There’s a wide variety of types of movies on this list and none are quite like this one. Oftentimes movies made in the 30’s and 40’s feel similar to movies made today; however this one feels like it existed in the time it was made.
No shade on it. It almost made me feel nostalgic for a time I never lived in for its optimism and its ability to look only at the good of something. Hell, it’s what I strive to do with these articles.
Here we are with 1942’s Yankee Doodle Dandy, written by Robert Ruckner and directed by Michael Curtis.
One aspect of the movie that makes it such a positive force is its message: in America You Can Rise to anything. And George Cohan is the ultimate epitome of it.
Sharing America’s birthday, he rises to the top by embodying America’s strongest values: optimism, imagination, creation, independence, and the ability to always strive to be better. Love or hate the values, you can’t deny that they’re what brought him so far.
Interestingly, he doesn’t go through a ton of struggles in the film. He instead holds on to what he has and keeps on persevering before a challenge can even hit him.
Even though the movie originally wanted Fred Estaire to play Cohan, Cagney is almost a stronger choice: an actor who also had the strength to persevere through almost anything thrown his way. While gangster pictures might be what he’s known for the most, there’s a unique glee that seems to live in him throughout the movie.
Yankee Doodle Dandy really sets the stage (ok, pun not originally intended, but I’m not erasing it now) for the musical biopic. Biopics of people who have had fascinating lives can be a wild ride by serving as a vehicle for letting us be that character (Being John Malkovitz style). Usually movies have to have plot conflicts, etc. However, I don’t know if it’s really the point with this genre.
This genre almost works by allowing us to live vicariously through the life of someone who had an amazing life, and instead of showing them warts and all, we see that wart-free version of them because–because it’s more fun to live vicariously through them that way.
And then so much of the film is enjoying the dance numbers and the music and just the joy of getting to be this perfect version of George Cohan.
So we almost have an entirely different expectation from this movie than a Maltese Falcon or a 12 Angry Men.
So all in all, I don’t have a lot to say about this movie (I’m reminded of the Steve Martin quote where he says talking about music is like dancing about architecture).
And I’m literally talking about music in this movie, but then I’m also talking about the music of the idealized life of George Cohan.
I’m glad the film exists, and I have no problem with it being on the list. I do have a sweet spot for the optimistic American spirit and a movie that serves no other purpose than making us feel good and like we can do anything.
And maybe a movie like this is needed in this divided world we’re in now. Every so often it’s ok to feel good, dance about architecture, and stick a feather in our hats and call it macaroni.
Thanks for reading!