Yankee Doodle Dandy

UPC: 012569504127

Studio: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Suitable for Children]

Summary: Yankee Doodle Dandy is no more the true-life story of George M. Cohan than The Jolson Story was the unvarnished truth about Al Jolson -- but who the heck cares? Dandy has song, dance, pathos, pageantry, uproarious comedy, and, best of all, James Cagney at his Oscar-winning best. After several failed attempts to bring the life of legendary, flag-waving song-and-dance man Cohan to the screen, Warners scenarist Robert Buckner opted for the anecdotal approach, unifying the film's largely unrelated episodes with a flashback framework. Summoned to the White House by President Roosevelt, the aging Cohan is encouraged to relate the events leading up to this momentous occasion. He recalls his birth on the Fourth of July, 1878; his early years as a cocky child performer in his family's vaudeville act; his decision to go out as a "single"; his sealed-with-a-handshake partnership with writer/producer Sam Harris (Richard Whorf); his first Broadway success, 1903's Little Johnny Jones; his blissful marriage to winsome wife Mary (a fictional amalgam of Cohan's two wives, played by Joan Leslie -- who, incredibly, was only 17 at the time); his patriotic civilian activities during World War I, culminating with his writing of that conflict's unofficial anthem "Over There" (performed by Nora Bayes, as played by Frances Langford); the deaths of his sister, Josie (played by Cagney's real-life sister Jeanne), his mother, Nellie (Rosemary DeCamp), and his father, Jerry (Walter Huston); his abortive attempt to retire; and his triumphant return to Broadway in Rodgers & Hart's I'd Rather Be Right. His story told, Cohan is surprised -- and profoundly moved -- when FDR presents him with the Congressional Medal of Honor, the first such honor bestowed upon an entertainer. His eyes welling up with tears, Cohan expresses his gratitude by invoking his old vaudeville curtain speech: "My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I thank you." Glossing over such unsavory moments in Cohan's life as his bitter opposition of the formation of Actor's Equity -- not to mention George M.'s intense hatred of FDR! -- Yankee Doodle Dandy offers the George M. Cohan that people in 1942 wanted to see (proof of the pudding was the film's five-million-dollar gross). And besides, the plot and its fabrications were secondary to those marvelous Cohan melodies -- "Give My Regards to Broadway," "Harrigan," "Mary," "You're a Grand Old Flag," "45 Minutes from Broadway," and the title tune -- performed with brio by Cagney (who modifies his own loose-limbed dancing style in order to imitate Cohan's inimitable stiff-legged technique) and the rest of the spirited cast. Beyond its leading players, movie buffs will have a ball spotting the myriad of familiar character actors parading before the screen: S.Z. Sakall, George Tobias, Walter Catlett, George Barbier, Eddie Foy Jr. (playing his own father), Frank Faylen, Minor Watson, Tom Dugan, John Hamilton, and on and on and on. In addition to Cagney, music directors Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld also won Oscars for their efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Musical

Awards: U.S. National Film Registry – Library of Congress 100 Greatest American Movies – American Film Institute Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score - Musical – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score - Musical – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Original Story – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Acting – National Board of Review Best Actor – New York Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 10 Best Films – New York Times 10 Best Films – Film Daily

Features: ccAll-new digital transfer from restored picture and audio elements
Rousing documentaries chronicling the movie's making and James Cagney's career
Audio commentary
"John Travolta Remembers James Cagney"
Leonard Maltin hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1942 with trailer, newsreel, dramatic short, cartoon and Cagney in wartime short "You, John Jones"
More vintage cartoons
Galleries of art/photo/publicity materials and James Cagney trailers
Audio-only extras: Radio show and pre-recording session outtakes/rehearsals

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Format: DVD

Release Date: 09/30/2003

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 125 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 -- The Movie
1. Credits [1:11]
2. White House Summons [3:11]
3. F.D.R. [2:31]
4. It's a Boy [4:21]
5. Peck's Bad Boy [5:11]
6. A Place Without Talent [4:42]
7. Four of a Kind [1:57]
8. Old Man's Visitor [4:44]
9. I Was Born in Virginia [2:44]
10. The Warmest Baby in the Bunch [4:03]
11. Harrigan [4:25]
12. Splitting Up [3:10]
13. Partners [3:58]
14. The Yankee Doodle Boy [3:12]
15. Little Johnny Jones #2 [2:58]
16. Give My Regards to Broadway [4:40]
17. Family Reunion [2:03]
18. Mary's a Grand Old Name [3:02]
19. Fay Templeton [4:19]
20. Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway [3:12]
21. Mary Knew [2:43]
22. Templeton Medley [5:01]
23. Cohan Meets Foy [2:18]
24. You're a Grand Old Flag [5:24]
25. Just George Alone [4:32]
26. A Son's Gift [2:38]
27. Popularity... Lacking [4:03]
28. Needed More Here [2:47]
29. Over There [3:51]
30. Postwar Medley [2:10]
31. Dad's Final Curtain [3:22]
32. Just a Handshake [3:27]
33. What Was Your Name? [2:06]
34. Stage-Struck Again [2:52]
35. Off the Record [3:19]
36. Medal of Honor [2:30]
37. In Step [1:57]
38. Cast List [:39]
Side #2 -- Bonus Material
1. Nothing From Nobody (Credits) [1:34]
2. Early Years; Billie [3:16]
3. Hollywood; The Public Enemy [5:34]
4. Screen Actors Guild [2:57]
5. Song-and-Dance Man [2:51]
6. Pat O'Brien; the Bard [3:02]
7. Break From Warner [1:48]
8. Angels With Dirty Faces [2:42]
9. Cowboy; Red Scare [3:11]
10. Yankee Doodle Dandy [4:57]
11. White Heat [4:16]
12. Mister Roberts; The Seven Little Foys [1:58]
13. One, Two, Three... Retired [2:05]
14. AFI Award [2:41]
15. Strong Grip [2:03]
16. End Credits [1:29]

Richard Gilliam

Yankee Doodle Dandy was one of the best World War II-era patriotic propaganda films, and it has proven itself enduringly popular in the decades following its release. The film succeeds almost entirely on the performance of James Cagney as legendary song-and-dance performer George M. Cohan, although significant credit should also be given to director Michael Curtiz, who expertly stages each scene to display the talents of his star. The film features an over-the-top framing device in which Cohan tells his life's story in flashback to President Franklin Roosevelt. The story is effectively fiction, using only the outline of Cohan's life and some of his songs as reference points. The musical sequences are among the best in any film of the era. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won three, including Best Actor for Cagney. The real-life Cohan died shortly after the film's release, living long enough to see it and like it despite, or perhaps because of, its lack of accuracy about his life. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Walter Brooke  Actor 
Wallis Clark  Actor 
James Flavin  Actor 
Tom Dugan  Actor 
Eddie Acuff  Actor 
Edward Keane  Actor 
Frank Mayo  Actor 
Joyce Reynolds  Actor 
Dick Wessel  Actor 
Sailor Vincent  Actor 
Vivian Austin  Actor 
Georgia Carroll  Actor 
John Hamilton  Actor 
Phyllis Kennedy  Actor 
George Meeker  Actor 
Clinton Rosemond  Actor 
Joan Winfield  Actor 
Lee Murray  Actor 
Leon Belasco  Actor 
Dick Chandlee  Actor 
Frank Faylen  Actor 
William Hopper  Actor 
Sid Saylor  Actor 
Michael Curtiz  Actor 
Murray Alper  Actor 
William B. Davidson  Actor 
Creighton Hale  Actor 
Fred Kelsey  Actor 
Lon McCallister  Actor 
Ruth Robinson  Actor 
Poppy Wilde  Actor 
Bill Edwards  Actor 
Leslie Brooks  Actor 
William Forrest  Actor 
Mari Jo James  Actor 
Jo Ann Marlowe  Actor 
Francis Pierlot  Actor 
Thomas E. Jackson  Actor 
Ann Doran  Actor 
Harry Hayden  Actor 
Dolores Moran  Actor 
Jack Young  Actor 
Dorothy Kelly  Actor 
Henry Blair  Actor 
Spencer Charters  Actor 
Pat Flaherty  Actor 
Joyce Horne  Actor 
Audrey Long  Actor 
Garry Owen  Actor 
Charles B. Smith  Actor 
George M. Cohan  Composer (Music Score) 
Robert Buckner  Screenwriter 
Michael Curtiz  Director 
Edmund Joseph  Screenwriter 
Heinz Roemheld  Composer (Music Score) 
Hal B. Wallis  Producer 
Jack L. Warner  Producer 
Hugh MacMullan  Director 
James Cagney  Actor 
Joan Leslie  Actor 
Walter Huston  Actor 
Richard Whorf  Actor 
Irene Manning  Actor 
George Tobias  Actor 
Jeanne Cagney  Actor 
Rosemary de Camp  Actor 
Frances Langford  Actor 
George Barbier  Actor 
S.Z. Sakall  Actor 
Walter Catlett  Actor 
Douglas Croft  Actor 
Eddie Foy, Jr.  Actor 
Minor Watson  Actor 
Chester Clute  Actor 
Odette Myrtil  Actor 
Patsy Lee Parsons  Actor 

Country: USA