The Glenn Miller Story

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The Glenn Miller Story

G

Released Dec 10, 1953

1h 56m

Biography

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Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

80%

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5,000+ Ratings

Glenn Miller (James Stewart) is a poor trombone player with dreams of fame. Eventually, through years of hard work and determination, he is able to start his own band, and they become one of the most successful groups of the big-band era. With a beautiful wife (June Allyson) and one of the biggest songs in America, "Moonlight Serenade," Miller has it all. But at the onset of World War II, Miller enlists, giving up his fame and success to help entertain the troops stationed in Europe.

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Francois Truffaut

Arts (France)

The Technicolor is of irreproachable quality and the acting -- bringing together James Stewart and June Allyson -- is excellent.

May 6, 2022

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

If you're a fan of the big band sound (which I'm not) you will probably like this pic much better than I did.

Rated: B-

Oct 27, 2008

Full Review

Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

A strange look at the music business.

Aug 9, 2007

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Dan Jardine

Apollo Guide

Unfortunately, while Jimmy Stewart provides yet another winning performance as the seminal big band leader, the film is an unsatisfying hybrid.

Rated: 67/100

Jun 27, 2007

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Featuring a towering performance from Jimmy Stewart as America's most popular band leader, Anthony Mann's intelligent if also sentimental film is one of the most enjoyable Hollywood biopics.

Rated: A

Jun 15, 2007

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Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Rated: 3/5

Jul 27, 2006

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Paul S

I love this movie, the music is classic and the story had a nice mix of drama, humour and history.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/21/24

Full Review

Steve D

Not worthy of Stewart.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/25/23

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Gabriel D

I liked so much the movie that I'd like to do just like Glenn, but the only thing is I'm doing like Disney SFX Wizard Jimmy MacDonald, and I'm using as for "the exhaust" a trombone bell.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/08/23

Full Review

Liam D

A very interesting collaboration between director Anthony Mann (A Dandy in Aspic, Two O'Clock Courage) and James Stewart (The Flight of the Phoenix, The Last Gangster) it's a gold age Hollywood Biopic with a great score by the Legendary Henry Mancini (Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, The Monolith Monsters)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/28/22

Full Review

Audience Member

The story seems to be that there barely is a story. If you like his music just play an album and save some time you'd lose watching this rubbish. Here's the abridged film, musician not having a great career, marries a woman he's liked for a while, she helps him save some money, he creates his own band and becomes successful. He then dies in a plane crash. That is literally it. The wife is played by the most wooden actress imaginable, marrying her would lead to an early grave through sheer boredom alone. James Stewart plays James Stewart masquerading as Glenn Miller. It's a really bad film. The music is lovely as you might expect.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Audience Member

I love Glen Miller music and Jimmy Stewart is my favorite actor so this movie made for a perfect combination of music, storytelling and American history all wrapped up into one wonderful movie!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

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Anthony Mann

Director

James Stewart

Glenn Miller

June Allyson

Helen Berger

Charles Drake

Don Haynes

George Tobias

Si Schribman

Harry Morgan

Chummy MacGregor

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Synopsis

Glenn Miller (James Stewart) is a poor trombone player with dreams of fame. Eventually, through years of hard work and determination, he is able to start his own band, and they become one of the most successful groups of the big-band era. With a beautiful wife (June Allyson) and one of the biggest songs in America, "Moonlight Serenade," Miller has it all. But at the onset of World War II, Miller enlists, giving up his fame and success to help entertain the troops stationed in Europe.

Director: Anthony Mann
Producer: Aaron Rosenberg
Screenwriter: Valentine Davies, Oscar Brodney
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Universal Pictures
Rating: G
Genre: Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 10, 1953, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 2, 2016
Runtime: 1h 56m
Sound Mix: Surround

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