Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Michael Curtiz
Written By: Robert Buckner, Edmund Joseph
Starring: James Cagney, Walter Huston, George Tobias, Joan Leslie, Frances Langford, Richard Whorf, Irene Manning, Jeanne Cagney
Genres: Drama, Musical, Biography, Music
Country: USA
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Yankee Doodle Dandy belongs to 33 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 234 stars)
2. Roger Ebert: Great Movies (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 80 stars)
3. Academy Award - Oscar - Best Picture and Nominees (collaborative: moderated by smviper00 - 44 stars)
4. New York Times' The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 32 stars)
5. National Film Registry (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)
6. AFI 100 (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 27 stars)
7. Academy Award - Oscar - ALL Best Picture, Directing, Acting & Screenplay Nominees (collaborative - 22 stars)
8. films101.com's 5 star films (collaborative: moderated by ppinocchio - 11 stars)
9. Oscar: Best Actor (collaborative: moderated by kangadoodoo - 10 stars)
10. Cinema Discusso Yearly Consensus (2008) (public: PeaceAnarchy - 10 stars)
11. AFI 100 Most Inspiring Films (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 8 stars)
12. Biographical (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 7 stars)
13. David Thomson's 1000 Films (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 7 stars)
14. Musician / Composer (collaborative: moderated by djross - 6 stars)
15. Best of Classic Old Hollywood (pre-70s) (collaborative: moderated by 90sCoffee - 6 stars)
16. AFI 100 Years, Original 1998 list (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 5 stars)
17. Oscar: Original Music Score (collaborative: moderated by cagedwisdom - 4 stars)
18. Alternatif Film Öneri Listesi (public: Ozancan - 4 stars)
19. American Film Institute's Greatest Movie Musicals (collaborative: moderated by hristos - 2 stars)
20. Prestige Picture / Oscar Bait (collaborative: moderated by Ag0stoMesmer - 2 stars)
21. Hollywood Musicals: Year By Year (public: djross - 2 stars)
22. James Wong Howe, Cinematographer (collaborative: moderated by JooJoo - 1 star)
23. filmsite 100 Greatest Films (collaborative: moderated by pupetman64 - 1 star)
24. criticker's underrated (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 1 star)
25. Hollywood Hits, 1920 to present (collaborative: moderated by lisa- - 1 star)
26. Every Film Nominated For An Oscar (public: cayh - 1 star)
27. Blackface (collaborative: moderated by Hailey)
28. When Johnny Comes Marching Home (collaborative: moderated by darkman)
29. Academy Award-winning Actors and Actresses (collaborative: moderated by gunhaver)
30. Historical Figures (collaborative: moderated by comepelicula)
31. Orson Scott Card's Perfect Movie List (collaborative: moderated by BeeDub)
32. Filmspotting Ratings Project: Week 28 (public: PeaceAnarchy)
33. Jukebox Musical (collaborative: moderated by Ag0stoMesmer - -1 star)
Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
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MartinTeller | 67 30th |
I don't like Cagney that much... BUT I like the idea of Cagney, I like his persona. Gung-ho patriotism bugs me... BUT the patriotism here is presented in such a vague manner that it didn't bother me. And I don't care much for biopics... BUT it does have a breezy sense of fun. Cohan's songs don't ring my bells... BUT they're not terrible either. There's nothing brilliant about this movie... BUT there are some terrific little moments. I didn't love this film... BUT it was fairly entertaining.
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twincinema | 40 18th |
This film should have ended when the kids called the old man an old piece of shit that they don't remember.
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KasperL | 55 39th |
Okay, so Cagney can tap dance... Forgettable.
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Scottathon | 68 32nd |
Cagney is great, but everything else is somewhat mediocre.
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Theodora | 64 37th |
All these points are for Cagney. He might deserve 100.
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billkerwin | 93 91st |
This fully realized example of the Classical Hollywood style is also a flawless piece of jingoism--if such a thing be possible. It works because it presents patriotism as a form of theater and theater as a form of patriotism, both admirable for the virtues of confidence, energy and sincerity--qualities perfectly embodied in the rich performance of James Cagney as George M. Cohan. (The fact that we were fighting Hitler at the time helps a little too.)
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eveelun | 67 35th |
Cagney is phenomenal in both the dramatic and musical scenes, dancing wildly at one moment and evoking quiet sorrow in another. But the story feels too hokey. It might just be my modern cynical sensibilities, but there never was any real tension - it was relentless encomium and saccharine optimism. Though it came out a year after Citizen Kane, it feels decades older than that other sprawling biopic. Given Yankee's WW2 context, it's not a fair comparison - but I probably won't watch this again.
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PeaceAnarchy | 64 15th |
Mediocre attempt to mix drama, musical and patriotism where each aspect takes away from the others. The overarching story is interesting but it's predictable and drawn out and the musical numbers just cut the flow of the film, although they're not bad on their own.
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TedDedon | 93 90th |
Unflinchingly patriotic, this musical tells the fascinating story about George M. Cohan wonderfully. James Cagney puts on the best performance of his career and he's not even shooting people with a tommy gun. He's tap dancing. Yet, in spite of this, he's still a gangster. Great movie.
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Average Percentile 58.34% from 436 Ratings | ![]() |