Yankee Doodle Dandy
Encyclopedia
Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan
, known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway". It stars James Cagney
, Joan Leslie
, Walter Huston
, and Richard Whorf
, and features Irene Manning
, George Tobias
, Rosemary DeCamp
and Jeanne Cagney
.
The movie was written by Robert Buckner
and Edmund Joseph, and directed by Michael Curtiz
. According to the special edition DVD, significant and uncredited improvements were made to the script by the famous "script doctors," twin brothers Julius J. Epstein
and Philip G. Epstein
.
The song "The Yankee Doodle Boy
" (a.k.a. "Yankee Doodle Dandy") was Cohan's trademark piece, a patriotic pastiche
drawing from the lyrics and melody of the old Revolutionary War
number, "Yankee Doodle
". Other Cohan tunes in the movie include "Give My Regards to Broadway
", "Harrigan
", "Mary's a Grand Old Name
", "You're a Grand Old Flag
" and "Over There
".
Cagney was a fitting choice for the role of Cohan since, like Cohan, he was an Irish-American who had been a song-and-dance man early in his career. His unique and seemingly odd presentation style, of half-singing and half-reciting the songs, reflected the style that Cohan himself used. His natural dance style and physique were also a good match for Cohan. Newspapers at the time reported that Cagney intended to consciously imitate Cohan's song-and-dance style, but to play the normal part of the acting in his own style. Although director Curtiz was famous for being a taskmaster, he also gave his actors some latitude, and Cagney and other players improvised a number of "bits of business," as Cagney called them.
Although a number of the biographical particulars of the movie are Hollywood-ized fiction (omitting the fact that Cohan divorced and remarried, for example, and taking some liberties with the chronology of Cohan's life), care was taken to make the sets, costumes and dance steps match the original stage presentations. This effort was aided significantly by a former associate of Cohan's, Jack Boyle
, who knew the original productions well. Boyle also appeared in the film in some of the dancing groups.
Cohan is shown performing as a singing and dancing version of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
. The reality of Roosevelt's confinement to a wheelchair due to polio was kept from the general public at the time. In the film, Roosevelt never leaves his chair when meeting Cohan.
The movie poster
for this film was the first ever produced by noted poster designer Bill Gold
. This movie also has an inside joke about movies: when Cohan "retires" in the 1930s and several teenagers (who know nothing about his career) ask him if he had ever been in the movies, he remarks that he had been an actor in the "legitimate theater
."
Cohan himself served as a consultant during the production of the film. Due to his failing health, his actual involvement in the film was rather limited. However, Cohan did see the film before he died (from cancer) and approved of Cagney's portrayal.
, Cohan comes out of retirement to star as President Roosevelt in the Rodgers and Hart
musical I'd Rather Be Right
. On the first night, he is summoned to meet the President at the White House
, who presents him with a Congressional Gold Medal (in fact, this happened several years previously). Cohan is overcome and chats with Roosevelt, recalling his early days on the stage. The film flashes back to his supposed birth on July 4, whilst his father is performing on the vaudeville
stage.
Cohan and his sister join the family act as soon as they can learn to dance, and soon The Four Cohans are performing successfully. But George gets too cocky as he grows up and is blacklisted by theatrical producers for being troublesome. He leaves the act and hawks his songs unsuccessfully around producers. In partnership with another struggling writer, Sam Harris, he finally interests a producer and they are on the road to success. He also marries Mary, a young singer/dancer.
As his star ascends, he persuades his now struggling parents to join his act, eventually vesting some of his valuable theatrical properties in their name.
Cohan retires, but returns to the stage several times, culminating in the role of the US President. as he leaves the White House, he performs a dance step down the stairs (which Cagney thought up before the scene was filmed and performed with no rehearsal). Outside, he joins a military parade, where the soldiers are singing "Over There." Not knowing that Cohan is the song's composer, they jokingly invite him to join in, which he does.
Cast notes:
, Cagney's previous effort, bringing in more than $6 million in rentals to Warner Bros. This made it the biggest box office success in the company's history up to that time. The star earned his contractual $150,000 salary and nearly half a million dollars in profit sharing.
for Best Actor in a Leading Role
(James Cagney), Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture
and Best Sound, Recording
(Nathan Levinson
). It was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
(Walter Huston), Best Director
, Best Film Editing
for George Amy
, Best Picture
and Best Writing, Original Story
. In 1993, Yankee Doodle Dandy was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
American Film Institute
recognition
was a Communist. Supposedly, Cagney learned that he was in danger of being blacklisted for having Communist sympathies, so he decided to make the most jingoistic
movie he possibly could and thus clear his name. This myth has its chronology a bit askew, as the McCarthy Era
did not begin until the early 1950s. Also, the Second Red Scare did not begin until the late 1940s, well after the film was made. In other versions of this legend, either Robert Buckner
or Edmund Joseph were the accused. Cagney was, however, accused of being a Communist in a California
grand jury
trial in 1940, and this may have had an influence on the story.
The DVD
specials discuss this story in some detail. Congressman Martin Dies
was investigating possible Communist influence in Hollywood in 1940; he in fact had a cordial meeting with Cagney. The actor reassured him that, although he was a liberal
and supported Roosevelt's New Deal
, he was also a patriot who had nothing to do with Communism. That was the end of it, except that Cagney's producer-brother William saw the Cohan story as a good opportunity to dispel any possible concerns about Cagney's loyalty. It was not written in response to the Dies investigation, as Cohan himself had been shopping his own story around for a while before Jack Warner
bought the rights, and Cohan retained final approval on all aspects of the film.
As the DVD also points out, production on the film was just a few days old when the Attack on Pearl Harbor
occurred. The film's cast and crew resolved to make an uplifting, patriotic film. It was timed to open around Memorial Day
in 1942, and was regarded as having achieved its goal in grand fashion.
, starring James Cagney with Rita Hayworth
and Betty Grable
.
film released by entrepreneur Ted Turner
.
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....
, known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway". It stars James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
, Joan Leslie
Joan Leslie
Joan Leslie is a retired American film and television actress.-Early life:Leslie was born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel in Detroit, Michigan, and raised Roman Catholic. She began performing as a singer at the age of nine as part of a vaudeville act with her two sisters; Betty and Mae Brodel...
, Walter Huston
Walter Huston
Walter Thomas Huston was a Canadian-born American actor. He was the father of actor and director John Huston and the grandfather of actress Anjelica Huston and actor Danny Huston.-Life and career:...
, and Richard Whorf
Richard Whorf
Richard Whorf was an American actor, author, director, and designer.Richard was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Harry and Sarah Whorf. Richards's older brother was the well-known American linguist, Benjamin Lee Whorf. Whorf began his acting career on the Boston stage as a teenager then moving...
, and features Irene Manning
Irene Manning
Irene Manning was an actress/singer.She was born Inez Harvuot in Cincinnati, Ohio in a family of five siblings. Her family loved to go on outdoor picnics where the featured activity was group singing. This family environment helped Irene to develop a keen interest in singing at a very early age...
, George Tobias
George Tobias
George Tobias was an American character actor.-Early life and career:Born to a Jewish family in New York, he began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. He then spent several years in theater groups before moving on to Broadway and, eventually, Hollywood...
, Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp was an American radio, film and television actress.DeCamp first came to fame in November 1937, when she took the role of Judy Price, the secretary of Dr. Christian in the long-running radio series of the same name. She made her film debut in Cheers for Miss Bishop and appeared in...
and Jeanne Cagney
Jeanne Cagney
Jeanne Carolyn Cagney was an American film and television actress.-Biography:She was born in New York City, the younger sister of film actor James Cagney and actor/producer William Cagney. She married Jack Morrison on June 6, 1953; they had two children...
.
The movie was written by Robert Buckner
Robert Buckner
Robert Buckner was a film screenwriter, producer and short story writer.He wrote the screenplays for films including Knute Rockne All American...
and Edmund Joseph, and directed by Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
. According to the special edition DVD, significant and uncredited improvements were made to the script by the famous "script doctors," twin brothers Julius J. Epstein
Julius J. Epstein
Julius J. Epstein was an American screenwriter, who had a long career, best remembered for the adaptation - in partnership with his twin brother, Philip, and others - of the unproduced play Everybody Comes to Rick's that became the screenplay for the film Casablanca , for which its team of writers...
and Philip G. Epstein
Philip G. Epstein
Philip G. Epstein was an American screenwriter most known for his adaptation in partnership with his twin brother, Julius, and others, of the unproduced play Everybody Comes to Rick's which became the Academy Award-winning screenplay of the film Casablanca .Epstein was born in New York City and...
.
Background and production
The Yankee Doodle Boy
"The Yankee Doodle Boy", also well known as " Yankee Doodle Dandy" is a patriotic song from the Broadway musical Little Johnny Jones written by George M. Cohan...
" (a.k.a. "Yankee Doodle Dandy") was Cohan's trademark piece, a patriotic pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
drawing from the lyrics and melody of the old Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
number, "Yankee Doodle
Yankee Doodle
"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known Anglo-American song, the origin of which dates back to the Seven Years' War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today and is the state anthem of Connecticut...
". Other Cohan tunes in the movie include "Give My Regards to Broadway
Give My Regards to Broadway
"Give My Regards to Broadway" is a song written by George M. Cohan for his musical play Little Johnny Jones ....
", "Harrigan
Harrigan (song)
"Harrigan" is a song written by George M. Cohan for the 1907 Broadway musical, Fifty Miles From Boston. It celebrates, and to some extent mocks, his own Irish heritage....
", "Mary's a Grand Old Name
Forty-five Minutes from Broadway
Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway is a three-act musical by George M. Cohan written about New Rochelle, New York. The play's title refers to the 45-minute train ride from New Rochelle to Broadway....
", "You're a Grand Old Flag
You're a Grand Old Flag
"You're a Grand Old Flag" is a patriotic song of the United States. The song, a spirited march written by George M. Cohan, is a tribute to the U.S. flag. In addition to obvious references to the flag, it incorporates snippets of other popular songs, including one of his own...
" and "Over There
Over There
"Over There" is a 1917 song popular with United States soldiers in both world wars.It was written by George M. Cohan during World War I. Notable early recordings include versions by Nora Bayes, Enrico Caruso, Billy Murray, and Charles King....
".
Cagney was a fitting choice for the role of Cohan since, like Cohan, he was an Irish-American who had been a song-and-dance man early in his career. His unique and seemingly odd presentation style, of half-singing and half-reciting the songs, reflected the style that Cohan himself used. His natural dance style and physique were also a good match for Cohan. Newspapers at the time reported that Cagney intended to consciously imitate Cohan's song-and-dance style, but to play the normal part of the acting in his own style. Although director Curtiz was famous for being a taskmaster, he also gave his actors some latitude, and Cagney and other players improvised a number of "bits of business," as Cagney called them.
Although a number of the biographical particulars of the movie are Hollywood-ized fiction (omitting the fact that Cohan divorced and remarried, for example, and taking some liberties with the chronology of Cohan's life), care was taken to make the sets, costumes and dance steps match the original stage presentations. This effort was aided significantly by a former associate of Cohan's, Jack Boyle
Jack Boyle
John Anthony Boyle , nicknamed "Honest Jack", was an American catcher and first baseman in Major League Baseball...
, who knew the original productions well. Boyle also appeared in the film in some of the dancing groups.
Cohan is shown performing as a singing and dancing version of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. The reality of Roosevelt's confinement to a wheelchair due to polio was kept from the general public at the time. In the film, Roosevelt never leaves his chair when meeting Cohan.
The movie poster
Movie poster
A movie poster is a poster used to advertise a film. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. They normally contain an image with text. Today's posters often feature photographs of the main actors. Prior to the 1990s,...
for this film was the first ever produced by noted poster designer Bill Gold
Bill Gold
Bill Gold is an American graphic designer best known for thousands of movie poster designs.His first film poster was for Yankee Doodle Dandy , and his most recent work was for J...
. This movie also has an inside joke about movies: when Cohan "retires" in the 1930s and several teenagers (who know nothing about his career) ask him if he had ever been in the movies, he remarks that he had been an actor in the "legitimate theater
Legitimate theater
The term "legitimate theater" dates back to the Licensing Act of 1737, which restricted "serious" theatre performances to the two patent theatres licensed to perform "spoken drama" after the English Restoration in 1662...
."
Cohan himself served as a consultant during the production of the film. Due to his failing health, his actual involvement in the film was rather limited. However, Cohan did see the film before he died (from cancer) and approved of Cagney's portrayal.
Synopsis
In the early days of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Cohan comes out of retirement to star as President Roosevelt in the Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart...
musical I'd Rather Be Right
I'd Rather Be Right
I'd Rather Be Right is a musical with a book by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and music by Richard Rodgers. The story is a Depression-era political satire set in New York City, about Washington politics and political figures, such as President Franklin Roosevelt...
. On the first night, he is summoned to meet the President at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, who presents him with a Congressional Gold Medal (in fact, this happened several years previously). Cohan is overcome and chats with Roosevelt, recalling his early days on the stage. The film flashes back to his supposed birth on July 4, whilst his father is performing on the vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
stage.
Cohan and his sister join the family act as soon as they can learn to dance, and soon The Four Cohans are performing successfully. But George gets too cocky as he grows up and is blacklisted by theatrical producers for being troublesome. He leaves the act and hawks his songs unsuccessfully around producers. In partnership with another struggling writer, Sam Harris, he finally interests a producer and they are on the road to success. He also marries Mary, a young singer/dancer.
As his star ascends, he persuades his now struggling parents to join his act, eventually vesting some of his valuable theatrical properties in their name.
Cohan retires, but returns to the stage several times, culminating in the role of the US President. as he leaves the White House, he performs a dance step down the stairs (which Cagney thought up before the scene was filmed and performed with no rehearsal). Outside, he joins a military parade, where the soldiers are singing "Over There." Not knowing that Cohan is the song's composer, they jokingly invite him to join in, which he does.
Cast
- James CagneyJames CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
as George M. CohanGeorge M. CohanGeorge Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer.... - Joan LeslieJoan LeslieJoan Leslie is a retired American film and television actress.-Early life:Leslie was born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel in Detroit, Michigan, and raised Roman Catholic. She began performing as a singer at the age of nine as part of a vaudeville act with her two sisters; Betty and Mae Brodel...
as Mary Cohan - Eddie Foy, Jr.Eddie Foy, Jr.Eddie Foy Jr. was an American character actor.Born Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. in New Rochelle, New York, the son of vaudevillian Eddie Foy and his third wife, Madeline Morando, he was one of the "Seven Little Foys" immortalized in the 1955 film of the same name...
as Eddie FoyEddie FoyEddie Foy, Sr. , was an actor, comedian, dancer and vaudevillian.-Early years:... - Walter HustonWalter HustonWalter Thomas Huston was a Canadian-born American actor. He was the father of actor and director John Huston and the grandfather of actress Anjelica Huston and actor Danny Huston.-Life and career:...
as Jerry Cohan - Richard WhorfRichard WhorfRichard Whorf was an American actor, author, director, and designer.Richard was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Harry and Sarah Whorf. Richards's older brother was the well-known American linguist, Benjamin Lee Whorf. Whorf began his acting career on the Boston stage as a teenager then moving...
as Sam Harris - Irene ManningIrene ManningIrene Manning was an actress/singer.She was born Inez Harvuot in Cincinnati, Ohio in a family of five siblings. Her family loved to go on outdoor picnics where the featured activity was group singing. This family environment helped Irene to develop a keen interest in singing at a very early age...
as Fay TempletonFay TempletonFay Templeton was an American stage actress.Her parents were actors/vaudevillians and she followed in their footsteps, making her Broadway debut in 1900. She continued to appear there until 1934... - George TobiasGeorge TobiasGeorge Tobias was an American character actor.-Early life and career:Born to a Jewish family in New York, he began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. He then spent several years in theater groups before moving on to Broadway and, eventually, Hollywood...
as Dietz - Rosemary DeCampRosemary DeCampRosemary DeCamp was an American radio, film and television actress.DeCamp first came to fame in November 1937, when she took the role of Judy Price, the secretary of Dr. Christian in the long-running radio series of the same name. She made her film debut in Cheers for Miss Bishop and appeared in...
as Nellie Cohan - Jeanne CagneyJeanne CagneyJeanne Carolyn Cagney was an American film and television actress.-Biography:She was born in New York City, the younger sister of film actor James Cagney and actor/producer William Cagney. She married Jack Morrison on June 6, 1953; they had two children...
as Josie Cohan
- Frances LangfordFrances LangfordJulia Frances Langford was an American singer and entertainer who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and also made film appearances over two decades.-Birth:...
as Nora BayesNora BayesNora Bayes was a popular American singer, comedienne and actress of the early 20th century.-Early life and career:... - George BarbierGeorge Barbier (actor)-Career:Barbier entered Crozier Seminary to study for ministry but gave it up to go on the stage, beginning in light opera. Spent several years in repertory and stock companies and eventually appeared on Broadway...
as Erlanger - S. Z. Sakall as Schwab
- Walter CatlettWalter CatlettWalter Catlett was an American actor. As a San Francisco citizen, he started out in vaudeville with a detour for a while in opera before breaking into films.-Early career:...
as Theatre Manager - Minor WatsonMinor WatsonMinor Watson was a prominent character actor. He appeared in 111 movies made between 1913 and 1956. His credits included, Boys Town , Yankee Doodle Dandy , Kings Row , Guadalcanal Diary , Bewitched , The Virginian , and The Jackie Robinson Story .He is buried in Alton Cemetery...
as AlbeeEdward Franklin Albee IIEdward Franklin Albee II was a vaudeville impresario, and the adoptive grandfather of Edward Franklin Albee III, the playwright.-Biography:He was born on October 8, 1857 in Machias, Maine to Nathaniel Smith Albee.... - Chester CluteChester CluteChester Clute , was an American actor familiar in scores of Hollywood films from his debut in 1930. Diminutive, bald-pated with a bristling moustache, he appeared in mostly unbilled roles, consisting usually of one or two lines, in nearly 250 films. He died of a heart attack aged 65...
as Goff - Odette MyrtilOdette MyrtilOdette Myrtil was an American actress, singer, and violinist of French birth. She began her career as a violinist on the vaudeville stage in Paris at the age of 14. She expanded out into acting and singing, and had her first major success at the age of 18 on the London stage in the 1916 musical...
as Madame Bartholdi - Douglas CroftDouglas CroftDouglas Croft, born Douglas Malcom Wheatcroft was an early American child actor who is best remembered for being the first actor to portray the DC Comics character Robin the Boy Wonder, in the 1943 serial Batman, at 16 years of age.Croft was born in Seattle, Washington...
as George M. Cohan, age 13 - Patsy ParsonsPatsy ParsonsPatrica Parsons , better known as Patsy Parsons, sometimes credited as Patsy Lee Parsons, was an American character actress who appeared in about a dozen films beginning in 1937 at the age of six. Ms. Parsons was born in Parkersburg, W.Va,. but moved to Hollywood at age 5...
as Josie Cohan, age 12
Cast notes:
- James Cagney reprised the role of George M. Cohan in the movie The Seven Little FoysThe Seven Little FoysThe Seven Little Foys is a 1955 film starring Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. James Cagney reprises his role as George M. Cohan for an energetic tabletop dance showdown sequence. In addition to the famous film, the story of Eddie Foy, Sr...
(1955), but agreed only on the condition that he receive no money – he did the film as a tribute to Eddie FoyEddie FoyEddie Foy, Sr. , was an actor, comedian, dancer and vaudevillian.-Early years:...
. In Yankee Doodle Dandy, Eddie Foy, Jr.Eddie Foy, Jr.Eddie Foy Jr. was an American character actor.Born Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. in New Rochelle, New York, the son of vaudevillian Eddie Foy and his third wife, Madeline Morando, he was one of the "Seven Little Foys" immortalized in the 1955 film of the same name...
played the role of his own father. In The Seven Little Foys Bob HopeBob HopeBob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
portrayed Foy; Charley Foy served as a narrator. - Actress Jeanne Cagney, who played the part of Cohan's sister, was James Cagney's real-life sister. Cagney's brother, William Cagney, was the Associate Producer of the film.
- Rosemary DeCamp, who played the mother of George M. Cohan, played by James Cagney, was, in fact, 11 years younger than Cagney.
- President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was played by Captain Jack Young, a lookalike who is seen only from the back. An impressionist, Art GilmoreArt GilmoreArthur Wells "Art" Gilmore was an American voice actor and announcer whose voice has been heard in radio and television programs, movies, trailers, advertising promotions and documentary films.-Biography:...
, provided the voice of Roosevelt, uncredited. - Uncredited cast members include Eddie AcuffEddie AcuffEddie Acuff was an American actor. His best-known recurring role is that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in the Blondie movie series that starred Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake....
, Murray AlperMurray AlperMurray Alper was an American actor.Alper's earliest screen credit was 1930's The Royal Family of Broadway, and for the following thirty-five years, he appeared in a number of films, usually playing cab drivers, bookies, cops and GIs.Frequently seen in comedies, Alper was featured in the Three...
, Walter BrookeWalter BrookeWalter Brooke was an American actor. Brooke is best known for playing Mr. McGuire in The Graduate, where he said his famous line, "Plastics"....
, Georgia CarrollGeorgia CarrollGeorgia Carroll was an American singer, fashion model, and actress, best known for her work with Kay Kyser's big band orchestra in the mid-1940s....
, Glen CavenderGlen CavenderGlen Cavender was an American film actor. He appeared in 259 films between 1914 and 1949.He was born in Tucson, Arizona, and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* Cruel, Cruel Love...
, Spencer ChartersSpencer ChartersSpencer Charters was an American film actor. He appeared in over 220 films between 1920 and 1943.He was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, and died in Hollywood, California by suicide, from a mix of sleeping pills and carbon monoxide poisoning.His first stage work soon after leaving school was a...
, Wallis ClarkWallis ClarkWallis H. Clark was a stage and film actor, born in Essex, England. He died in North Hollywood, California.Clark was formerly an engineer. He began his stage career in Margate in 1908...
, William B. DavidsonWilliam B. DavidsonWilliam B. Davidson was an American film actor. He attended Columbia University where he played football. He became a popular football star. This fame eventually led to his foray into motion pictures after he had spent some time as a lawyer...
, Ann DoranAnn DoranAnn Lee Doran was an American character actress.-Early life and career:Born in Amarillo, Texas, Doran began acting at the age of four. She appeared in hundreds of silent films under assumed names to keep her father's family from finding out about her work...
, Tom DuganTom DuganTom Dugan was an Irish film actor. He appeared in over 260 films between 1927 and 1955. He was born in Dublin, Ireland and died in Redlands, California....
, Bill EdwardsBill Edwards (actor)Bill Edwards was an American film/television actor, championship rodeo rider and a multi talented artist....
, Frank FaylenFrank FaylenFrank Faylen was an American movie and television actor.Born Frank Ruf in St. Louis, Missouri, he began his acting career as an infant appearing with his vaudeville performing parents on stage...
, Pat FlahertyPat FlahertyGeorge Francis 'Pat' Flaherty, Jr. was an American racecar driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1956....
, James FlavinJames FlavinJames William Flavin, Jr. was an American character actor whose career lasted nearly half a century.-Life and career:...
, William ForrestWilliam ForrestWilliam Forrest was an American film actor. He appeared in over 250 films between 1932 and 1976.He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and died in Santa Monica, California from heart failure....
, William Gillespie, Joe Gray, Creighton HaleCreighton HaleCreighton Hale was an Irish-born American movie actor who worked in the silent film era.-Career:While starring in Charles Frohman's Broadway production of Indian Summer, Hale was spotted by a representative of the Pathe Film Company...
, John HamiltonJohn Hamilton (actor)John Hamilton was an American actor, who appeared in many movies and television programs. He is probably best remembered for his role as the blustery newspaper editor Perry White on the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman.-Biography:Burly, stentorian-voiced John Hamilton was born John...
, Harry Hayden, Stuart Holmes, William HopperWilliam HopperWilliam Hopper, born DeWolf Hopper, Jr. was an American actor. He is best-remembered for playing Paul Drake on television's Perry Mason.-Early life:...
, Eddie KaneEddie KaneEddie Kane was an American actor who appeared in over 250 productions from 1928 to 1959.Some of his more famous films include The Public Enemy , The Mummy , Mr. Deeds Goes to Town , Mr...
, Fred KelseyFred KelseyFrederick Alvin "Fred" Kelsey was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He appeared in 404 films between 1911 and 1958, often playing policemen or detectives . He also directed 37 films between 1914 and 1920...
, Vera LewisVera LewisVera Lewis was an American film and stage actress, beginning in the silent film era. She appeared in 183 films between 1915 and 1947....
, Audrey LongAudrey LongAudrey Long is an American movie actress, who played supporting roles in films during the 1940s and 1950s....
, Hank MannHank MannHank Mann was a comedian and silent screen star who is best known as the last surviving member of the Keystone Cops. According to fellow actor and original member of the ensemble Edgar Kennedy, Mann was the originator of the idea for the Keysotne Cops...
, Frank MayoFrank Mayo (actor)Frank Mayo was an American actor. He appeared in 310 films between 1911 and 1949.He was born in New York, New York and died in Laguna Beach, California from a heart attack...
, Lon McCallisterLon McCallisterLon McCallister was an American actor.Born in Los Angeles, he began appearing in movies at the age of 13. The young actor had leads in a number of films; he usually played boyish young men from the country. Growing only to 5'6" he found it difficult to find roles as an adult. He appeared with...
, Edward McWadeEdward McWadeEdward McWade was an American film actor and screenwriter. He appeared in 132 films between 1919 and 1944. He also wrote for 15 films between 1897 and 1914.He was born in Washington, D.C...
, George MeekerGeorge MeekerGeorge Meeker was an American character movie and Broadway actor who became more of a legend off-camera than on. Meeker made several movies such as Crime Inc. , and Thief in the Dark and played an uncredited part in All Through the Night .Meeker has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-External...
, Dolores MoranDolores MoranDolores Moran was an American film actress and model.Moran's brief career as a film actress began in 1942 with some uncredited roles in such films as Yankee Doodle Dandy. By 1943 she had become a popular pin-up girl and appeared on the cover of such magazines as Yank...
, Charles MortonCharles MortonCharles Morton , was an American actor.-Career:Born in Illinois, Charles Morton spent his adolescence in Madison, Wisconsin; receiving his education at Madison High School and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.He made his first stage appearance at the age of seven and later appeared in vaudeville,...
, Jack MowerJack MowerJack Mower was an American film actor. He appeared in 526 films between 1914 and 1962.He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* Destination Tokyo...
, Paul PanzerPaul PanzerPaul Panzer was a German-American silent film actor. He appeared in 333 films between 1905 and 1952. Panzer was best known for playing Koerner/Raymond Owen in The Perils of Pauline....
, Francis PierlotFrancis PierlotFrancis Pierlot was a stage and film actor with over 90 film credits.His first film credit was in 1914, but he didn't begin appearing in films full time until 1940 at the age of 63...
, Clinton RosemondClinton RosemondClinton Rosemond was an American actor in films from the 1940s and 50s. Often typecast as a butler or servant, and often uncredited due to a lack of film roles for African-American actors, Rosemond was frequently relegated to playing demeaning parts, such as a stereotypical "scared Negro." He died...
, Syd SaylorSyd SaylorSyd Saylor was a light comedy actor and movie cowboy sidekick who appeared in 395 films and TV series between 1926 and 1962...
, Frank SullyFrank SullyFrank Sully was an American film actor. He appeared in over 240 films between 1934 and 1968.-Film:Sully was often cast as a heavy or villain throughout his career. Modern viewers will recognize Sully in his appearances in several late Three Stooges films such as Fling in the Ring, Pardon My...
, Dick WesselDick WesselDick Wessel was an American film actor. Born in Wisconsin, Wessel appeared in over 270 films between 1935 and 1966. He is best remembered for his chilling portrayal of the ruthless strangler Harry "Cueball" Lake in Dick Tracy vs...
, Leo WhiteLeo WhiteLeo White was a stage performer and appeared as a character actor in many Charlie Chaplin films. He started his film career in 1911 and in 1913 moved to the Essanay Studios. In 1915, he began appearing in Chaplin's comedies and continued through Chaplin's Mutual Film comedies...
and Dave WillockDave WillockDave Willock was an American character actor. Willock appeared in 181 films and television shows from 1939 to 1989. He is probably most familiar to modern audiences from his performance as Baby Jane Hudson's father in the opening scenes of the cult classic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?...
.
Box office
The film nearly doubled the earnings of Captains of the CloudsCaptains of the Clouds
Captains of the Clouds is a 1942 Warner Bros. war film in Technicolor, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney. It was produced by William Cagney , with Hal B. Wallis as executive producer. The screenplay was written by Arthur T. Horman, Richard Macaulay and Norman Reilly Raine,...
, Cagney's previous effort, bringing in more than $6 million in rentals to Warner Bros. This made it the biggest box office success in the company's history up to that time. The star earned his contractual $150,000 salary and nearly half a million dollars in profit sharing.
Awards and honors
The film won Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(James Cagney), Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and Best Sound, Recording
Academy Award for Sound
The Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most euphonic sound mixing or recording, and is generally awarded to the production sound mixers and re-recording mixers of the winning film. Compare this award to the Academy Award for Sound Editing...
(Nathan Levinson
Nathan Levinson
Nathan Levinson was an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award in the category Sound Recording for the film Yankee Doodle Dandy and was nominated for 16 more in the same category...
). It was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Walter Huston), Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
, Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
for George Amy
George Amy
George Amy started his career aged 17 as an American film editor, finding his niche at Warner Brothers in the 1930s...
, Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
and Best Writing, Original Story
Academy Award for Best Story
The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...
. In 1993, Yankee Doodle Dandy was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
recognition
- 1998: AFI's 100 Years... 100 MoviesAFI's 100 Years... 100 MoviesThe first of the AFI 100 Years… series of cinematic milestones, AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies is a list of the 100 best American movies, as determined by the American Film Institute from a poll of more than 1,500 artists and leaders in the film industry who chose from a list of 400 nominated movies...
- #100 - 2004: AFI's 100 Years... 100 SongsAFI's 100 Years... 100 SongsPart of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Songs is a list of the top 100 songs in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute June 22, 2004 in a CBS special hosted by John Travolta, who appeared in two films honored by the list, Saturday Night Fever and...
- #71- The Yankee Doodle BoyThe Yankee Doodle Boy"The Yankee Doodle Boy", also well known as " Yankee Doodle Dandy" is a patriotic song from the Broadway musical Little Johnny Jones written by George M. Cohan...
- The Yankee Doodle Boy
- 2005: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie QuotesAFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie QuotesPart of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes is a list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema. The American Film Institute revealed the list on June 21, 2005, in a three-hour television program on CBS...
:- "My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you." - #97
- 2006: AFI's 100 Years of MusicalsAFI's 100 Years of MusicalsPart of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals is a list of the top musicals in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute at the Hollywood Bowl on September 3, 2006...
- #18 - 2006: AFI's 100 Years... 100 CheersAFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers100 Years…100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies is a list of the most inspiring films as determined by the American Film Institute. It is part of the AFI 100 Years… series, which has been compiling lists of the greatest films of all time in various categories since 1998...
- #88 - 2007: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - #98
Patriotic themes
A popular myth about this movie, or at least a stretching of the truth, was that it was written in response to accusations that James CagneyJames Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
was a Communist. Supposedly, Cagney learned that he was in danger of being blacklisted for having Communist sympathies, so he decided to make the most jingoistic
Jingoism
Jingoism is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy. In practice, it is a country's advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests...
movie he possibly could and thus clear his name. This myth has its chronology a bit askew, as the McCarthy Era
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
did not begin until the early 1950s. Also, the Second Red Scare did not begin until the late 1940s, well after the film was made. In other versions of this legend, either Robert Buckner
Robert Buckner
Robert Buckner was a film screenwriter, producer and short story writer.He wrote the screenplays for films including Knute Rockne All American...
or Edmund Joseph were the accused. Cagney was, however, accused of being a Communist in a California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
trial in 1940, and this may have had an influence on the story.
The DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
specials discuss this story in some detail. Congressman Martin Dies
Martin Dies, Jr.
Martin Dies, Jr. was a Texas politician and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives. His father, Martin Dies, was also a member of the United States House of Representatives.-Biography:...
was investigating possible Communist influence in Hollywood in 1940; he in fact had a cordial meeting with Cagney. The actor reassured him that, although he was a liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and supported Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
, he was also a patriot who had nothing to do with Communism. That was the end of it, except that Cagney's producer-brother William saw the Cohan story as a good opportunity to dispel any possible concerns about Cagney's loyalty. It was not written in response to the Dies investigation, as Cohan himself had been shopping his own story around for a while before Jack Warner
Jack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
bought the rights, and Cohan retained final approval on all aspects of the film.
As the DVD also points out, production on the film was just a few days old when the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
occurred. The film's cast and crew resolved to make an uplifting, patriotic film. It was timed to open around Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
in 1942, and was regarded as having achieved its goal in grand fashion.
Adaptations to Other Media
Yankee Doodle Dandy was adapted as a radio play on the October 19, 1942 broadcast of The Screen Guild TheaterThe Screen Guild Theater
The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio anthology series during the Golden Age of Radio, broadcast from 1939 until 1952, with leading Hollywood actors performing in adaptations of popular motion pictures such as Going My Way and The Postman Always Rings Twice.The show had a long run, lasting...
, starring James Cagney with Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
and Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
.
Colorization
In 1986, Yankee Doodle Dandy was the first computer-colorizedFilm colorization
Film colorization is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images. It may be done as a special effect, or to modernize black-and-white films, or to restore color films...
film released by entrepreneur Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
.