Bandleader and WWII mainstay Glenn Miller disappeared 80 years ago Sunday as he flew in a small Army Air Corps plane going from England to Paris. If you have seen the biopic “The Glenn Miller Story” starring another WWII hero, James Stewart, then you will remember that scene when the world finds out he’s gone.
“Sun Valley Serenade” has been one of my guilty pleasures since I was a teenager, because my grandparents taught me to love old movies and big band music. This is both. It’s one of only two movies featuring Miller, and it’s a blessing we have these performances on film. “Chattanooga Choo Choo” – with Dorothy Dandridge, Nicholas Brothers, the Modernairres and Tex Beneke – has got to be up there with one of the finer musical performances put on film.
A lot of legends here – among the band as well as a young Milton Berle, Lynn Bari, John Payne and especially Sonia Henie – but only one is still alive: 102-year-old trumpet player Ray Anthony, who you see in this clip. He’ll be 103 in January.
Nows and Forevers 
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