What better testament to a great film and great performances than the fact that nobody is bashing Yankee Doodle Dandy on this board.
Please NEVER even think about wanting to remake this great classic!
I'm watching it right now and I get choked up just hearing "Over There". Whatever one's politics are, the patriotic songs that Cohan wrote makes one feel very proud to be an American. "Over There" is just as relevant today as it was in WWI. I only pray that everything stays "Over There".
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
"Please NEVER even think about wanting to remake this great classic!"
I'll second this motion....even though this film might not be the latest style, its quite a film....
Read My Lips!!!!
the patriotic songs that Cohan wrote makes one feel very proud to be an American. "Over There" is just as relevant today as it was in WWI.
As Cohan himself said of this movie; "What an act to follow!". Cagney owns the part of Cohan. Cagney has become an American legend and this was his best non-gangster role. It would be like someone taking on the role of Rhett Butler, Margo Channing or Stanley Kowalski. You would suffer by comparison.
shareThis film cannot be bashed except by people who hate America. The acting, the musical numbers, the story were superb. I also loved the film "There's No Business Like Show Business" which was sort of an attempt to ride its coattails but failed miserably despite starring Merman, Dailey, O'Connor and Monroe.
sharePatriotism isn't what makes this a good film. It is a good film because it has a good story and great actors. There were some pretty awful patriotic films done during this time period. The patriotic flavor of the film is icing on the cake. I might question the taste of someone who doesn't like the film, but I certainly would not say that they "hate America".
shareI agree this film was just about perfect; the casting, the music, the script, the production numbers. The acting was superb. It is 1 of my favorites of all time. The only bashing could be when you read the real biography of George M. Cohan and compare it to the George M. in the film. The real George M. had many flaws and was not perfect like Cagney's portrayal. By the way, he had more than 1 wife. Lastly, he wasn't even born on the Fourth of July but none of that takes away from this great film.
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I hated this movie, but feel it useless to start threads bashing a film. I didn't find the music interesting. Nor te story. But most of all the patriotism was nauseating. I can't watch it without being reminded of 'Triumph of the Will.'
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Actually, I do have a "bash" of this film. When George and Mary are discussing George's taking the lead in "I'd Rather Be Right", they mention that the libretto was written by Kaufman and Hart, but not one word is said about the composer/lyricist, who just happened to be Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Extremely obvious omission on the part of the screenwriters, but then Rodgers and Hart hated working with Cohan on that show, and the feeling was mutual. That leads me to believe that the omission of their names was Cohan's doing. Also, this film has next to nothing to do with the real life of George M. Cohan, but that's typical of Hollywood biopics. The film's main purpose was to use the "life" of a famous Broadway personality who wrote a lot of patriotic songs as a means of morale boosting during WWII. The time was ripe for all the ultra-patriotism and flag-waving, which was one of the main reason for the immense popularity of the film at the time. It also helps that the film was very well done, and had an excellent cast. I could also mention the racist blackface number that just comes out of nowhere, and the bigoted comment made by FDR in the film about "You Irish Americans ... " as if they are somehow different from any other American, but I'll let those pass.
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