Your Moment of Swing

Ready for a time out from whatever angst's ya?  Here's a treat from 1941--the Glenn Miller Orchestra doing "Chattanooga Choo Choo" from the movie "Sun Valley Serenade."  But don't stop when the song seems to be over, because the second half is a special treat--the fabulous Nicholas Brothers dance team, and a very young Dorothy Dandridge.  It was nominated for the Best Song Oscar and became the first certified Gold Record.  Hermes Pan staged the movie's dances--he worked with Fred Astaire on almost all of his movies.  It's got great music, charming singing and dynamite dancing---how could you keep from smiling?

And yes, that is a young Milton Berle, who plays the band's manager (he does his own skiing stunts, too.)  Besides being one of only two movies Glenn Miller did, it was a Sonja Henie vehicle.  Her act was skating, which she does especially at the end of the movie. Not long after the movie was released, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. into World War II and shortly afterwards, an over-age Glenn Miller joined the army.  Just three years after this movie, he was entertaining troops in Europe when his plane went down crossing the English channel and was never found.