‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’: 13 Facts About the James Cagney Musical, Perfect for July 4th
Get an inside look like never before at the actor's Oscar-winning performance
Less than six months after the United States officially entered World War II, actor James Cagney’s most acclaimed film — and you’ll see why in the following Yankee Doodle Dandy facts — arrived in theaters, capturing the patriotic spirit that was sweeping the country, making it an instant classic.
Filmed between December 1941 and February 1942, the film is a biographical musical based on the life and (mostly) career of George M. Cohan, much of whose life (spanning 1878 to 1942) was spent as a playwright, lyricist, composer, singer, actor, dancer and theatrical producer. He is also the man who gave us such patriotic songs — perfect for the upcoming July 4 holiday — as “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “The Yankee Doodle Boy” and “Over There” (not to mention “Give My Regards to Broadway”).
While the music would have survived Cohan anyway (true art usually outlives the artist), the fact that Yankee Doodle Dandy has existed for the past 82 years and is deemed such a classic, the world will never forget the name George M. Cohan. And much of that is because of James Cagney.
Born July 17, 1899 in New York City, Cagney had made a name for himself playing an assortment of tough guys in acclaimed films like The Public Enemy (1931), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and White Heat (1949), but it’s his turn as Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy that in many ways came to define him and his career. The bottom line is that the film rises or falls based on his performance, and it’s unanimous that he nailed it.
“Mr. Cagney,” wrote The Atlanta Journal on October 15, 1942, “faced with the difficult task of impersonating a man known to millions, goes about the job with inspiration and zest and reveals amazing talents as a dancer and singer. So far as I can remember, Cagney has done little singing or dancing in his previous pictures; but if you think he can’t hoof — well, just have a look at Yankee Doodle Dandy … Jimmy Cagney proves he can do something besides portray tough little gangsters. As the ‘George M. Cohan’ of Yankee Doodle Dandy, he is a versatile and distinguished actor of great talent.”
Added the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that same month, “It’s almost as if Mr. Cohan scripted his life with Mr. Cagney in mind. Where one ends and the other begins, nobody can ever be quite sure, but between the two of them, Mr. Cohan, his deeds and inspiration, and Mr. Cagney, his energy and faithfulness, they have cooked up a corking composite that takes Yankee Doodle Dandy by the hand and leads it safely and happily home.”
As Cagney himself at first joked with Interview Magazine, the fact that he could dance earned him the part. “Cohan,” he said, “and I were about the same height, weight and build. Both of us had light hair, freckles and blue eyes, too, so in appearance we shared an Irish look. Same facial structure and features.”
In terms of the film’s standing as a classic, he credited that to the fact that the screenplay was reworked and rewritten throughout the production, everyone involved — including director Michael Curtiz — determined to get it right.
“It had everything in it, as well as a good storyline and honest family relationships,” Cagney emphasized. “Humor and some emotional impact were added along the way to round out the song and dance scenes. To arrive at the proper dance style, a friend was brought in to help.”
That friend was Johnny Boyle, an Irish-American self-taught tap dancer, film choreographer and teacher. He also happened to work on Cohan’s 1916 Broadway revue as well as Cagney’s 1937 film Something to Sing About.
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Explained the actor, “He knew the Cohan stiff-leg technique and was able to teach it to me. All in all, it was a good movie. Not only was it well-written and well-acted, but, most of all, it had heart.”
Undeniably, and these Yankee Doodle Dandy facts should prove even more illuminating about a film that truly is a classic, and one that deserves to be celebrated on Independence Day. It can be rented on Amazon Prime Video.
1. The Man Who Owned Broadway
“The Man Who Owned Broadway” was the nick-name given to George M. Cohan, and with good reason: he composed over 500 songs and was an integral force in transforming vaudeville to the American musical standards that continue to this day.
In its August 17, 1942 edition, the Dayton Daily News elaborated a bit: “Cohan has written and produced 38 plays, has been actively and financially interested in more than 100 others and has written more than 500 songs and musical numbers.”
Added The Kansas City Star a month later in response to the film, “When the movie has run its 2-hour course of tears, laughter and humanity, we were sure there can be no Broadway without Mr. Cohan. Anyone who says the two are not identical in shape, size and construction is just going out of the way to kid himself. We ran across one of those rare birds, a perfect musical, perfect because it breathes a beautiful American spirit and gives the emotions of an awful drubbing.
“There is nothing fancy about Yankee Doddle Dandy,” they elaborated, “just as there was nothing fancy about George M. Cohan or about a lot of other American institutions. Like most things you remember, it is sentimental. It has a large humor enveloping an honest-to-goodness Irish family — the four Cohans, and following them through their career on the stage, which is really the story of vaudeville and old Broadway.”
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2. 17 Going on 50
Portraying Mary, the love of Cohan’s life (according to the film), is actress Joan Leslie. What’s interesting is that she celebrated her 17th birthday during production, but on that day she had been made up to look like a 50-year-old woman. Movie magic indeed!
3. Speaking of Age …
Actress Rosemary DeCamp portrayed George M. Cohan’s mother, Nellie, but what’s interesting is that Rosemary was actually several years younger than on-screen son James Cagney.
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4. “That’s not my life!”
By all reports, George M. Cohan was not happy with elements of the screenplay that didn’t fully reflect the reality of his life. In an attempt to calm him down and change his feelings, a letter was written by screenwriter Robert Buckner, associate producer William Cagney and executive producer Hal B. Wallis.
“Under your construction,” they wrote, “the story is concerned largely with your chronology of productions, interspersed with personal scenes. We believe that the deep-dyed Americanism of your life is a much greater theme than the success story.”
It seemed to do the trick and, in the end, it was better that they had made changes, one reason for which was that the screen Cohan fell in love with Mary (played by Joan Leslie) and stayed with her for the rest of his life.
In reality, Cohan was married twice, first to actress Ethel Levey and then to chorus girl Agnes Mary Nolan. When Yankee Doodle Dandy was released, Levey attempted to sue virtually everyone over a violation of her rights of privacy, but the court disagreed, commenting that, as reported by the American Film Institute, “the introduction of fictional characters and a large fictional treatment of Cohan’s life may hurt Miss Levey’s feelings, but they do not violate her rights of privacy.”
5. George M. Cohan wanted a different actor to play him
Early on, George M. Cohan was insistent that Warner Bros. should hire dancer Fred Astaire to portray him, feeling that they were more similar physically. But, as classicfilmboy.com comments, “Fred Astaire turned it down, because Cohan’s eccentric, stiff-legged dancing was far removed from Astaire’s own, more fluid style.”
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6. Oscar winner
Yankee Doodle Dandy was nominated for a total of nine Academy Awards, taking home three in the categories of Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture; Best Sound Recording and Best Actor in a Leading role for Cagney, representing the only time he won an Oscar.
7. Painful dedication
During one of the dance routines, word is that James Cagney actually broke a rib, but it didn’t stop him from performing until that sequence was considered a lock. Then he decided to do something about that troublesome rib.
8. Cagney Siblings on film
This film represented the first time that James Cagney appeared on screen with his sister, Jeanne Cagney (who played his sister in the film). On top of that, his brother, William Cagney, served as associate producer.
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9. Two non-Cohan songs were included
Warner Bros. songwriter M.K. (Moe) Jerome and lyricist partner Jack Scholl wrote a pair of original songs for Yankee Doodle Dandy (“All Aboard for Old New York” and “Good Luck Johnny”). Cagney was furious that the duo did not get credit for their work, but Cohan refused to allow music written by anyone but him to do so.
10. George M. Cohan, take two
In 1955 — 13 years after the release of Yankee Doodle Dandy — James Cagney reprised the role of George M. Cohan in the Bob Hope film The Seven Little Foys, the two of them performing a duet. Refusing payment, Cagney wanted to pay tribute to actor Eddie Foy, whose son, Eddie Foy, Jr., had played him in Yankee Doodle Dandy.
11. Adding a bit of tap-dancing
There’s a wonderful moment when President Roosevelt gives Cohan the Congressional Gold Medal, and upon leaving the Oval Office, Cagney in character tap-dances down the stairs. While Cohan did receive the award from the president, the tap-dance was all Cagney.
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12. If you wanted to see the movie, forget about tickets
This is pretty unique: The attack on Pearl Harbor happening six months or so before Yankee Doodle Dandy was released, Warner Bros. came up with a unique idea: rather than sell tickets to the film at the New York premiere, they sold war bonds, raising over $5 million in the process.
13. James Cagney did have a favorite role
James Cagney made no secret of his favorite movie role. “Many people assume that one of those knock-down, drag-em-outs would be my choice,” the actor mused to the press. “A discerning critic can’t understand why I would choose Yankee Doodle Dandy over White Heat and The Public Enemy.
“The answer is simple, and it derives from George M. Cohan’s comment about himself: Once a song-and-dance man, always a song-and-dance man. In that brief statement, you have my life story; those few words tell as much about me professionally as there is to tell.”
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