Yankee Doodle Dandy

1942 | Musical | 126 minutes | English

Info

George and his sister join the Cohan family act as soon as they can learn to dance and act. Soon the Four Cohans are performing successfully on stages around the country. But George is a difficult, cocky kid, a known troublemaker. He’s blacklisted by theatrical producers which forces him to leave the act and go on his own. George starts to hawk songs he’s written but it’s a struggle. Things start to gel as he finally interests a producer. Along the way he marries Mary, a young singer/dancer. George wrote and performed his songs in many of his Broadway shows, introducing such hit songs as Give My Regards to Broadway, While Strolling Through the Park One Day, Harrigan, and Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway. His show, Little Johnny Jones, produced his most spectacular song, Yankee Doodle Dandy. The highlight of George’s life is when he is summoned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the White House and is presented with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Cast

James Cagney (George M. Cohan); Douglas Croft (George M. Cohan, age 13) / Jeanne Cagney (Josie Cohan); Patsy Lee Parsons (Josie Cohan, age 12) / Walter Huston (Jerry Cohan) / Rosemary De Camp / Jack Young (President Franklin D. Roosevelt) / Joan Leslie (Mary Cohan)

Why Stream This Film?

The United States has its National Anthem; if there was a National Anthem for Film, it would surely be Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Rotten Tomatoes Score (Critics Consensus): 93%
Metacritic Score: 89

Accolades

Academy Awards: Winner, Best Picture; Best Actor (James Cagney); Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Walter Huston)
National Board of Review: Winner, Best Actor (James Cagney)
New York Film Critics Circle Awards: Winner, Best Actor (James Cagney)
The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”