Let me just start this by saying I wasn't at all excited to see this movie. Even before I put Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) into my DVD player I had a few preconceived notions of what this movie was going to be. I would have to say I was 90% correct on those notions, 90% being that it was a hooky musical that was so patriotic that I couldn't help rolling my eyes. The film really was all stars and strips, and isn't the USA just the very best country in the world. Obnoxiousness at its finest.
That being said, the film did have redeeming factors. I was quite surprised that it wasn't all annoying. It had funny moments in which I found myself give a little chuckle. Also, I have to say James Cagney's performance was pretty outstanding considering the roles people were use to seeing him in. He was best remembered for playing "tough guys" like Tom Powers in The Public Enemy (1931). Cagney started off in vaudeville as a "hoofer" and comedian until he received his first major acting roll in 1925.1 (Wiki) He was a dancer at heart and rarely had the chance to show off his talent. Cagney seemed at home in this role. He was also a perfect fit to play George M. Cohan in his physic and natural talent. Cagney did not intend to mimic Cohan but imitated him in his mannerisms and dance style on stage and acted more in his own style throughout the rest of the film.2 He combined playing a well known figure in American culture and himself in a single roll while still managing to maintain a coherent character. It really is no wonder he won the Academy award that year, his only Academy award at that.
The film success is not only in part to Cagney's talent and performance but also in part to the time in American history in which the film was released. The film began production merely a few days after Pearl Harbour. After the events of Pearl Harbour the cast and crew of the film agreed to set out and make an uplifting and patriotic film.3 The film aimed to capture this mood at a time when the country needed it the most. After realizing this, all the flag waving and I love America in the film seemed less annoying and obnoxious.
What consistently bothered me about the film was that it recounts the life and times of this huge American cultural figure but besides the fact that he made some good anthem like songs and was a hit on Broadway nothing else happens. According to the film, George M. Cohan had a pretty good life. Nothing really bad ever happens to him in the film. The worst thing that happens is that he isn't able to sell his plays when he first arrives to New York, but even that is resolved rather pleasantly. His father dies near the end of the film but that is pretty much as bad as it got.
I know Cohan was a big figure but his life doesn't make much for a movie, at least the way it was portrayed in the film. It would have been better if it was a musical on Broadway. I guess if this film was never made then James Cagney would never have played the roll that won him his only Oscar, but that is besides the point. Where are the struggles, the pain, the means by which the viewer can sympathize with this character/cultural figure? You won't find it because it is not there. Apparently Cohan lived a peachy life and was so talented he barely had to work for it. I mean a good old fashion montage would have worked better to show how hard it was for him to sell his work. The scene where he is in a talent office singing with his lady friend trying to sell his work is pretty tame. I just got no feeling that George M. Cohan had a terribly difficult life and that an interesting story does not make.
I understand why this movie is on the AFI list even if I do have problems with it. It was about a man who meant a lot to the American public. George M. Cohan lifted the spirits of a nation with his music. He was a man who loved his country and it showed in everything he did. It was the film that gave Cagney a chance to shine and audience got to see him in a different light. Yankee Doodle Dandy helped bring together a nation when it was at its lowest and its future was hazy. It's mark on American film can not be ignored, I can see that now, but it is hard to fully appreciate if you are not an American and that is fine by me.
References
1. Yankee Doodle Dandy at the Wikipedia
2&3. Let Freedom Sing: The Story of Yankee Doodle Dandy. Dir. John Rust. Kurtti Pellerin, 2003.
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I know I am behind on my reviews but it has been so crazy. I am so happy to finally finish entry number 3. I can now move forward with film to no. 97 on the AFI list Blade Runner (1982).
I am really excited about this one because I own this movie but I have never seen it. That's weird right? No, it is just quintessential me.
"Every American in America liked America a lot,
ReplyDeleteBut the Obama living in the nation's capital, did not.
The Obama hated America... to America he was treason.
Now, please don't ask why; no one quite knows the reason.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
Or it could be that his head wasn't screwed on just right.
But I think that the most likely reason of all...
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
But, whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes,
He stood in America, hating all the world's Jews.
Staring down from his fortress, with a sour Obama frown,
At the warm, lighted windows below in those towns.
For he knew that every American in America below
Was busy now, preparing to cast their vote 'No!'."
So the cuddly as a cactus Obama (with termites in his smile and garlic in his soul)
tries to wipe out America for the cheerful Americans, only to discover:
"Maybe America doesn't come from the Liberal's folk lore?
Maybe America, perhaps, means a little bit more?"
Too bad you have to 'roll your eyes' in the presence of patriotism. I feel very sorry for you.