The Glenn Miller Story

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The Glenn Miller Story

G

1953

1h 56m

Biography

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

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

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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

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Steve D

Not worthy of Stewart.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/25/23

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

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Audience Member

A solid biopic with tones of 1950s nostalgia. It does have a very bad sense of time and feels a bit rushed. Still a really good film though. Total classic

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/12/20

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Audience Member

Great movie though at times it is a bit bizarrely sugary and Hollywood-ized (Miller's wife takes approx. 20 seconds into the song to recognize "Little Brown Jug," a song that had already been a massive hit for him for years, as just one example). But that is also a sign of the times in America, as well as the fact that the movie was filmed less than ten years after the end of WWII when so many US lives had been sacrificed to defeat Hitler. You have to love the music, which is the real star, and Jimmy Stewart. Always worth a watch!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

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

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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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