Yankee Doodle Dandy. (Wikipedia)I have to admit I wasn’t looking forward to this movie as I’m not a big fan of musicals. I don’t mind the occasional song and dance number mind you, but traditional musicals in the vein of Oklahoma aren’t exactly my preferred cinematic experience. I was a little surprised at how engaging this movie is since it held my attention.
If you haven’t seen it, I’ll give you the nickle tour… it’s the story of George M. Cohan, the son of Irish immigrants who was one of the premier singer/actors/writers/composers/producers/theater owners on Broadway in the early 1900’s. There are a lot of songs and dances from his various productions over the years, but it’s not a traditional musical. Many of the songs were so popular that even my fading memory recalls some of them. Beyond the title song, Cohan also wrote “Over There” for the troops heading to WWI.
My 6 year old daughter is fond of musicals (think High School Musical.. if you’ve never been exposed to it then count yourself among the lucky) so we let her watch it with us until it was time to go to bed. I was proud of her when she caught the reference to 48 states and not 50. I fear I will only be able to pull the wool over her eyes for a little longer, she’s a smart one. Since it was from 1942, I wasn’t too concerned about inappropriate material and wasn’t disappointed. I think she enjoyed the movie more than I did and was a little disappointed when bedtime came before the end of the movie.
Prior to watching Yankee Doodle Dandy, I don’t think I’d ever seen an entire James Cagney movie. He definitely had a few quirks in his performance, especially the singing and dancing. He has an interesting way of performing a song that is part singing and part recital, but it works for him. When it comes to dancing, he seems very good at specific moves many of which were repeatedly used throughout most of the movies dance numbers. A friend described his style succinctly as “stiff legged”.
Ultimately it wasn’t a bad movie to watch, and is likely a good example of the best of James Cagney singing and dancing. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend adding it to your Netflix queue unless there’s something about it that particularly interests you.
Here’s the trailer from YouTube.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Lucky for you, I don't think there are many (if any) more examples of James Cagney singing and dancing. Ha!
I look forward to the "Blade Runner" review. That is one I have not seen, which as a science fiction fan is something of a travesty I understand.
I totally agree on James Cagney singing & dancing!