This is an amazing movie, and an absolute classic, filled with great music, and a powerful true story, with great performances and some great cameos by people Miller actually played with [including Louis Armstrong, Barney Bigard, Cozy Cole, Gene Krupa, Frances Langford, Marty Napoleon, Ben Pollack, Babe Russin, Arvell Shaw, The Modernaires, and James Young (IV)]. This is a great, if sad film, with great music throughout, really a film that must be watched again and again. It doesn’t hurt that Kelly and I have been getting more and more into swing music of late, and in Swing Glenn Miller was one of the great band leaders (plus it is so cool to know that where Pennsylvania 6-5000 comes from, the address where he lived when he asked his wife Helen Burger to marry him, very cool). It really is so sad that Glenn died the way he did, because who knows what he would have done.

The film starts with Glenn Miller (James Stewart) and his best friend Chummy MacGregor (Harry Morgan) making a living p[laying, but constantly having to hock Glenn’s trombone to a friendly pawn shop. Glenn is constantly writing arrangements, but never able to sell them. Chummy gets a job playing piano for a band leader, and Glenn tries to sell him self as an arranger, but almost doesn’t until Chummy has them play the arrangement for someone trying out, and both of them get hired and go on tour. Glenn then calls up his college sweetheart Helen Burger (Jane Allyson), and though she has a boyfriend sees her while he passes through Colorado, and gives her a fake pearl necklace for her birthday. She is amazed as she hasn’t seen in him years, but he will keep in touch with her. Though doing well, Glenn eventually leaves the band to go to work and work on his arranging, but when he gets to New York, he convinces her to come out and marry him.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Once married things are tight, so Glenn must do more music playing than learning and arranging, but Helen convinces him that they will tighten their belts, and eventually he is able to start his own band, but doesn’t quite have the sound yet for it. The first band ends up failing, not making enough money, but eventually Glenn is able to start the band again, and figures out his own unique sound, and they become a hit and they start making money. Glenn and Helen adopt children, and have a good like, and Glenn is finally able to give her a real string of pearls, though admits he will never arrange her favorite song, which he hates, “Little Brown Jug.”

When World War 2 starts up, Glenn joins up as an officer to play for the troops. At first he only has an army band, and almost gets in trouble, but a general loves what he does to raise troop morale, and he suggests getting together his old band, most of which (except Chummy) have joined up. The Glenn Miller band is reborn, and does all it can to entertain the troops all over Europe.

Finally they are to have a big New Years show, but Glenn leaves early for France to set things up for his band to arrive, but his plane is shot down and Glenn is killed. The band plays his music anyway, including his new arrangement of “Little Brown Jug” which Helen hears over the radio, and Glenn’s music is able to live on.

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Really a wonderful film, it is just so sad that Glenn’s life ended so tragically, when he had so much going for him, and his family needed him so much.