Yankee Doodle Dandy

Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 film starring James Cagney and telling the life story of Broadway song-and-dance man George M. Cohan, the composer of songs such as "Over There", "You're a Grand Old Flag", and "Give My Regards To Broadway". Cohan's life is depicted from his beginnings with his family's vaudeville act, to fame and fortune as a Broadway composer and American patriot.

Yankee Doodle Dandy was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1993.


 * Academy Award: Won three Oscars, including Best Actor for Cagney.
 * Biopic
 * Call Back: We see Cohan composing the melody to "Over There", followed by the song being performed at a rally as America enters World War I. 25 years later, as America enters World War II, the song is sung again.
 * Eagle Land: One of the most unapologetic Flavor 1 examples ever made.
 * Happily Married: George and Mary (played by Joan Leslie).
 * History Marches On: Cagney as a dancing Franklin Delano Roosevelt comes off as odd to a modern viewer, but back in the day Roosevelt's paralysis was carefully concealed from the public.
 * Meaningful Echo: When "The 4 Cohans" perform together, George M. Cohan thanks the audience by saying, "My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you and I thank you." At the end of the movie when President Franklin Roosevelt presents him with the Medal of Freedom, Cohen thanked the President with those same words.
 * The Musical Musical: The presentation of Cohan's music and Cagney's recreation of Cohan's performances are far more accurate than the portrayal of Cohan's life story.
 * Off the Record: "Off the Record" from the musical I'd Rather Be Right is prominently featured.
 * Playing Against Type: Cagney actually had quite a bit of experience in musical theater. However, his film career had typecast him as a tough guy after he starred in hit gangster films like The Public Enemy and Angels with Dirty Faces.
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: Production on this film started just a few days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. After the attack, Warner Brothers then decided to make the most over-the-top patriotic film ever, and they did.
 * Significant Birth Date: The hero of this super-patriotic film was born on the 4th of July.
 * Throw It In: The most famous scene in the film, where Cohan tap-dances down a White House staircase, was ad-libbed by Cagney and done without any rehearsal.
 * Very Loosely Based on a True Story: The version of Cohan's life presented in the film is mostly fictional.