Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

An innocent young bride (Ann Rutherford) gets even with the catty wives of Glenn Miller's band members when they use her naiveté to cause trouble in her marriage to handsome George Montgomery. "It it's one thing I hate, it's a leaky dame", one of the other wives says about her blubbering bride. "Hello, Room Service? Come on up, I've got a lot of dirty dishes", Rutherford retorts after pulling a Norma Shearer (in "The Women") and causing a cat fight among two of the women who have just destroyed a service cart. All this and the best music Glenn Miller didn't play in "Sun Valley Serenade".That recent Beyonce hit ("At Last", also recorded by Etta James) was introduced here, which makes this a historical must for modern music lovers. "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" was the other big song. Fresh from the Andy Hardy series and her most famous role (as Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister in "Gone With the Wind"), Rutherford is excellent, going from that leaky dame to fellow cat, joining Lynn Bari, Carole Landis and Virginia Gilmore in the art of classic movie bitchery. Grant Mitchell (as Rutherford's father), Cesar Romero, Jackie Gleason and Harry Morgan are among the familiar faces who round out the supporting cast. Morgan (playing a soda jerk) has a memorable sequence where he escorts Rutherford to a concert but is aghast when he finds her with Montgomery and threatens to beat up the much larger man.There is an amusing moment between Mitchell and George Montgomery where Montgomery, not realizing that Mitchell is his father-in-law, calls him "older than Metheselah". (I always wondered where that quote originated!) Usually, the plots in musicals are rather flaccid, but this one is much better than normal. The music simply enhances it, and when the Nicholas Brothers come on to dance, it explodes into red-hot rhythm with the war a quiet backdrop for the moving of the band on the road. Life must go on, it is observed, even in wartime. This makes for perhaps one of the best big band musicals filled with sizzling music, wonderful wisecracks, plenty of female bickering and tons of fun!

I had never heard of this movie, but I just came across it on a movie channel on TV. Wow! I was in 7th heaven with all the wonderful music! I've always been curious about the big band era and have listened to quite a few of the bands (or orchestras, as they were apparently called back then), and the sweetest sound by far comes from The Glenn Miller Orchestra. This movie has the actual Glenn Miller Orchestra and Glenn Miller himself playing the band. The interaction among the wives is interesting in that it seems that at least that part of life hasn't changed. Women were always their own worst enemies and still are. You can see updated versions of the back-biting and gossiping in the current (2011) reality shows on TV. And the parts of the movie set in Connie's home town show a glimpse into 1942 small-town America.This movie is well worth watching for the amazing music.

This is a pretty entertaining movie and a nice surprise for those of us for whom Glenn Miller was "before their time" (though some of the songs are certainly familiar). Ann Rutherford is a beauty. The script, about the ins and outs of life on the road, has a few flat spots but is mostly snappy enough to carry the film between musical numbers. It's not a rah-rah script either; it's closer in spirit to a '30s gold-digger musical than a '40s family musical. We get to see how Glenn Miller and the band performed. Miller is a wooden actor (to put it mildly) but he only has a few lines so it doesn't bog things down. The musical numbers are great, and the actors assigned to band roles all do a nice job of playing "air" along with the band. Of note is the excellent camera work in the musical numbers. There's a long music-free bit in the last third of the film but the finale picks it up again at the end.Some points of interest: Marion Hutton (Betty's older, prettier, less frantic sister) sings on the opening and closing numbers. There's an amazing athletic tap number from the Nicholas Brothers, who also sing in a jazz style. And Carole Landis (one of those young stars with a tragic end) is good in her light comic role.

This film will bring you way back to the Big Band era and the entire picture is filled with outstanding actors, great musicians and dancers. Glenn Miller, (Gene Morrison) played the role of Gene and had to put up with all the band wives and their secret affairs between each other. One of the real trouble makers was Carole Landis, (Natalie Mercer),"I Wake Up Screaming", who was a big gossip and acted like a big Cat with large claws. Natalie wore outrageous hats with all kinds of flowers on top and did her very best to break up some newly weds who just got married. There was plenty of old time tunes and plenty of jitterbug, or what we call today, SWING DANCING. There are two African American dancers who gave an outstanding performance almost towards the end of film that was very entertaining. Jackie Gleason was a string bass player in the Gene Morrison(Glen Miller Band) and said quite a few lines. This is a great Classic Musical Film with all time great jazz players. Enjoy