Alas, we have come to the first musical on the list. Not that it took too long since it’s the third movie on my way up to number one. Before watching this movie I had never seen a James Cagney anything — trust me, I looked through his IMDB resume to make sure. What I did know is that James Cagney was a big deal. He’s one of the OG Hollywood Legends. So much of a legend that he’s listed at #8 on AFI’s “50 Greatest American Screen Legends.” That’s how you know you’re in for a treat. One thing this film had going for it was that I already knew the title song because of a little film called, Steel Magnolias — the one with Julia Roberts and Sally Field. There’s a scene where they sing the “Yankee Doodle Dandy” because it’s the baby’s birthday. But, enough with the side story. Other than that fun factoid, I knew nothing.
Basic Premise of the Film: The trials and tribulations in the life of George Cohan, a famous vaudevillian and Broadway actor — who’s kind of a cocky douche sometimes. Starts on his birthday, July 4th in the early 1900s and goes all the way to him in semi-retirement at the onset of WWII. Totally based on a true story.
A habit I have after watching certain movies is to go on Wikipedia to see what fun facts I can read about (sometimes I’ll read the actual trivia page on IMDB). It was through doing this that I found out that this film is biographical. The first biopic on this list! There really was a guy named George Cohan — who knew!? I’m sure all of you who’ve seen it did. Anyways, this movie was great. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what put it on the list, but when you think about it, the musical production was great. I mean, who isn’t still singing “You’re a Grand Old Flag?” If it hadn’t been for George Cohan, I would have never learned that song in elementary school. Beside the title song, there were lots of amazing musical numbers. The pacing was excellent. I didn’t really feel the two hour length of the film — that could have also been aided by the fact that I was folding laundry as I watched it. BUT the movie never dragged on or anything.
When the “100 Greatest” list was first introduced in 1998, this film was listed at #100; 10 years later it got bumped up a couple of spots. Now, I don’t know if this film is better than Ben-Hur, but it definitely is more culturally and historically significant. It covers a specific period of American entertainment history, sometime that Ben-Hur doesn’t do.
I viewed this film online. CLICK HERE to watch it. I apologize in advance for the inappropriate ads (no nekkids or anything, just VERY suggestive). But hey, free movie right? It’s also available for rent on YouTube for $3.
And for funsies, here’s a clip from the film to make you feel a little extra patriotic (song starts at 1:05)
secret life of an almost "Grown-Up" 