Orchestra Wives |  | Director: Archie Mayo
Actors: George Montgomery, Ann Rutherford, Glenn Miller, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Lynn Bari
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $7.24
as of 11/24/2009 21:45 CST details
You Save: $7.74 (52%)
New (34) Used (9) Collectible (1) from $6.70
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Rating:  27 reviews
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D2230824D
UPC: 024543208242
EAN: 0024543208242
Theatrical Release Date: September 4, 1942
Release Date: November 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
"It's Hep! It's Hot! It's Hilarious!" reads the tagline for Orchestra Wives, a frothy slice of celluloid made in 1942 and featuring the great Glenn Miller Band. And that tagline is, well, sort of true. As is often the case with films of this genre (musical comedy with the occasional touch of drama), the story is largely superfluous: a naïve, smalltown girl (Ann Rutherford) falls for a fast-talking, smooth-playing trumpeter (George Montgomery); he proposes after spending, oh, about fifteen minutes with her (and before he even knows her name); she joins the band on tour, where the female members of the troupe, wives and singers alike, while away the downtime gossiping and rumor-mongering; trouble ensues, but all ends happily (and predictably). The main attraction here is seeing Miller (going by the nom du cinema Gene Morrison), then at the height of his popularity, and some of his fine musicians in action. Though not an innovator on the level of Benny Goodman and some of his other peers, Miller had a band that could swing like mad, and performances of tunes like "At Last," "Kalamazoo," and the rockin' "Bugle Call Rag" are a definite gas. The musicians are virtually all uncredited, but they include singer Marion Hutton, saxophonist-singer Tex Beneke, singer Ray Eberle, and the great drummer Moe Purtill (also look for Jackie Gleason, the Great One himself, in a substantial role as the band's bass player), as well as the Nicholas Brothers, an amazing dance team. The black & white transfer is nice, the music has been remastered in stereo, and the fact that Miller disappeared during a plane flight over the English Channel in late 1944 makes Orchestra Wives (which includes a commentary track by Rutherford and Fayard Nicholas, along with a photo gallery) something of a collector's item. --Sam Graham
Description
A new bride faces the strain of life on the road in this musical romance that features the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Miller is featured as band leader Gene Morrison, who embarks on a whirlwind national tour with his orchestra. While on the tour, trumpeter Bill Abbott (George Montgomery) impulsively marries one of his many ardent fans, a naïve young women named Connie (Ann Rutherford). At first Connie is more than willing to put up with such problems as not spending time with her new husband and the malicious gossip of other wives. But when she comes to believe that Bill is still involved with an old flame, the ensuing quarrel threatens to end both the new marriage and the entire band.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
Kalamazoo. September 12, 2009
Donald L. Cochrane (USA)
For Michiganers and people from Kalamazoo ( a real town in Michigan- really ) there is a treat at chapter 26 on this DVD: the definitive 'music video' of "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo", by Glenn Miller.
Main singers:
Tex Beneke, who also plays sax [ for real ] in the band. His voice and tight tremolo is the standard for the era.
Marion Hutton is the older sister of singer / comedian and movie star, Betty Hutton.
They look like identical twins and have the same comedic style.
( When i was a little boy, I wanted to see anything with Betty Hutton in it. )
Ken Burns' series on Jazz says that the popular music of the WW II period- including Glen Miller- was actually jazz.
The film shows film and ( later ) televisiion actors who- I suppose- are pretending to play instruments in the band:
Ceasar Romero at the piano and Jackie Gleason at the bass:
Ceasar Romera did alot of romantic comedy movies. he may now be better known as the Joker in the TV Batman series of the mid 60s.
Jackie Gleason is now known primarily from reruns of the "Honeymooners", starring Audrey Meadows, Art Carney and Gleason, who was known for memorizing a script in one reading.
 Note on DVD vs VHS audio July 18, 2008
Nathaniel Koch (Washington, DC)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This film rates a 4/5 for the music. I own the DVD and VHS versions, and just want to confirm what some others have posted here:
DVD 'Mono' is 100% mono
DVD 'Stereo' is 100% fake stereo (and it sounds lousy)
VHS is mono in the dialogue and what appears to be the original stereo in the musical numbers plus some of the bridging dialogue
I can't speak for the Laserdisc, but the musical numbers on the VHS version sound MUCH better than either track on the DVD. If you like this movie's music enough to listen to it on its own, you owe it to yourself to find a copy. Quite an amazing blunder (cost decision?) that the original stereo is not on the DVD.
 what a fun little film! June 25, 2008
N. Watson (Rockford, IL)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The appeal to purchase this unknown (to me) title was the real Glenn Miller and his band. And seeing him in this movie would have been enough. But the numbers are fun to watch and the music's a treat. The real-deal sax/singer, drummer, and others makes it more interesting.
Cesar Romero's playful banter with the honest butch George Montgomery (never seen him before) is a good time. George becoming all wrapped up in "Gorgeous" (Ann Rutherford) keeps the plot running on love. There's baby-faced Harry Morgan in one of his first films.
Glenn's a tad wooden as an actor, but seems to be playing himself for the most part- not an actor, but a showman with a fantastic band. No academy award material- it's just entertainment. Awesome entertainment if you appreciate this amazing music.
p.s. They just "throw in" the Nicholas brothers at the end. Those guys were incredible dancers. It's crazy how they make it look so easy.
 Obnoxious Anti-Pirating Ad Ruins This Release April 6, 2008
tacks31 (San Francisco, CA, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Yes, Fox put it on this one too. If you have an all-region DVD player, you can get this from Amazon.co.uk without the ad.
Glenn Miller music March 23, 2008
E. D. Deuss (Phoenix, AZ)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
What's to say about a film featuring the great Glenn Miller Orchestra? This movie is somewhat darker than the other Miller film, "Sun Valley Serenade", but the music is great. Interestingly enough, all the Miller songs are in stereo, while the rest of the film is mono. If you like this kind of music, and want to see a period in time when bands toured the country, this is as good as it gets!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
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