Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Robert Buckner (screenplay) and
Edmund Joseph (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 June 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Based on the story of GEORGE M. COHAN with the Greatest of all his Great Music

Plot:

A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan.

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | Vaudeville | Playwright | Comeback | Spanking

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

James Cagney	...	George M. Cohan
Joan Leslie	...	Mary
Walter Huston	...	Jerry Cohan
Richard Whorf	...	Sam Harris
Irene Manning	...	Fay Templeton
George Tobias	...	Dietz
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Nellie Cohan
Jeanne Cagney	...	Josie Cohan
Frances Langford	...	Singer
George Barbier	...	Erlanger
S.Z. Sakall	...	Schwab
Walter Catlett	...	Theatre Manager
Douglas Croft	...	George M. Cohan, As a Boy of 13
Eddie Foy Jr.	...	Eddie Foy
Minor Watson	...	Albee

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #7929) | Canada:G (video rating) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

James Cagney was eleven years older than his screen mother Rosemary DeCamp.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: Shadow sweeping across the set during "Yankee Doodle Dandy".

Quotes:

[first lines]
Critic #1: I call it a hit. What'll your review say?
Critic #2: I like it too, so I guess I'll pan it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Cooler (2003)

Soundtrack:

Oh, You Wonderful Girl

Cohan's Memories

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (Warner Brothers, 1942), directed by Michael Curtiz, is an autobiographical musical of George M. Cohan (1878-1942), a legendary Broadway showman, composer, actor and dancer, as played by James Cagney in what's been reported as his personal favorite of all movie roles, and it's easy to see why. In spite the fact that Cagney won his only Academy Award as best actor, he was letter perfect in the role as Cohan. Interesting to see a noted movie tough guy singing and dancing, but it's even moreso in watching Walter Huston as Cohan's father doing a song and dance himself.

The story opens with the middle-aged Cohan (James Cagney), following a comical musical performance in "I'd Rather Be Right" in which he plays and spoofs the president (Franklin D. Roosevelt). He gets a telegram from the president himself to meet with him at the White House. Believing the worst, he arrives to meet "with the head man." Alone with him in the Oval Office, the two men converse which leads to Cohan to soon be relating his life story via flashback starting with his birth (born on the 4th of July), as the son of stage entertainers, Jerry and Nellie Cohan (Walter Huston and Rosemary DeCamp), followed by his boyhood days as the star of "Peck's Bad Boy" (Douglas Croft playing George at age 12), the teaming up with his younger sister, Josie (first played by JoAnn Marlowe, then by Patsy Lee Parsons, and by Jeanne Cagney as an adult) and his parents, forming the act called "The Four Cohans," George leaving the family to form an act on his own, his association with a young hopeful named Mary (Joan Leslie), whom he eventually marries, the publication of his songs that make him world famous, the death of his parents, his retirement from the stage and his return to Broadway to appear in a play that has summoned him with an invitation from the president, and after nearly two hours of recollection, the story moves forward to present day with Cohan to find out why he was really asked to come to visit with the president.

With a handful of song and dance tunes, many composed by Cohan himself, the soundtrack is as follows: "The Dancing Master," "The Dancing Master" (reprise); "Strolling Through the Park One Day" (by Joe Goodwin and Gus Edwards); "Minstrel Number," "I Was Born in Virginia," "The Warmest Baby in the Bunch," "Harrigan," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "All Aboard for Old Broadway" (by Jack Scholl and M.K. Jerome), "Give My Regards to Broadway," "Oh, You Wonderful Girl," "Blue Skies, Grey Skies," "The Barber's Ball," "Mary," "Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway," "Mary" (reprise); "Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway," "So Long, Mary," "You're a Grand Old Flag," "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (by William Steffe and Julia Ward Howe); "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," "Of Thee I Sing," "You're a Grand Old Flag," "Come Along With Me," "Over There," "I'm Happy As Can Be," "Love Nest" (by Louis A. Hirsch and Otto Harbach); "Little Nellie Kelly," "The Man Who Owns Broadway," "Molly Malone," "Billie," "Jeepers Creepers" (by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren); "Off the Record" and "Over There." Of the songs listed above, several could have been chosen as alternate titles in regards to Cohan, including: "Give My Regards to Broadway," "Grand Old Flag," "The Man Who Owns Broadway," or "Off the Record," but the final selection became "Yankee Doodle Dandy." While many of these songs are Broadway show tunes, the most memorable ones happen to be the patriotic songs, especially "Grand Old Flag," "Over There," and of course, the title tune.

In the supporting cast are Irene Manning as Fay Templeton; Richard Wholf as Samuel H. Harris; George Tobias as Mr. Dietz; George Barbier as Claude Erlanger; S.Z. Sakall as Mr. Schwab; Eddie Foy Jr. as Eddie Foy; Minor Watson as Edward Albee; and Frances Langford as Nora Bayes, billed in the closing credits only as The Singer, although Cagney as Cohan does identify her as Nora during the "Over There" number. Listed bottom in the cast is Captain Jack Young as The President, who, during the opening and closing segments, is only visible by a back-view depiction.

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY happens to be the first real successful Warner Brothers musical since the Busby Berkeley backstagers of the early to mid 1930s, and the one that started the trend of musical bio-pics. While there had been several in this category during the 1930s, including the best picture winner of THE GREAT ZIEGFELD (MGM, 1936) starring William Powell, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY started a new trend that would become quite popular and overdone during the 1940s. After Cohan, it seemed that there has been a life story on every composer and actor, etc., imaginable. However, as a movie, YANKEE DOODLE DANCY is a fine musical that blends nostalgia of the past (early twentieth century, World War I) with patriotism of the 1940s. While very little is known today of the real George M. Cohan, the innacuracies wouldn't really be matter nor noticed. However, as indicated by host Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies cable channel (where this movie currently plays), Cohan was married twice, but never to a girl named Mary, but the film lists Mary (no last name given), as played by Joan Leslie, to be his one and only spouse. (Although indicated as man and wife, the movie shows no wedding scene). The screenplay fails to mention that Cohan actually appeared in motion pictures, several during the silent era produced in the 1910s, and two during early 1930s. (Cohan is asked on screen by a teenager if he ever appeared in pictures, and he would respond, "No, only the theater"). Of the motion pictures that featured George M. Cohan, only THE PHANTOM PRESIDENT (Paramount, 1932) opposite Claudette Colbert and Jimmy Durante, exists today. And to watch the Cohan film is to see how close Cagney worked to impersonate him on screen. However, Cohan's singing voice is no where close to Cagney's more soft-spoken vocalization. Cagney's dancing, however, is unusual, particulary during the "Yankee Doodle Dandy" number in which he dances like a puppet. One would gather that the real Cohan danced that way, which is a shame that Cohan never did more musical films to compare.

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY is true indication that James Cagney didn't only do just gangster films. He was versatile in every way, ranging from comedy ("Boy Meets Girl") to a sentimental drifter ("Johnny Come Lately") to a kind-hearted gentleman ("The Time of Their Lives"), but it's the tough guy roles ("The Public Enemy," "Angels With Dirty Faces" and "White Heat") his fans remember him best. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, Cagney's third musical film (following FOOTLIGHT PARADE in 1933 and SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT at Grand National Studios in 1937), is obviously either his best or most admired. Although the patriotism plays towards the World War II audience, much of Cohan's spirit of being an American continues to reflect upon the present generation.

Full of memorable lines, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY's most noted happens to be Cohan's closing speech following a performance, "My father thanks you, my mother thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I THANK YOU." Filmed with crisp black and white photography, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY did go through the process of colorization in the mid 1980s. However, while original Technicolor photography would have been its major asset, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY still ranks first rate entertainment for all ages, and the film responsible in keeping the George M. Cohan name more alive today than ever before.