156. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Directed By Michael Curtiz

Synopsis

The life of George Michael (snigger) Cohan, patriotic songwriter...

Review

Few directors are as hit and miss as Michael Curtiz, on the one hand you have the near perfect Angels With Dirty Faces and Casablanca, on the other the quite shitty Adventures Of Robin Hood and Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Yes, I understand that the US had just joined the war, that this kinds of films were bound to be done, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. This particular film ends up being no more than boring flag-waving.

The musical numbers which are supposed to showcase the great talents of Cohan are particularly boring, the best thing in the film is Cagney's acting and during the numbers that is lost and there is really nothing to keep you interested.

Of course to compound the problem with this film we have a very modern decorum about the flag-waving which makes you kind of cringe through some of the more patriotic bits. If this was the only problem of the film, however, it would be fine, hey Triumph Of The Will was much more cringe-worthy and it was still a great film. Unfortunately the direction is uninspired, and the songs tough instantly recognisable are dull, so there.

Final Grade

5/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

A popular myth about this movie, or at least a stretching of the truth, was that it was written in response to accusations that James Cagney was a communist. The story is as follows: Cagney learns that he is in danger of being blacklisted for having communist sympathies. Therefore, he decides to make the most jingoistic movie he possibly can, and thus clears his name. This myth, as stated, has its chronology a bit askew, as the McCarthy Era did not begin until the early 1950s. Also the Second Red Scare did not begin until the late 1940s, well after the film was made. In other versions of this legend either Robert Buckner or Edmund Joseph were the accused.

The DVD specials discuss this story in some detail. There was a Congressman named Martin Dies who was investigating possible communist influence in Hollywood in 1940, and he in fact had a cordial meeting with Cagney. The actor reassured him that, although he was a liberal and supported Roosevelt's New Deal, he was also a patriot who had nothing to do with communism. That was the end of it, except that James' producer-brother William did see the Cohan story as a good opportunity to dispel any possible concerns about Cagney's loyalty. It was not written in response to the Dies investigation, as Cohan himself had been shopping his own story around for awhile before Jack L. Warner bought the rights, and Cohan retained final approval on all aspects of the film.

As the DVD also points out, production on the film was just a few days old when the Attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. The film's cast and crew resolved to make an uplifting, patriotic film. It was timed to open around Memorial Day in 1942, and was regarded as having achieved its goal in grand fashion.

* Eddie Foy, Jr. played his own father Eddie Foy.

* President Roosevelt was played by "Capt. Joe Young" and not by FDR himself.

* During Cohan's return to Broadway at the end of the film, he is shown portraying President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tap dancing across the stage and on a table--ironic because President Roosevelt was wheelchair bound after a paralytic illness in 1921.

* Cagney reprised the role of George M. Cohan in the movie The Seven Little Foys, but agreed only on the condition that he would receive no money. Instead, he performed in the movie as a tribute to Eddie Foy.

* The Medal given to Cohan at the end of the movie is not the Congressional Medal of Honor as is said by Cagney in the movie (that decoration is solely awarded for valorous acts in battle), but is really the Congressional Gold Medal (the civilian equivalent). Confusion has existed for years as to the differences between the medals, as both are awarded by Congress and are the highest honors the United States can bestow.

Here you go: