Yankee Doodle Dandy
I am trying to watch all 100 of the movies on the AFI 100 Years...100 Movies List list. I had attempted to do this previously but only ended up watching number 99, Ben Hur. I got stopped by entry 98, which I want to write about today, Yankee Doodle Dandy.
I don't know how to put this delicately: I did not enjoy this movie.
It's a biopic, so it falls into the various trappings of biopics: Someone has an “ah-ha moment” and does what they are most remembered for, someone does something and it's overshadowed by history etc.
The movie is about the Life of George M. Cohan, who was affectionately known as The Father of Broadway. It tracks his life from being born on the Fourth of July to receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor privately in the Oval Office from FDR personally (?). He receives the award after recounting his life to FDR and to us the audience.
A pretty big deal is made about the fact that he was born on the Fourth of July and is patriotic because many of his shows were about patriotism, so I think it's important to contextualize that this movie was released in 1942. With America's participation in World War II in full swing this probably seemed to be a pretty important picture at the time.
The problem is, biopics of entertainers are not important. Or rather, they have a very short shelf life. I can only imagine trying to explain to someone in 2086 the importance of Ray Charles via the movie Ray.
I enjoyed some of the vaudeville jokes. It was interesting to see James Cagney doing dancing and singing (well before Hugh Jackman). The plot moves a lot more once Cohan is in his 20s (something I feel can be said for a lot of biopics). And, Cohan wrote a few good songs. I will note that my favorite of his, “Over There” is pretty simplistic.
Simply put, without context this choice on the list is baffling. I suppose this movie is to bridge the gap between theater that came before and movies after.
Regardless, I am glad to cross it off, but I don't think I will ever think of this movie again.
Postion
Skip it