The Benny Goodman Story The Benny Goodman Story The Benny Goodman Story is a biographical film starring Steve Allen and Donna Reed, directed by Valentine Davies and released by Universal-International in 1956. The film is based on the life of famed clarinetist Benny Goodman, who recorded most of the clarinet solos used in the film. The film captures several major moments in Goodman's life but it has been described as less than accurate in details. Goodman's Jewish background is mentioned only implicitly, despite its playing a part in his artistic and personal endeavors for decades. In one scene, where his mother tries to talk
Benny Goodman "King of Swing" as part of a sales campaign, but shortly after Goodman and his crew left Chicago in May 1936 to spend the summer filming "The Big Broadcast of 1937" in Hollywood, the title "King of Swing" was applied to Goodman by the media. At the end of June 1936, Goodman went to Hollywood, where, on June 30, 1936, his band began CBS's "Camel Caravan," its third and (according to Connor and Hicks) its greatest sponsored radio show, co-starring Goodman and his former boss Nathaniel Shilkret. By spring 1936, Fletcher Henderson was writing arrangements for Goodman's band. In late