Rating: 
Summary: The music is better than the "history" in this bio-pic
Review: The consensus has long been that "The Benny Goodman Story" has problems when it comes to being historically accurate but the music is absolutely great. Steve Allen plays Goodman in such a low-keyed manner it is hard to reconcile this with the jovial host of "The Tonight Show." Donna Reed plays love interest Alice Hammond, who is quicker to fall for Benny than she is for his music. It seems Alice is a society gal, who tags along with her brother John (Herbert Anderson) from time to time when he hits the jazz clubs. But when John invites Benny to play a Mozart clarinet concerto at their home for the society crowd, Alice is convinced Benny is going to be humiliated. Instead, it is Alice who has her eyes opened, especially after meeting the wonderful Dora Goodman (Berta Gersten), who wishes her husband was still alive to hear their son play "good" music. The other wonderful scene is when Goodman's band is going down for the last time and he decides they might as well go out playing HIS kind of music. As the band plays on he is stunned to see the kids are just standing and LISTENING to his music rather than dancing. The rest is history, or at least the Hollywood version of history. Gene Krupa,Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson and Sammy Davis Sr. are some of the jazz greats who appear as themselves in this film. Barry Truex plays Goodman at age 16 and actually does a fantastic job of playing Steve Allen at 16, because there is no problem seeing than as the same person a decade apart. The film climaxes with his landmark Carnegie Hall band concert in 1938. Along the way there is the great music: "Let's Dance, "Stompin' At The Savoy," "One O'Clock Jump," "Moonglow," "Sing Sing Sing (With A Swing)" and the proverbial much much more. The obvious double-feature with "The Benny Goodman Story" would be "The Glenn Miller Story," in that order if you want to do the history right.
Rating:
Summary: The music is better than the "history" in this bio-pic
Review: The consensus has long been that "The Benny Goodman Story" has problems when it comes to being historically accurate but the music is absolutely great. Steve Allen plays Goodman in such a low-keyed manner it is hard to reconcile this with the jovial host of "The Tonight Show." Donna Reed plays love interest Alice Hammond, who is quicker to fall for Benny than she is for his music. It seems Alice is a society gal, who tags along with her brother John (Herbert Anderson) from time to time when he hits the jazz clubs. But when John invites Benny to play a Mozart clarinet concerto at their home for the society crowd, Alice is convinced Benny is going to be humiliated. Instead, it is Alice who has her eyes opened, especially after meeting the wonderful Dora Goodman (Berta Gersten), who wishes her husband was still alive to hear their son play "good" music. The other wonderful scene is when Goodman's band is going down for the last time and he decides they might as well go out playing HIS kind of music. As the band plays on he is stunned to see the kids are just standing and LISTENING to his music rather than dancing. The rest is history, or at least the Hollywood version of history. Gene Krupa,Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson and Sammy Davis Sr. are some of the jazz greats who appear as themselves in this film. Barry Truex plays Goodman at age 16 and actually does a fantastic job of playing Steve Allen at 16, because there is no problem seeing than as the same person a decade apart. The film climaxes with his landmark Carnegie Hall band concert in 1938. Along the way there is the great music: "Let's Dance, "Stompin' At The Savoy," "One O'Clock Jump," "Moonglow," "Sing Sing Sing (With A Swing)" and the proverbial much much more. The obvious double-feature with "The Benny Goodman Story" would be "The Glenn Miller Story," in that order if you want to do the history right.
Rating: 
Summary: Thanks for the Music
Review: The value of this film lies not in the story but the music. The story is filled with flaws including the Carnegie Hall concert. However, there are some versions of the musical material on the soundtrack that surpasses many of the studio recorded versions available today. "One O'Clock Jump, Stompin' at the Savoy," and "Bugle Call Rag" are three that come to mind. This is where the film shines, in the musical presentation. As one of the other reviewers stated, if you want to learn about the life of Benny Goodman, get a copy of "Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life and Times of Benny Goodman." Next get a copy of the Carnegie Hall concert and listen. The recording is noisy, but the music is amazing. Furthermore, this event elevated Jazz from popular music to an artform. 1 star for the acting and 5 stars for the music.
Rating: 
Summary: BENNY'S MUSIC WILL AWAYS BE GREAT!
Review: This movie was good, but the actors could have been a little more excited while acting their roles. Steve Allen was great, he had the real Benny's style and cool wit. The music kept the movie exciting. But God help us!, when it stopped, those actors were like, "night of the living dead" "I kid you not!," anyway, I liked Benny Goodman's music, and that alone kept my interest; it also encouraged me to purchase the movie.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD ENOUGH TO KEEP (AIRMAIL very SPECIAL)
Review: VHS or DVD: The Benny Goodman Story. A tearjerker, the life of one of Americas' outstanding musical artists. You can see ALL the original artists, as (then) sidemen/women performing with the Benny Goodman Trio, Quartet, and full Orchestra. Steve Allen portrays Benny pretty darn well. There's even sceans from the 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert. An American Classic! EVERYBODY should be so fortunate to view this 5-star production!
A wonderful way to introduce the youngsters to 'GOOD MUSIC!'
Andrew A! Honolulu, Hawaii
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