From the 1940s: Orchestra Wives

1942 Musical Romance

From 20th Century Fox

Directed by Archie Mayo

Starring

George Montgomery

Ann Rutherford

Glenn Miller and his Band

Lynn Bari

Carole Landis

Cesar Romero

Virginia Gilmore

Mary Beth Hughes

Marion Hutton

Tex Beneke

Ray Eberle

Nicholas Brothers

Jackie Gleason

Harry Morgan

The Modernaires

Dale Evans

One doesn't watch this little B musical for the story or the acting or even the actors.  One watches because Glenn Miller and his band are in a rare film, the story centers around them, and they are certainly worth one's devoted attention.

I've said before that Big Band music was the favorite of my parents.  My mom did some occasional band singing as lots of little songbirds did when big bands came to their small towns.  I gazed at the folks in giddy wonderment as they danced and sang around the house.  She particularly was nuts about all big bands but Glenn Miller was her king.  With apologies to Artie, Benny, Harry, Tommy and Jimmy and others, GM was the the undisputed king.  The man said a band ought to have a sound all of its own and then he gave it to the world.

Miller was flattered to have 20th Century Fox offer him and the band not one but two opportunities to appear in movies.  It was designed to make some money for the studio and for Miller to acquire the best visibility the band could hope for.  It was hard to get arranged because they were always on the road.  So what did they sign on for?  Well, to play a band that's always on the road.

The story is routine and likely designed to get out of the way of the Miller band and singers.  When the Gene Morrison Band (Miller) pulls into her small town, Ann Rutherford attends and falls hard for trumpeter George Montgomery, handsome and on the make.  He might have regarded her as just another easy groupie for a few moments but then he fell for her as quickly as she did for him.  During a second visit they decide on a whim to marry.

Montgomery, Rutherford & Miller

She is quite unprepared for her new lifestyle.  She didn't realize how much travel was involved and how little she would actually see her new husband and he apparently doesn't consider telling her.  While struggling to make the needed adjustments she has to endure the wickedness of the other orchestra wives, biatches one and all.  They get in the way of the new marriage and the couple breaks up and then so does the band.  But Rutherford and piano-playing Cesar Romero devise a plan to get the band and the marriage back together.

The story drives the point home that Miller didn't really want the wives along and he certainly understood they were trouble.  They were only part of the entourage because staying home would mean their husbands would cheat with their fans so they were there as watchdogs.  Unfortunately, the wives, too, were cheating with band members they weren't married to.  

Where evil lurks

Montgomery, Romero and Jackie Gleason (as the bass player) all look good but of course none was actually playing any of their instruments.  The acting of the professionals is no great shakes although top honors would have to go to the title stars who weren't Rutherford.  They sure wrote some great tough-dame lines for Carole Landis, Virginia Gilmore (Yul Brynner's future wife), Mary Beth Hughes (she would go on to play the title role in My Darling Clementine) and Lynn Bari as the worst of them all, the band singer, who was dumped by Montgomery when he married. Add Rutherford (too bland for my tastes) and we get a strictly B cast who knew to stay out of the way of the great musical cast.

The band performers were actually with Miller at the time and included saxophonist and lead singer, the iron-jawed Tex Beneke, handsome Ray Eberle (younger brother of another band singer, Bob Eberle) and bubbly Marion Hutton (older sister of Betty) who sang with The Modernaires.  All are front and center and make me experience a rare joy while watching them perform and hearing those glorious voices.

It's rather prophetic that the story here has a little to do with the band breaking up because around the time the film was released, that was exactly what happened in real life.  In 1942 Miller went into the service.  Orchestra Wives would be his second and last film, not counting a bit in an earlier 30s movie.

In front from L: Beneke, Hutton, Eberle with Modernaires

For those hoping to hear one after another of the band's famous songs there might be some disappointment but there are still reasons to rejoice.  Introduced in this film is (I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo, the film's big production number with Beneke, Hutton and the Modernaires and the dazzling dancing of the Nicholas Brothers.  Also introduced is At Last, which had been written for Miller's previous film, 1941's Springtime in the Rockies, but got cut and then revived here.  There's also Serenade in Blue, People Like You and Me and Bugle Call Rag, the latter a band number for all the hep cats.  In the background it's hard to miss the occasional familiar strains of Chattanooga Choo Choo and Moonlight Serenade, Miller's greatest hit and theme song, respectively.

Many thanks to Mom and Dad.  They passed on the GM gene and I've been forever grateful.  I could spend a whole day listening to his greatest hits or watching 1954's The Glenn Miller Story for the 100th time.  Several years ago we traveled to his birthplace, Clarinda, Iowa, and attended a festival and concert by the modern-day Miller band.  I think I'm hooked.  Springtime in the Rockies is a better flick overall but this one may showcase the band better.  Miller fans have likely seen it and this one, too, but if you haven't and the man and his music interest you, check 'em out.

Here's that gal from Kalamazoo:

 

Next posting:

A great star's comeback film