Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

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

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Robert Buckner (screen play), Edmund Joseph (screen play)

Stars:

James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston

Won 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 - Nora
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

Storyline

A musical portrait of composer/singer/dancer George M. Cohan. From his early days as a child-star in his family's vaudeville show up to the time of his comeback at which he received a medal from the president for his special contributions to the US, this is the life- story of George M. Cohan, who produced, directed, wrote and starred in his own musical shows for which he composed his famous songs.

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Plot Keywords:

singing | dancing | congressional gold medal | father son relationship | family act | 

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Taglines:

The Yankee Doodle Dandiest Entertainment of 'em all!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Musical

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 June 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Triunfo supremo

Filming Locations:

New York Street, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$11,800,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie's line "My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you." was voted as the #97 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

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Goofs

"After leaving his meeting with the president, which has supposedly been taking place in the White House's Oval Office, Cohan walks down a grand staircase before exiting the building. The Oval Office is on the ground floor of the White House."

George M. Cohan meets with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in an oval room that is on the 2nd floor of the White House. This would be the Yellow Room which FDR used as a private study. It is not the famous Oval Office located in the West Wing.

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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.

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Alternate Versions

Also available in a computer colorized version.

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Connections

Spin-off Yankee Doodle Pink (1978)

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Soundtracks

Nellie Kelly, I Love You
(1922) (uncredited)
from the Broadway show "Little Nellie Kelly"
Written by George M. Cohan
Sung by Frances Langford as part of the post-WWI medley

User Reviews

Cagney's Favorite....And It Shows!

James Cagney recalls in his autobiography that this movie was his favorite, largely due to his love of dancing. He was one of the great "tough guys" of all time on film, but dancing was his passion, he noted. It shows here. This was "a labor of love," to use a cliché, and it's obvious how much fun he was having in this film. His hoofing talent also was obvious. He was good, very good.

In fact, for the audience, most of this movie is pure "feel good." Almost all the characters are nice people, the story is inspirational and nicely patriotic and the songs are fantastic. If you pick up the two-disc special-edition DVD that came out several years ago, then you'll see this film in all it's glory. The transfer is magnificent and really brings out the great cinematography. I never realized how beautifully filmed this was until I saw this on DVD.

The story is simply the biography of George M. Cohan, the writer and Broadway star of many, many hit plays and hit songs. Unlike today's biographies, this is a very positive story about a man who brought patriotism alive during World War I with such inspirational songs as "It's A Grand Old Flag" and "Over There." For some of us, listening to these songs can bring a tear or two.

Cagney is his normal riveting self and Joan Leslie certainly makes an appealing female lead as Cohan's wife. The great Walter Huston plays Cohan's father. I've always found Huston to be an actor of great presence. In this movie is a very, very touching deathbed scene with he and Cagney.

So you have a little bit of everything here from drama to romance to comedy to music and Cagney is the glue to fits it all together beautifully. One of the great classic films of all time.