The Bottom Line: “I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy,
Yankee Doodle do or die.
A real live nephew of my unlce Sam,
I was born on the 4th of July.” ~
George M. Cohan
They couldn’t have found a better person to play the part of this purported biographical movie about George M. Cohan than James Cagney. In fact, it is said that Cohan asked that Cagney play his part. From what I viewed in the movie, Cagney offered all the swagger and cockiness that Cohan possessed. Not that this is a bad thing. In fact, in that era, it took all the swagger you could produce to get yourself recognized.
Cohan’s life starts during the vaudeville era, on the 4th of July. He said it was years before he realized they weren’t celebrating his birthday. I had a cousin the same way since she was born on the intended Memorial Day, which now floats to accommodate government employees. She always thought people raised their flags to honor her, poor thing.
Cohan, as part of his highly talented family, enters into vaudeville at an early age and it doesn’t take long for him to upstage the entire family. Not content to just be in the background, he starts writing his own works, eventually breaking into the industry under his own merits. Not only did he write but also produced, directed, starred, and composed his stage shows.
For his efforts, Cohan was awarded The Congressional Gold Medal of Honor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for his songs You’re A Grand Old Flag and Over There. He, at least in the movie, showed a rare bit of humbleness when he received this honor.
Being humble wasn’t something Cohan did well and Cagney portrayed this with equal flip. I really can’t categorize Cagney as a singer, he mostly speaks with fluidity in time to the music, occasionally breaking into actual singing stance. He doesn’t have the best of voices but his personality and delivery helps you overlook that fact. He is a wonderful dancer, however, and shows it as often as possible in the movie.
This was during an era when song and dance defined the production, often taking place of spoken words. Everything was flamboyant and overdone. Not as aggressive as the Ziegfeld era, which was really flamboyant, but for the times Cohan was very forward thinking in his productions. He also dedicated most of his work to the family oriented and many were quite lyrical.
This particular DVD was in black and white, as the original. You had to imagine what the costumes looked like in color but there was no denying what the flag looked like. He used the flag in a lot of his production numbers, which earned him a soft spot with soldiers and their families alike. This release was directed by Michael Curtiz, written by Robert Buckner and Edmund Joseph. It carries no rating that I saw, but there would be no problem for the entire family to view it, if you could convince them to sit still long enough.
The soundtrack is a piece of history, one that later generations may not recognize but one that is familiar to me. I didn’t recognize all of the songs, but there is a common thread of family, hope, and unity through them all. George M. Cohan was a very talented man and his talent lives on. All rights to his music is the sole possession of the USMMA Regimental Band, to which they do great honor.
The soundtrack from this movie includes:
The Yankee Doodle Boy
Give My Regards To Broadway
Over There
You’re A Grand Old Fladg
Mary’s A Grand Old Name
Only 45 Minutes From Broadway
So Long Mary
Off The Record
Harrigan
At A Georgia Camp Meeting
I Was Born In Virginia
While Strolling Through The Park One Day
The Warmest Baby In The Bunch
Columbia, The Gem Of The Ocean
Keep Your Eyes Upon Me
Good Luck, Johnny
Little Johnny Jones
All Aboard For Old Broadway
Oh, You Wonderful Girl
Blue Skies, Grey Skies
The Belle Of The Barbers’ Ball
Dixie’s Land
The Battle Hymn Of The Republic
Auld Lang Syne
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
America
Like The Wandering Minstrel
In A Kingdom Of Our Own
Love Nest
Nellie Kelly, I Love You
The Man Who Owns Broadway
Molly Malone
Billie
Jeepers Creepers
Almost all of the songs were written or co-written by George Cohan. Most of them were performed by Cagney in the movie, along with other cast members and notable stars from the era.
The movie was nominated for 10 awards, winning 5 including 3 Oscars. James Cagney’s Oscar went on the auction block in September, 2000, along with other memorabilia that belonged to Cagney.
Overall impression
These are real movies to me. They have actual actors that play actual parts. They rely on interaction between real humans to resolve every day conflicts. The actors rely on their own talent to evict the emotions, positive or negative. I’ve always enjoyed musicals because they offer so much more with the singing and dancing interspersed with drama.
I have no idea if this followed the real life of George M. Cohan. I’m sure they glorified and glossed over, to make the story. I do know, despite that, that he had incredible talent and that is what I appreciate. Now, as far as George goes, according to IMDB, the movie went so far away from the truth that after the premiere he said, “It was a good movie. Who was it about?”.
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