Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Screenplay by Robert Buckner and Edmund Joseph

Runtime: 2 hr, 6 min

Well, now we’re in the thick of December, and when December comes, that can only mean one thing.  That’s right; I’m dedicating the remainder of the month to reviewing films directed by Michael Curtiz, who was born this month in 1886.  Curtiz was born in Hungary, but moved to the States and became a ridiculously prolific director, perhaps best known for Casablanca.  I’d like to start by belatedly celebrating Fourth-of-July-in-December with one of his musical efforts, Yankee Doodle Dandy.

A very loose biopic of American composer George M. Cohan, the films finds James Cagney as its hero.  He recounts his life story to FDR, who has called him into his office for a meeting.  Cohan was born on the Fourth of July into a vaudeville family, with whom George quickly becomes a star.  Once he strikes out on his own, he teams up with Sam Harris (Richard Whorf) to produce a string of Broadway hits and American standards, while falling in love with fellow actress-singer Mary (Joan Leslie).  All with musical numbers galore!

Okay, I need to get this out of the way immediately: Yankee Doodle Dandy is a rather poorly structured film.  The problem is that the film follows the entirety of Cohan’s life; this is a problem because as a result there is no central conflict.  Sure, Cohan faces several conflicts during his life, but they are at best loosely interconnected and are solved almost instantaneously.  Whether it’s breaking through in the world of theater or trying to woo the critics, there is potential for a central struggle, but that doesn’t develop.

This is not to say that the miniature conflicts are not interesting, or that their quick resolutions are unsatisfactory.  That happens to be the case for quite a few of them, but not all.  For example, that as child actor Cohan is clearly too big for his tap shoes foreshadows his later bravado, which makes building business relations difficult, and getting himself blacklisted from theatrical productions for his attitude presents a struggle to break into the scene.  In fact, had Yankee Doodle Dandy just focused on his early life, I could see it working spectacularly.

Unfortunately, where I would end the movie is not even the halfway point.  About 55 minutes in, Cohan and Harris’ Little Johnny Jones premieres, and given its length, the staging and the presence of “The Yankee Doodle Boy”, it’s no wonder that it feels climactic, especially after Cohan’s struggles to get through the front door of Broadway.  But there’s still over an hour of film to go, and while other events happen and songs are written, it feels as if Yankee Doodle Dandy stops moving forward as a movie.

A shame, really, because Cagney puts his all into the performance.  He sings with emotion but without bombast and his dancing is lively.  On top of that, despite the fact that Cohan comes across as a bit of jerk, Cagney manages to imbue a lot of likeability into the character; this is most true regarding his resourcefulness, as he improvises his way into a play by going up to Harris’ table cold and pretending to have music and a deal with another production team.   After all, it’s that gusto and wit that you want representing America in the Second World War, right?

Speaking of America and the war, what surprised me the most was that, in this day and age, I did not find the ridiculously patriotic tone of the film to be annoying.  In fact, it’s rather charming to see songs such as “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “Over There” sung with such energy and conviction.  Sure, the sheer amount of flag-waving gets a bit grating, and the more blatantly propagandistic elements of the production are uncomfortable, but overall the red, white and blue music festival is very easy to enjoy if that sort of thing is not an instant deal-breaker for you.

The other aspects of the film are take-it-or-leave-it affairs (except the blackface act; that can exit stage left).  Neither Joan Leslie nor Richard Whorf turn in bad performances, but neither does much to elevate their characters beyond merely supporting parts in Cohan’s life.  Though appropriate for the subject matter, the staging of the musical numbers is a bit too stagey, and Curtiz’s direction becomes predictable.  And though the script does get some good jokes in here and then, it also lays several eggs.  So much of Yankee Doodle Dandy is merely competent.

Keep in mind, I saw this move on Independence Day, so I was in about as patriotic a mood as I could muster.  And Yankee Doodle Dandy is not that bad as a musical, certainly better than others I’ve seen for this project.  But as a movie, its poor structure prevents any steam building up behind the plot, and though Cagney is on top of the world as Cohan, ultimately not even he can elevate the material enough to earn it a passing grade.  I say just skip the movie and sing along to the tunes; methinks you already know the words.