Jackson Booth-Millard
I recognised the iconic movie poster (the first to be designed by the late great Bill Gold), of the leading actor in the Stars and Stripes top hat, I knew he was the winner of the Academy Award, and it was featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, so I was never going to miss it, from Oscar nominated director Michael Curtiz (The Adventures of Robin Hood, Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, White Christmas). This biopic tells the story of renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer, and singer George Michael Cohan, he was called "the greatest single figure the American theatre ever produced" and known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". Basically at the beginning of the Second World War, George M. Cohan (Oscar winning James Cagney) comes out of retirement to play President Roosevelt in the Rodgers and Hart musical I'd Rather Be Right. Then he is summoned to the White House to meet the President (Jack Young). Cohan begins to talk to the President about his life and career, the film flashes back to his childhood, all the way to his early days on stage, he was apparently born on the 4th of July (in real life it was the 3rd of July), while his father was performing on the vaudeville stage. Young Cohan (Douglas Croft) and his sister Josie (Patsy Lee Parsons) join the parents to become a family act after learning to dance, becoming successful performers The Four Cohans. But George gets too cocky as he grows up and is blacklisted by theatrical producers for being troublesome, he leaves the act and tries unsuccessfully to sell his songs to producers. Cohan forms a partnership with fellow struggling writer Sam Harris (Richard Whorf), and finally gets the interest of a producer and begins a road to success, Cohan also marries young singer/dancer Mary (Joan Leslie). As Cohan's stardom ascends, he persuades his now struggling parents to join his act, and to show his gratitude for his introduction into showbusiness, and everything they have ever done for him, he vests some of his valuable theatrical properties in their name. Throughout his successful career, Cohan created some of the most acclaimed Broadway shows, including Little Johnny Jones, Forty-five Minutes from Broadway, George Washington, Jr., Little Nellie Kelly and The Song and Dance Man, and wrote some of the most memorable and patriotic songs, including "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Over There" (the melody is famously used in the adverts for the price comparison site Gocompare.com). Cohan retires, but returns to the stage many times, culminating in the role of the U.S. President, which leads back to the present day. Cohan is flabbergasted to receive the Congressional Gold Medal simply for his song writing, the President tells him his songs are "a symbol of the American spirit", and "Over There" was "just as powerful a weapon as any cannon and any battleship". As Cohan leaves the White House, he performs a tap dance down the stairs, and outside he joins a military parade, with soldiers singing "Over There", Cohan does not sing at first, but someone not recognising him asks if he knows the words, Cohan responds by simply smiling and singing along. Also starring Oscar nominated Walter Huston as Jerry Cohan, George Tobias as Dietz, Irene Manning as Fay Templeton, Rosemary DeCamp as Nellie Cohan and Jeanne Cagney (James's sister) as Josie Cohan. Cagney gives the performance of his life and absolutely deserved his golden statue as the highly talented real-life musical star, the song and dance sequences are all highly enjoyable, it is very patriotic and sentimental, but it really salutes an American hero and serves its purpose, a splendid classic musical biography. It won the Oscars for Best Sound, Recording and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture, and it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Writing, Original Story and Best Film Editing. James Cagney was number 8 on 100 Years, 100 Stars - Men, "My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you." was number 97 on 100 Years, 100 Quotes, "The Yankee Doodle Boy" was number 71 on 100 Years, 100 Songs, the film was number 100 on 100 Years, 100 Movies, it was number 98 on 100 Years, 100 Greatest Movies, it was number 88 on 100 Years, 100 Cheers, it was number 18 on 100 Years of Musicals, and it was number 81 on The 100 Greatest Musicals. Very good!
