Yankee Doodle Dandy

Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 biographical film about George M. Cohan, starring James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf, Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp and Jeanne Cagney.

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1942 - George M. Cohan - James Cagney - Joan Leslie - Walter Huston - Richard Whorf - Irene Manning - George Tobias - Rosemary DeCamp - Jeanne Cagney

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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.

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Robert Buckner - Edmund Joseph - Michael Curtiz - Julius J. Epstein - Philip G. Epstein

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The title song (properly titled "The Yankee Doodle Boy") 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 included "Give My Regards To Broadway", "Harrigan", "Mary's a Grand Old Name", "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Over There".

Related Topics:
The Yankee Doodle Boy - Pastiche - Revolutionary War - Yankee Doodle - Give My Regards To Broadway - You're a Grand Old Flag - Over There

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Cagney was a fitting choice for the role, as a fellow Irish-American who had been a song-and-dance man himself 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 give his actors some latitude, and Cagney and other players improvised a number of "bits of business" as Cagney called them.

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Although a number of the biographical particulars of the movie are Hollywoodized fiction (omitting the fact that Cohan divorced and remarried, for example, and taking some liberties with the chronology), 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.

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The film won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (James Cagney), Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Walter Huston), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture and Best Writing, Original Story. Curtiz failed to win Best Director for this picture because he instead took home the Oscar for Casablanca, in a very busy year for the famous director. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Related Topics:
Academy Awards - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture - Best Sound, Recording - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Best Director - Best Film Editing - Best Picture - Best Writing, Original Story - Casablanca - Library of Congress - National Film Registry

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