The Man Who Changed Music Forever - Louis Armstrong. How about a movie about him?

INSTEAD of making a depressing swing musical like La La Land about a couple of careerists who go to Hollywood to get rich and famous, and don’t live happily ever after, as if unbridled selfish ambition is a compelling story line, how about making a musical about when swing music helped defeat actual Fascism and the real American hero, among many American heroes, who helped? 

Yes, writing about Vera Lynn yesterday reminded me of Glenn Miller, one of the enormously talented musicians who was part of the birth of the swing jazz movement in the USA. As a matter of fact, there were so many great musicians of that era whose stories could be told with soundtracks of their fantastic music that it’s almost a crime that no modern movie has been made about any of them. To name a few who could be included in such movies there are Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, The Dorsey Brothers, and Jelly Roll Morton. 

What great movies those would be! And not only does the Glenn Miller story include great music, jazz and swing as they burst onto the American scene and then internationally, but Glenn Miller, even though too old to be drafted, joined the Army to bring music to the troops and lift morale! He died a hero flying to France. Here we have a real-life unhappy ending, not like La La Land’s hero and heroine’s self-induced ‘life is a crap sandwich ending’, where love doesn’t matter.

Yes, a movie about the Masters of Swing and Jazz might be worth making and might even draw a crowd. Don’t be shy, jump on board the new Make America Great movement. Make biopics about the great talents, their musical genius, the obstacles they faced and triumphed over. Seriously, Hollywood, you can’t miss with material like that. These great musicians used their talents and their lives to write the words and the music for you. Just get out your camera and hire a screenwriter.

La La Land showed how much people enjoy musicals with singing and dancing; now why don’t you try to make one that has some genuine heart and showcases some of the great American contributions to music?

Memo: to make money, you have to delight the audience. As Glenn Miller observed when he gave up his lucrative career to serve his country and the cause of freedom: “America means freedom and there's no expression of freedom quite so sincere as music.”