Richie-67-485852 Good entertainment and story-telling from the 1940's where James Cagney ruled films successfully by giving the viewers all he had. He proves this and more in this little gem. Be prepared to have your patriotic genes awakened and stirred and I dare you to not shed a tear or two during the singing of She's a Grand Ole Flag. That song holds up today and will continue too. Good supporting cast and this was the type of film back then where you truly got your monies worth and spent a nice two hours with your date or a group of friends. Heck, even alone it is good value. Grab a bite before and after and life was and is good. I enjoy eating with movie watching. This is a sandwich movie and a tasty drink with a snack of choice to follow. This movie makes a very good point in a scene where Cohan goes to enlist after Pearl Harbor and is declined because of age. However, his efforts where he did shine (song and dance) was worth more than all the fighting he could have ever done. I cannot imagine how it feels to make such a major contribution to life and your fellow man as he did. Congress could and they awarded him a medal to prove it. This supports the premise that whatever gifts or talents you have, use them, give them and share them for life is brief and over before one even has time to assess it. Rally around this movie and enjoy James Cagney as we celebrate the American way of life. How fortunate we are to have America

weezeralfalfa Theatrical luminary George M. Cohan is upset that his sister has announced her intention to quit The 4 Cohans and get married. He voices the opinion that The 3 Cohans wouldn't go over with audiences. Hence, this means the end of their long established family act. Of course, GMC would go on to establish a long entertainment career as a solo, including playwriting, and directing, as well as song writing and performing. Typical of biop films of this era, many historical details are mangled, sometimes seemingly without benefit, sometimes for dramatic enhancement or simplicity. One example occurs near the end, when FDR bestows The Congressional Medal of Honor on GMC for his several patriotic songs composed during WWI. In reality, GMC received the Congressional Gold Medal, which is appropriate for civilians. The Medal of Honor is appropriate for military deeds, only. FDR says war moral boosters can be included as military-related accomplishments. James Cagney was the perfect choice to portray GMC's various theatrical talents, most notably his dancing. Cagney is so dynamic and magnetic, and the pace of the action is sizzling. Appropriately, he won the Oscar for his performance. Fred Astaire, GMC's first choice, declined on the excuse that his dancing style was quite different from that of GMC. Although Cagney was 42, he exhibited the energy of a 16 year old in his dancing. In fact, his costar as his girlfriend or wife, Joan Leslie, was 16 or 17 during production. It's called robbing the cradle. I wonder why Joan was chosen for this role? Recently, she had costared with Gary Cooper in another popular biop: "Sergeant York": an equally extreme case of robbing the cradle. Cagney does an excellent job of mimicking GMC's eccentric dance style, emphasizing foot and leg work, with diminished participation of the upper body. I wonder if Cohan derived this from Irish step dancing, which it somewhat resembles.GMC's supposed birth on July 4, alluded to several times, technically isn't quite correct. It was July 3. However, accepting July 4 heightened the flag-waving tone of the film.Together, Douglas Craft, who played GMC as a boy and young teen, and Cagney provide the majority of periodic physical and verbal humor that added much to the enjoyment of the film. Both portrayed GMC as supremely ambitious and cocky in his talents, despite frequent putdowns.Cagney had costarred in the '30s musical "Footlight Parade", as a dance instructor. No doubt, this reminded the brass of his vaudeville background, giving them more confidence that he could pull off mimicking GMC.Jeanne Cagney, James's baby sister, 20 years his junior, played GMC's sister, Never becoming a major actress, she was included in 3 subsequent films with James. Walter Huston won a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role as GMC's father, still handsome at around 60. This was the first film that included dialogue by an actor portraying a siting president. It is also a rare musical among the many dramas, action films and comedies in Director Michael Curtiz's film resume.Curtiz was a prominent Hollywood director for 50 years, beginning in 1912 and ending with a John Wayne western. He had directed most of Errol Flynn's most remembered films(to Flynn's displeasure) and had worked with Cagney in "Angels with Dirty Faces". His next project: "Casablanca" would win the academy award for best picture. To my mind, the present film is far more entertaining and significant, and deserving of this award. At least, Cagney won the Best Actor award. Curtiz had a reputation as being hard on his actors, but reportedly mellowed a bit for this film. Apparently, Cagney's very difficult dance part way down the White House stairs was ad libed, and left in.The dialogue between GMC and Eddie Foy is amusing, each making disparaging remarks about the other without knowing whom they were talking to. Cagney would reprise his role as GMC in the 1955 film "The Seven Little Foys" Walter Catlett, playing within his typecast strength, is the close-minded blustery stage manager whom GMC and Mary are trying to impress in his office. Irene Manning, as a highbrow singer and actress serves as the female equivalent of Catlett, with an initial very critical attitude toward GMC, eventually reversing herself.This film kicked off a series of musical biopsy or nostalgia films in the '40s and '50s. Subjects included Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, George & Ira Gershwin, Steven Foster, Sigmund Romberg, Eddie Foy and the Harry Ruby & Bert Kalmar team.Although GMC and FDR are portrayed as chummy, the real GMC was a far right Republican and hated FDR. Nonetheless, GMC had to wait nearly 20 years, through Republican-dominated times, to receive his Congressional medal for his patriotic WWI songs.This film could be looked upon as one in a progression of films produced by Warner in the late '30s and early '40s with either a subliminal anti-Nazi message(in the case of several early Flynn-starring films)or flag-waving films during WWII. "Sergeant York", released the previous year, shares with the present film the distinction of reviving some dramatic aspects of WWI, seemingly hoping to prepare the American public for entry into another European war.. Several subsequent Warner musicals were blatant war propaganda films. This includes "This is the Army ", "Thank Your Lucky Stars" and "Hollywood Canteen". Joan Leslie was the female lead in the first of these, as well as "Sergeant York"Of course, this film would hold up even better over time, if it had been shot in Technicolor. The same is true of a number of other top musicals during this era, including "Holiday Inn" and "Sun Valley Serenade". Yes, shooting in color was expensive and troublesome with the technology of the times, but it had been done with some far less deserving films.

utgard14 Grand Old Hollywood biopic of entertainer and songwriter George M. Cohan. As with all Hollywood biopics, past and present, it takes liberties with the facts for dramatic purposes. If you're someone who is irritated by that, watch something else. The rest of you just sit back and enjoy this great movie with lots of rousing songs and an Oscar-winning performance from James Cagney. Patriotic, uplifting, and lots of fun. If they made it today it'd be all about Cohan having a mistress or a heroin addiction or some other defamation designed to break down rather than build up. Back in the day Hollywood made biographies about people that focused on the good and inspirational qualities of their lives. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

gavin6942 A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan (played by James Cagney).While I am not big on musicals (with some exceptions) and not particularly fond of patriotic pictures... and I had never heard of George Cohan before seeing this film... I was quite impressed.Not necessarily impressed by the singing, dancing, acting and more, but impressed by who was doing it: James Cagney. Having seen Cagney as no fewer than three gangsters, I was thinking those were the roles he was meant to play. And while I still think that, I am impressed that he could sing and tap dance and more...Was Cagney typecast? It appears that way. But, at least for the audience, we were given some of the finest gangster films ever made because of it. And thanks to this film, Cagney received his much-deserved Oscar.