but did you notice the glaring omission of anything about Tex Beneke? Beneke and the Miller estate were feuding at the time about the direction the band was going to take. Beneke wanted more modern music and Miller's widow wanted the band and it's music frozen in 1944 (something Miller never did himself-he was always looking for new innovations and was starting to add instruments like violins before he died. Violins were added to a lot of big band type orchestras a short time later by conductors like Nelson Riddle and Skitch Henerson).
I can't remember if Miller's widow insisted on Stewart or not. I'll look it up when I can.
Reply by JimMM
on March 2, 2017 at 1:06 PM
Thanks for the notes. I have "Glenn Miller and His Orchestra" by George T. Simon (who played drums for Miller for a short time), but I haven't re-read it in years. Amazing that Helen Miller had control over the movie, with all the discrepancies it has. No mention of Marian Hutton either, who said Miller wanted her for his post-war band. BTW, a distant cousin of mine, Jerry Smith, played drums for Tex Beneke. Ever heard of him?
Reply by Lemon Juice
on March 2, 2017 at 1:36 PM
No, sorry. I did work with John Pizzarelli's cousin His cousin had never met John. I always told him the next time John came to town we were going and try to get backstage. Unfortunately the cousin moved back to NY and that never happened.