FILM 2175: YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)
FILM 2175: YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)
TRIVIA: James Cagney became the first actor to win the Best Actor Academy Award for a musical performance.
According to his biography the rather stiff-legged dancing style used by James Cagney in this movie is not his own. He copied George M. Cohan's style to make the film more accurate.
This marks the first time a living U.S. President was depicted in a sound film.
Many facts were changed or ignored to add to the feel of the movie. For example, the real George M. Cohan was married twice, and although his second wife's middle name was Mary, she went by her first name, Agnes. In fact, the movie deviated from the truth to such a degree that Cohan's daughter Georgette commented, "That's the kind of life Daddy would have liked to have lived."
James Cagney broke a rib while filming a dance scene, but continued dancing until it was completed.
Joan Leslie portrays Mary Cohan, aging from 18 to 57 throughout proceedings. Leslie turned 17 during the production of the film. The fact that she was still attending school during production caused numerous delays.
In the film George M. Cohan writes a drama called "Popularity", which was a failure in 1906. This is fact. Three years later, in 1909, he rewrote parts of it, added music, and put it on under the title of "The Man Who Owns Broadway", which became a popular hit (128 performances).
James Cagney's performance as George M. Cohan is ranked #6 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.
James Cagney had previously only shown off his song-and-dance abilities once before in Footlight Parade (1933). He was better known for playing gangsters.
The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.
In the film, George M. Cohan's sister, Josie, is played by James Cagney's real sister, Jeanne Cagney.
Walking down the stairs at the White House, James Cagney goes into a tap dance. According to TCM, that was completely ad-libbed.
Selected by John Travolta as his favorite film in an AFI poll.
"Sticks Nix Hick Pix" was a famous headline printed on July 17, 1935, in Variety, a newspaper covering Hollywood and the entertainment industry. The article documented the reaction of rural audiences to motion pictures about rural life. It is one of the most famous headlines ever to appear in an American publication, and the scene in the film was inspired by the headline.
In 1959 a statue of George M. Cohan was erected in Times Square, in the heart of the Broadway theater district, with the inscription at the base under his name, "Give my regards to Broadway." It is the only statue of a theatrical performer anywhere in Manhattan.
Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
I’m making my way through the book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider. See my blog post about my copy of the book here…
You can buy an updated version (which I will get after I’ve made my way through this edition) here…
I really hope you can come on this journey with me – if you do I’d love to know which films you’ve enjoyed the most!
Watch this here…
This is featured on the podcast Unspooled Episode #103
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