YANKEE DOODLE DANDY
Let’s talk favorite movies! I love music and musicals, add patriotism, and I’m in heaven! A movie with all this, plus a great story is “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Though very old, this movie is my all-time favorite! Featuring George M. Cohan songs, this movie is foot-stomping fun! One of my favorites is “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” It goes,
“You’re a grand old flag
You’re a high-flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave
You’re the emblem of—the land that I love
The home of the free and the brave…”!
Do you love this too? And another favorite of mine is “Over There.” The heart-pounding lyrics are:
“Over there, over there
Send the word, send the word over there
that the Yanks are coming—the Yanks are coming
the drums rum-tuming everywhere
So prepare, say a prayer
send the word, send the word to beware
We’ll be over, we’re coming over
and we won’t come back till it’s over – over there!”
These songs were written in 1906 and 1917, respectively. Beautiful pieces of Americana featured in “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” And way back in my sixth-grade play, we sang these rousing songs to my eternal delight. James Cagney played the part of George M. Cohan, impeccably dancing in Cohan’s straight-leg rendition. Though I love every second of the story, some poetic license was taken in the movie. For instance, Irish American George M. Cohan proudly announced his birthday of July 4 th in common with that our great country, but alas he was born July 3rd. The song “Mary” he wrote supposedly for his one and only wife with that name, was really written for the character Mary Jane Jenkins in the play, “Forty-five Minutes from Broadway.” There were other changes to keep the movie fun and unincumbered. Cohan’s real-life daughter, Georgette, quipped, “That’s the kind of life Daddy would have liked to have lived.” A fascinating addition to the movie is a spectacular scene of Cohan dancing down the stairs of the White House after a receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Franklin Roosevelt. That dance and particular medal didn’t really happen either. But the tap dance was a last-minute idea and impromptu performance by actor James Cagney, and filmed in one take. Despite deviation from some real-life occurrences, the movie is a classic worth seeing again and again! I know because I’ve seen it many times to my everlasting enjoyment.
What is your favorite movie and why?