The film follows big band leader Glenn Miller (1904–1944) from his early days in the music business in 1929 through to his 1944 death when the airplane he was flying in was lost over the English Channel during World War II.

Also depicted is Miller's international success touring his band in support of the Allies in World War II.

When the military band led by Miller is playing in front of General "Hap" Arnold, a B-29 bomber is in the background.

Scenes ostensibly shot in England are clearly staged in the U.S., as witness the presence of RCA Type 44 microphones during a BBC broadcast.

In addition, several key plot points are either highly fictionalized from actual events or were invented for the film: The following artists all appeared as themselves (listed alphabetically): Universal-International's first public announcements, early in 1953, employed the soon-discarded title, "Moonlight Serenade."

[5] An alternate cut of the film, running 3–4 minutes shorter than the original theatrical release was re-released in 1985 with a stereo soundtrack.

[9] Upon release in 1954, The Glenn Miller Story was massively successful at the box-office and earned theatrical rentals of over $7 million, placing it third for the year behind White Christmas and The Caine Mutiny.

[12] In 1954, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay (by Valentine Davies and Oscar Brodney) and Best Score (by Henry Mancini and Joseph Gershenson).

These cameos include: Louis Armstrong, Barney Bigard, Cozy Cole, Ray Conniff, Gene Krupa, Frances Langford, Skeets McDonald, The Modernaires, Marty Napoleon, Ben Pollack, Babe Russin, Arvell Shaw, and James Young.

The original soundtrack to the movie, The Glenn Miller Story---Sound Track, Decca DL 5519 (USA)/BML 8647 (UK), was number one for 10 weeks on the Billboard albums chart in 1954.