The Glenn Miller Story
The Glenn Miller Story is a 1954 American film that traces the life of Glenn Miller . It was one of the highlights of director Anthony Mann's collaboration with James Stewart , which began in 1950 with the Western Winchester '73 . James Stewart and June Allyson in the leading roles represent the ideal of an American couple at the time. The film is particularly impressive because of its soundtrack, which contains the most popular swing melodies from the Glenn Miller Band. The Glenn Miller Story was one of the most commercially successful Hollywood productions of 1954, prompting the Universal International Pictures with The Benny Goodman Story 1955 another bandleader - biopic bring out.
action
The United States during the great big band era and the Great Depression : The young trombonist and arranger Glenn Miller sees his trumpet more often in the pawn shop when he could play on it. When he and his friend, the pianist Chummy MacGregor, are engaged in a big band to tour America and come through Denver , he visits his old friend Helen, whom he has not seen for two years. He ignores the fact that she is now with another man and announces that they will soon be married. When the band comes to New York , Glenn leaves the band to take care of his arrangements again. He calls Helen and persuades her to come to New York. When she actually comes, he takes her to the registry office. Glenn works in a musical production on Broadway ( Gershwin's Girl Crazy ) and Helen gives her husband her savings so he can start his own band. However, the company fails and Helen becomes seriously ill. In the hospital the tide turns again and they get to know the manager Si Schribman, who believes in Glenn's work and gives him the opportunity to start a new band. The day before the premiere in Boston , however, the trumpeter is injured and Glenn has to replace him with a clarinetist. The Glenn Miller sound was born and Glenn Miller's world career could begin.
Glenn Miller and his band are now one of the most successful in America. He and Helen adopt two children and move into a villa. But when the Second World War broke out, Glenn signed up for the army to play for the soldiers. In December 1944, Glenn Miller flies from London to a Christmas concert in liberated Paris . However, the plane never arrives in Paris. Helen is sitting at home in front of the radio and awaiting the concert from France when she receives news of the missing plane from General Arnold. The band plays the concert in memory of their band leader while Helen listens on the radio crying.
background
The trombone parts of Glenn Miller in the film were recorded by Joe Yukl because Stewart did not master the instrument. Yukl also advised the actor on how to hold and play the instrument correctly during the shooting. Another musical advisor on the film set was the pianist Chummy MacGregor (1903-1973), who is played in the film by Harry Morgan . Morgan had already played in the Glenn Miller film Orchestra Wives (1942) and was also personally friends with the band leader. Numerous music stars and companions of Glenn Miller took on cameo appearances in the film .
The film's soundtrack was released as the album The Glenn Miller Story . Parallel to the success of the film at the box office, the album also proved to be extremely successful and in 1954 spent ten weeks at number 1 on the Billboard album charts .
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrote that The Glenn Miller Story is an “exquisitely staged biographical film about the American big band leader (...) It is not the very emotional, pathetic plot that makes the film remarkable, but the likeable actors and authentic interpretations of all the evergreens in the unmistakable Glenn Miller sound (...) ” Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz found in the lexicon“ Films on TV ” that James Stewart would play“ convincingly ”in the title role, plus the film offers“ gorgeous jazz with well-known stars, bands and Soloists (...) “(Rating: 2½ stars = above average).
The Catholic film manual 6000 films judged: “Excellent biographical film (...) very personable and warm-hearted, exemplary ethos, excellently presented. Worth seeing not only for friends of jazz, from 14. "- The Heyne Filmlexikon was also positive:" Excellent played by Stewart and with all Miller hits. "
German versions
There are two different German dubbing adaptations for this film . The first was created in 1954 in the studio of Berliner Synchron GmbH Wenzel Lüdecke in Berlin . The dialogue book came from Fritz A. Koeniger , and Rolf von Sydow directed the dubbing . The second version on the occasion of the re-performance in 1985 was also made by Berliner Synchron GmbH. This new version has been shown since then, but the old version can be heard on the DVD released by Universal Germany in 2006 and the Blu-ray released in 2014 contains both dubbed versions. James Stewart's regular German speaker Siegmar Schneider can be heard in the title role in both versions .
| role | actor | Voice actor (1954 version) | Voice actor (1985 version) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Miller | James Stewart | Siegmar Schneider | Siegmar Schneider |
| Helen Burger Miller | June Allyson | Gisela Trowe | Sonja German |
| Chummy MacGregor | Harry Morgan | Paul Edwin Roth | Friedrich Georg Beckhaus |
| Don Haynes | Charles Drake | Gert Günther Hoffmann | Joachim Kerzel |
| Si Schribman | George Tobias | Alfred Balthoff | Wolfgang Völz |
| General Hap Arnold | Barton MacLane | ?? | Friedrich Schoenfelder |
| Kranz, the pawnbroker | Sig Ruman | Kurt Vespermann | ?? |
| Col. Spaulding | Dayton Lummis | Martin hero | ?? |
| Ben Pollack | Ben Pollack | Hans Emons | Joachim Nottke |
| Louis Armstrong | Louis Armstrong | ?? | Helmut Krauss |
| Adjutant General | Carleton Young | Rolf von Nauckhoff | ?? |
| Doctor in hospital | Harry Harvey | Robert Klupp | Manfred Grote |
| Mr. Miller | Irving Bacon | Paul Wagner | Eric Vaessen |
| Mrs. Miller | Kathleen Lockhart | ?? | Tilly Lauenstein |
| car Mechanic | Dick Ryan | Herbert Weissbach | ?? |
Awards
The film received an Oscar in 1955 for “Best Sound” and two other nominations in the categories “Best Music” and “Best Screenplay”.
Web links
- The Glenn Miller Story in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Glenn Miller Story in the All Movie Guide (English)
- Review , Time Magazine, March 1, 1954 (English)
- freeze frame
Individual evidence
- ^ Turner Classic Movies Biopics: The Glenn Miller Story by Richard Steiner , accessed October 8, 2007
- ^ The LDS Filmography Pages American Movies: Top 5 Box Office Hits, 1939 to 1988 , accessed November 4, 2007
- ↑ Lexicon of International Films : CD-ROM edition. Systhema, Munich 1997.
- ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier , Berndt Schulz in: Lexicon "Films on TV". Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 308.
- ↑ 6000 films. Critical notes from the cinema years 1945 to 1958. Handbook V of the Catholic film criticism. 3rd edition, Haus Altenberg, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 160.
- ↑ The Glenn Miller story in Arne Kaul's synchronous database ( memento of the original from January 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Retrieved December 2, 2007
- ^ The Glenn Miller Story , 2nd Synchro (re-performance 1985), in the German dubbing index ; Retrieved December 2, 2007
