Like everyone else, at least some who are my age, I saw this movie when I was a kid in the movies on the big screen. There was a time when colorization of a black and white film was in style. I have a colorized version on Video and this is the only movie that I would agree should have been filmed in color, but maybe, because of the Second World War, this is the reason why it was never to be, but black and white, or colorized, it's still a Grand Old Show! I've stated before that Michael Curtiz was one of Hollywood most under rated directors, and here is another prime example of what I mean. Curtiz could direct any kind of movie; that's how talented he was.
We all know the story and how great the movie is, but did you know that at first Jack Warner was approached about filming the life of George M. Cohan and Warners quip; was, "Who do you think I'd get? Fred Astaire?", but Astaire didn't think that the role was right for him, and even if he did, M.G.M. would not loan him out to another studio when he was bringing big bucks for M.G.M., so Cagney got his hands on the script and said, "Oh! Yes! We do this one!" I'm an ex-hoofer myself, and every time I see Cagney dance, especially the dance sequence to Give My Regards to Broadway", I'm right in there with him. People have asked me who my favorite dancer in films was, and they're surprised when I say James Cagney! But, he was not a trained dancer and learned mostly on the streets of New York City as a kid. Which goes to prove that you really don't have to go to school to learn to dance. Look at Bob Fosse! Not one dance school training, but look what he became! So, with all those great films he did, mostly Gangster, he won an Oscar one time for playing Cagney on the screen, and as Virginia Mayo said on an interview on Turner Classics, no actor at that time had ever won an Oscar for playing a Gangster on the screen, but in Cagney's autobiography, he states that when George Cukor was casting My Fair Lady, he wanted Cagney to play Eliza's father Alfred Doolittle, and Cagney said something like this, "My Fair Lady! What a hell uh vuh song and dance show! Everythings so fine! Maybe just this one; one more time!" But, he told Cukor to go on without him, but wouldn't it be something that with all those wonderful movies he made, he only won one Oscar one time for playing Cohan, and wouldn't be something if he HAD made My Fair Lady and won a second Oscar, again, as a song and dance man? What a talent James Cagney was!
We all know the story and how great the movie is, but did you know that at first Jack Warner was approached about filming the life of George M. Cohan and Warners quip; was, "Who do you think I'd get? Fred Astaire?", but Astaire didn't think that the role was right for him, and even if he did, M.G.M. would not loan him out to another studio when he was bringing big bucks for M.G.M., so Cagney got his hands on the script and said, "Oh! Yes! We do this one!" I'm an ex-hoofer myself, and every time I see Cagney dance, especially the dance sequence to Give My Regards to Broadway", I'm right in there with him. People have asked me who my favorite dancer in films was, and they're surprised when I say James Cagney! But, he was not a trained dancer and learned mostly on the streets of New York City as a kid. Which goes to prove that you really don't have to go to school to learn to dance. Look at Bob Fosse! Not one dance school training, but look what he became! So, with all those great films he did, mostly Gangster, he won an Oscar one time for playing Cagney on the screen, and as Virginia Mayo said on an interview on Turner Classics, no actor at that time had ever won an Oscar for playing a Gangster on the screen, but in Cagney's autobiography, he states that when George Cukor was casting My Fair Lady, he wanted Cagney to play Eliza's father Alfred Doolittle, and Cagney said something like this, "My Fair Lady! What a hell uh vuh song and dance show! Everythings so fine! Maybe just this one; one more time!" But, he told Cukor to go on without him, but wouldn't it be something that with all those wonderful movies he made, he only won one Oscar one time for playing Cohan, and wouldn't be something if he HAD made My Fair Lady and won a second Oscar, again, as a song and dance man? What a talent James Cagney was!