Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) #98

I'm Canadian and my wife 'merican.  Our thoughts on this movie will differ some I suspect.  The Biopic based on the life of George M. Cohan has just a little flag waving...well a lot of flag waving.  But that only makes sense.  Cohan was a loud and boisterous patriot based on his work.  He even received a Congressional Gold Medal from FDR, but it was in June of 1936, not during WW II as portrayed.  The medal was for morale during WW I for the songs You're a Grand Old Flag and Over There.  He was the first recipient from the entertainment industry, as mentioned by FDR.  I think I might have the indentations of stripes and stars on my forehead from being beaten with the flag...but this was 1942 and Cohan was a flag waver.  I'm pretty sure my wife was sniffling with pride whenever one of the patriotic numbers was being shown.

Cagney beat out Gary Cooper (Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees) to win his only Oscar for Best Actor that year.  Ironic, since Cagney is best remembered for his work as playing gangsters.  It was only a decade since his breakthrough movie The Public Enemy (1931) that contains the fantastic scene of him smushing a grapefruit into the face of Mae Clarke.  Cagney was like, as my Grandfather would say, a Bantam Rooster always looking to push back.  And this part of his personality shines through in this role.  Cagney started as a song and dance man and his singing style matched Cohan's.  I don't think anyone would say he wasn't a much better hoofer than singer.

Now, you may have noticed this is a Musical and the AFI seems to LOVE musicals.  But, the movie was nominated for Best Picture although it lost to Mrs. Miniver??  Good job on that one Academy!  I can't say for sure on Mrs. Miniver (since I haven't seen it...but to be fair I hadn't even heard of it until I looked to see who won the Oscar in '42) but it's surprising to me how many best picture winners don't appear on the list at all.  The Last Emperor or Shakespeare in Love or Cimarron or The Life of Emile Zola are "probably" not going to make an appearance.  I REALLY like Mel Gibson as an actor.  I loved the Mad Max movies and thoroughly enjoyed Braveheart.  But does anyone think it'll be on the list of the 100 greatest movies of all time??  Anyway, Yankee Doodle Dandy was well received when released, and Cohan was a titanic force on Broadway.  He's probably the father of musical comedy for stage.  Cagney can dance, and sings well enough so the movie is enjoyable to watch even now.  My only real complaint is they could have cut a bunch of Fay Templeton (Irene Manning) singing with a more operatic style.

Probably should be on the list.  Just don't expect me to be waving the Stars and Stripes while watching it.