Film Review
James Cagney's finest hour? Although Cagney is generally
best remembered for his tough gangster portrayals in films such as
The Public Enemy (1931) and
White
Heat (1949),
Yankee
Doodle Dandy reminds us that he was an extraordinarily
talented song-and-dance man as well as a great character actor.
Few of Hollywood's leading lights had anything like Cagney's
versatility and energy, and this is the film which shows us most
vividly the immense range of his talents.
Yankee Doodle Dandy rewarded Cagney
with his one and only Oscar and is the film which the actor rated as
his personal favourite. Through a series of exuberant
vaudeville numbers, the film provides an entertaining insight into the
evolution of Broadway through the first decades of the Twentieth
Century.
Yankee Doodle Dandy is a
dramatised account of the life of George M. Cohan, a Broadway legend in
his own lifetime who would be virtually forgotten today were it not for
this film. Cohan was ill with cancer whilst the film was in
production, and died not long after its release, but he was impressed
and moved by the film when he saw it at a private viewing. Some
of the less wholesome aspects of Cohan's life (such as the fact that he
was divorced and remarried) are tactfully omitted, however.
James Cagney was the obvious person to portray Cohan on screen, given
the similarity in their backgrounds and early careers (both were
Irish-Americans who started out as lowly song-and-dance men before
hitting the big time). Cagney reprised the role in
the 1955 film
The Seven Little Foys.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941 occurred just
after work on the film had commenced. With America's entry into
WWII now a certainty, the production team skewed the film slightly to
make it a propaganda piece, extolling the virtues of liberty and the
American way of life whilst boosting the morale of a country about to
enter a costly global conflict for the second time in a generation.
With such rousing numbers as
The Yanks
are Coming,
You're a Grand
Old Flag and the eminently hummable title song the film could hardly
have failed to lift the spirits of its audience at a time of national
crisis. There is perhaps no single film that evokes the true
spirit of America more forcefully than this captivating
crowd-pleaser. For all the patriotic flag-waving, this is not a
mindless jingoistic propaganda fest, but a sincere celebration of good
old-fashioned American values, as well as a deeply ironic statement on
the transience of fame.
© James Travers 2009
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Next Michael Curtiz film:
Mission to Moscow (1943)
Film Synopsis
In 1942, the veteran star of Broadway George Michael Cohan is appearing
in a musical satire in which he plays the President of the United
States. When the real President summons him to the White House,
George is understandably perturbed and half-expects to be put in front
of a firing squad. Apprehensively, he enters the President's
office and begins to tell his life story. Sixty years ago, George
Cohan was born on the 4th of July to a pair of vaudevillians, Jerry and
Nellie Cohan. By the age of six, George was performing with his
parents in their stage act, and would soon be joined by his younger
sister Josie. In his early twenties, George is consumed by a
passion to write his own musical plays and, after several setbacks, he
finally finds someone willing to back his first Broadway
production. Naturally, the show is a smash hit and further
successes soon make George one of the best known young theatre talents
in America. During WWI, he entertains the troops and his songs
help to lift the morale of a nation. The 1920s bring even greater
success. But for how long would the name George M. Cohen be
revered and remembered?
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.