Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

I just recently watched the 1942 James Cagney movie Yankee Doodle Dandy, and it was quite fun. James Cagney was bravura as George M. Cohan, the famous patriotic song-and-dance man who gave us such songs as "Yankee Doodle Boy" and "You're a Grand Old Flag." Cagney won his only Oscar™ for Best Actor for this role (and I'm proud of him). One of my favorite songs in this film is "Harrigan" but only because of the way Cagney sings it—with an Irish brogue. I love it when he uses an Irish accent!
Although he now seems the only logical choice, Cagney would have missed out on his big chance if a deal between Cohan and MGM to make a film to be called The Four Cohans hadn't fizzled out. Covering the years when Cohan had toured with his father, mother and sister, the movie would have starred Mickey Rooney as the young Cohan. The deal collapsed after studio head Louis B. Mayer refused to allow Cohan the right to final cut on the proposed film. The next movie mogul to show an interest in the project was Samuel Goldwyn, who had a commitment to make a film starring Fred Astaire. When Astaire refused the role of Cohan as not right for him, the rights were picked up by Warner Bros., who cast resident star Cagney in the role with Cohan's blessings. (And it's a good thing too! Can u imagine Mickey Rooney or Fred Astaire playing George M. Cohan?) Cagney, in particular, was eager to play Cohan because he was, at the time, suspected of being a communist sympathizer due to his union activities (he was president of the Screen Actors' Guild) and because of his open support of the New Deal. He wanted to show his patriotism on screen, and the George M. Cohan story was the perfect vehicle to do this.












Yankee Doodle Dandy, with its many flag-waving musical numbers, proved just the ticket for World War II-era audiences and became the top-grossing movie of its year, as well as Warners' top-grossing movie to that time. It was nominated for Academy Awards in eight categories, including Best Picture and Director (Curtiz), and won three Oscars, including one for Cagney as Best Actor. I also find it amazing that Joan Leslie, who played Cohan's wife Mary, was younger than me when she made this film (she was 17).



The problem with biopics is that they are often fictionalized for dramatic effect (Hollywood is very notorious for these sorts of things), and this one is no exception! I could hardly tell what was fact and what was fiction when watching this movie. Let that be a lesson: Never attribute anything you've learned to a Hollywood movie or TV show. (I think I'm being a bit hypocritical when I say that because I usually attribute everything I've learned to The Simpsons or Family Guy, which are not the most reliable sources for information .)











One of Curtiz' keys to success was the decision to allow Cagney free rein in his scenes, permitting the actor to improvise as the cameras were rolling. A prime example, and reportedly Cagney's favorite moment in the film, is when he suddenly breaks into a tap-dance as he comes down the stairs in a scene at the White House where Cohan has met with President Franklin Roosevelt. The ordinarily hard-boiled Curtiz was so moved by the scene in which Cohan bids farewell to his dying father (Walter Huston) that he reportedly ruined a take with his loud sobs. (I didn't really cry at that scene, which surprised me, but I've cried at scenes that were more emotionally powerful, like one scene in a Shirley Temple film.)
Walter Huston was especially great in this film; he would later be in the Humphrey Bogart film Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), which was directed by his son, John Huston. (Little trivia question: Who is Walter Huston's granddaughter?) He earlier appeared in an uncredited role in another Bogart film The Maltese Falcon (1941), which was also directed by his son.







Makeup effects play a big role in the film, especially in the simulated aging of the actors who play the Cohans (sorry, I can't think of a better way to say it) to show the effects of the ravages of time. Despite being an avid James Cagney fan, this film is not my most favorite of his films—as much as I like seeing Cagney dance. Being a world traveler, who is not very cosmopolitan but has international interests, I find the vulgar flag-waving in this film too much for my tastes. (And I almost forgot to add that I enjoyed the "Little Johnny Jones" musical number.)

Anyway, this film is a must for any James Cagney fan, no matter how universal their interests are! Happy commenting! (Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that James Cagney's sister Jeanne Cagney is in this film. You can totally see the resemblance between them. She's almost like a female version of him. So it's pretty cute that they're always "together" in the scenes of the Cohans' dancing numbers.)

(Next blog: He Was Her Man [1934])

Clips from this film (sans the rendition of "Yankee Doodle Boy" by Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland in the first video):

One, Two, Three (1961)

In honor of the fall of the Berlin Wall's 20th anniversary, I decided to put up this blog since the film is sort of about the Cold War and takes place in Berlin (also, as you will read in the blog, it was filmed while the Berlin Wall was being built). I just watched the 1961 James Cagney movie One, Two, Three for the first time and it was so funny!!! I think it's one of Billy Wilder's best films. James Cagney was great as C.P. MacNamara, the fast-talking Coca-Cola executive in West Berlin who tries to stop his boss's daughter, whom he's chaperoning, from marrying a Communist, who I think really represented the hippie youth of that era. Jimmy Cagney was certainly at his speediest in this film—and he was old, but who cares?! What really matters to me—more than James Cagney (surprise)—in this movie is its location: West Berlin & Germany all together. (Yes, I'm aware that Germany was split into East and West Germany and was called as such.)

Germany is one of my very favorite countries and it—especially Berlin (both sides of the city)—played as much as a big role as James Cagney did in this movie. It's also one of the reasons why I wanted to see this movie. This movie was filmed around the time that the Berlin Wall was built—which means that it was filming when JFK made that famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. If you ever see this movie, you can see that in the scenes with the Brandenburg Gate, there is no Berlin Wall. Well, that's because the crew decided to switch over to the parking lot of Munich's Bavaria Film Studios to finish the scenes with the Brandenburg Gate because they had discovered that the Berlin Wall was being built one morning, so it was for continuity purposes (you can read more about that here); they even built the bottom half of the Brandenburg Gate for the scene. Let me tell you that when I watched this movie, I couldn't recognize the area around the Brandenburg Gate; that's because I went to Berlin recently (years after the Berlin Wall fell) and the area around the Brandenburg Gate right now is really built up.

But anyway, let's focus on the film right now instead of its location. I thought that what the gesture the MP played by Red Buttons gave to Cagney was very funny and was supposed to be a Cagney imitation (it was appropriate too since Cagney was so tyrannical towards the MP). And the fact that Cagney put a deflated balloon that said "Russki, Go Home" over the exhaust pipe of the Communist hippie's motorcycle and it was being inflated while the motorcycle was running was absolutely hysterical and clever.

Sadly, it was after this movie that James Cagney decided to retire from acting; it wasn't until 20 years later that he finally came back onto the screen in the film Ragtime (1981). Of course, he was being driven nuts by director Billy Wilder during the filming of this movie.

And I know that you guys are most interested in learning about Cagney from this film review rather reading about the Cold War and I'm sorry if this blog would bore you, but let me tell you something: I was exposed to more stuff about East & West Germany and East & West Berlin when I was in Germany recently than you guys are being exposed to right now, so you guys have it easy (even though I'm kinda interested in German history and easily understood the references to German history in this movie—especially the ones about Hitler). I would recommend this movie for any James Cagney fan who loves watching him in wild comedies. Again, opinions and comments on this movie are encouraged!

TCM Archives

Related Videos for The Roaring Twenties

Newsreels from The Roaring Twenties:

The James Cagney Show, which has a clip from this film (not meant to make fun of James Cagney):

Warners Brothers Bloopers Reel, which includes a clip from this film (beware of the racist opening):

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

I just recently watched the 1939 James Cagney movie The Roaring Twenties (sorry it took me a while before writing it), and it was very dramatic. James Cagney was great as Eddie Bartlett, the former World War I veteran/cab driver who goes from being a big shot Prohibition-era bootlegging gangster to a poor, disheveled drunkard bum. (For those of you who are Simpsons fan, you gotta admit that the last name Bartlett is pretty sweet.)

Characters in The Roaring Twenties were based loosely on actual Prohibition-era personalities, such as nightclub hostess Texas Guinan ("Hello, sucker!" was her refrain to club patrons) and New York gangster Larry Fay, who was reportedly the model for the literary character Jay Gatsby.) Incorporating newsreel clips and popular music from the period, and a voiceover by an omniscient reporter who assures the audience that what theyare about to see is based on true events, The Roaring Twenties has something of a pseudo-documentary feel.

Humphrey Bogart was also terrific in this film; two years later, he would get his famous big break in his role as detective Sam Spade in the film The Maltese Falcon—which is another film that I had to watch in film class—and in his role as a gangster on the lam in High Sierra (the character's name in that movie escapes me at the moment). This was Cagney and Bogie's last film together; the other films they made together were Angels with Dirty Faces—which was made the year before—and The Oklahoma Kid.

Cagney found that the freedom to improvise that Walsh allowed him helped boost the script into an above-average genre film. Cagney recalled the collaborative atmosphere on the set, remembering how one actor, Frank McHugh (who was back as Cagney's faithful sidekick), suggested a different opening scenario than the one provided in the script. All agreed to trash the opening scene and go with McHugh's suggestion, thus providing the irreverent banter between Cagney and Bogart, who meet as doughboys in a World War I foxhole.

Cagney reminisced later about the little touches that he felt "added flavor to bland writing," including the addition of the hilarious exchange between his character and Priscilla Lane's, in which his advances are turned down in humiliating fashion. In another scene, Cagney spiced up a run-of-the-mill fight by positioning one opponent to accidentally hit another adversary after being punched by Cagney's character. The film also benefits from an able supporting cast -- notably Gladys George (who inherited the part from Ann Sheridan) as the Texas Guinan character, plus McHugh and Lane, as Cagney's romantic interest.

I didn't really watch the shooting scenes in this film because I thought they were too dramatic. And I didn't feel sorry for Cagney when Priscilla Lane dumped him and went for Jeffrey Lynn instead; he didn't deserve her. (And there is an awkward scene where Lane climbs into Cagney's cab years later and she tells him about her present life while he just grunts in reponse because he doesn't forgive her for dumping him years ago. What an awkward reunion!) And the ship scene, where Cagney and his gang are trying to bootleg liquor, in this film reminded me of a scene in a Simpsons episode (which is on a post on my Simpsons blogpost) where Homer, Bart, and a group led by Mr. Burns travel to an island holding sugar to smuggle it into Springfield after Marge declares a war against sugar products when the city is declared "America's Fattest Town!" by a world records book.

The film did extremely good at the box office and Cagney won a Best Actor award from the National Board of Review -- quite an accomplishment in a year that saw the premieres of such classics as Gone With the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, and Stagecoach.
The Roaring Twenties turned out to be a transitional film in Cagney's career; his subsequent roles during the 1940s would focus on his song-and-dance talents in such movies as Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). Walsh would work with Bogart again in They Drive By Night (1940) and High Sierra (1941), in which Bogart started to create the world-weary character that would be most identified with the Bogie legend. Ten years after The Roaring Twenties, Cagney would reunite with Walsh for White Heat (1949), in which he would revive the gangster character that put him on the map. (And as an end-of-the-year present for you folks, I'll probably do a review blog on that film. ) I would recommend this film for James Cagney fans who love to see the guy in gangster films. And again, folks, happy commenting!!!

(Next blog: Yankee Doodle Dandy [1942])
Clips from The Roaring Twenties:

Videos Related to Blonde Crazy

TCM's trailer for Blonde Crazy:

Cagney video montage which has a few clips from this film:

Blonde Crazy (1931)

I just recently watched the 1931 James Cagney movie Blonde Crazy, and it was very fun! James Cagney, who had just burst into major stardom around the time this film was made, was terrific as Bert Harris, the bellboy/racketeer who is nuts over Joan Blondell. And as usual, he makes his rogue character lovable. James Cagney and Joan Blondell are always great as a pair (they made seven films together), especially in this movie. I absolutely loved it when they were together in Footlight Parade. In fact, overall, I love it when they are paired together; the chemistry between them is excellent.

This film would easily give one the impression of being a Pre-Code film , especially the scene where James Cagney is turned-on by the dancing ladies' butts and the scene where he barges in on Joan Blondell in the bathtub. I also love the scene where Cagney puts Blondell's bra over his eyes like a mask and then does a long, impressed whistle while getting the money out of the bra—very risquè! What really turned me on by Cagney in this film was his mannerisms and facial expressions, especially that voice (I can't describe the voice but it's a very happy, low-in-tone voice and Cagney uses it flirtatiously).
The first half of the film is very funny in comparison to the second half, which is very melodramatic and my least favorite part; however, I did like the end of the film, which I found sweet and cute. But I didn't really watch the shooting/car chase scene because it was too dramatic. I also felt sorry for the heartbroken James Cagney as he watched Joan Blondell getting married. I also found it interesting that Jimmy Cagney achieved hi dream of going to Europe one year later, but I didn't exactly like his opinion of it ("It stinks!"); however, his opinion was probably because of his resentment by Joan Blondell dumping him. (I'm guessing that if Joan Blondell joined him on his voyage to Europe, his opinion would've been less harsh.)

This is definitely a film from the Great Depression, and since it's from the early 1930s, the quality of the film is kinda grainy. (I kinda found that strange because, in comparison, The Public Enemy, which is from the same year as Blonde Crazy, has an excellent picture quality.) At first,there was some schemes I didn't understand, but after watching this film a couple times, I quickly got them (like the phony 20 dollar bill scheme). The movie isn't one of James Cagney's best or well-known films, and I wouldn't say that I very much enjoyed it (I enjoyed Footlight Parade and Taxi! more). This film was also a quickie in production and was a hit at the box office as well as with critics. I would recommend this film for James Cagney fans who enjoy seeing him in comedy/dramas. Again, you folks may comment with your own opinions about this film, but you don't have to.

Clips from Blonde Crazy (ignore the French subtitles):