Saturday Night at the Movies: Born on the Fourth of July
Give Your Regards to Broadway
Perhaps you, like me, are a big fan of The Great American Songbook. These standards - by the likes of Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers, and Berlin - defined the quintessentially American jazz age and, among other laurels, will continue to provide soundtracks for romantic comedies for as long as movies exist.
Considering that our country was founded in 1776 (or, as your kids are learning in school, 1619) and Gershwin and co didn’t start pumping out the hits til closer to 1920, did you ever wonder who made the Songbook American before it became Great?
The answer - the man who invented the musical, who made Broadway Broadway - is George M Cohan. If you’ve been to Times Square, you’ve seen his statue - built there at the insistence of Oscar Hammerstein himself. If you’ve been to Times Square with a time machine, you‘ve seen nights when every single theatre on Broadway would be playing a Cohan production. And, unlike Berlin or Gershwin, Cohan himself would often be up there, singing and dancing away!
All of which is to say, if you’re interested in American music, George M Cohan is a name to know. There is no better way to do so than by sitting back and enjoying Jimmy Cagney’s Oscar-winning portrayal of him in Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Cagney is best remembered by many for his gangster films, but he, like Cohan, was a vaudevillian at heart and he makes the most of his many talents in this fantastic, patriotic film.
Cohan was indeed born on the Fourth of July, and he never forgot it. There is no better movie for this Independence Day, so go and watch it - just don’t blame me if you fall trying to dance down the stairs!
Doctor, there's something about that scene in which Cohan goes dancing down the staircase at the White House which brings a lump to my throat. I've never been able to find out whether Cohan actually closed shows with the flourish, "My father thanks you, my mother thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I thank you," but I hope he did. It's total kitsch, but it would have gone over beautifully with the audiences of that period. Joseph Mitchell's portrait of essentially a washed up Cohan circa 1930 is well worth the reading.
I've also never been able to find out much about the show, I'd Rather Be Right. I hope the scenarist did include the scene of a dancing Roosevelt, but obviously, someone came up with the idea. To me, that set piece within the movie is the best thing about it.
Cagney won Best Actor and how could he not have? It's not really an acting performance, and who cares?
For my money, Stephen Foster was the first great American songwriter. It would be hard for someone to ever have made a movie about him, though. He seems to have been so remote in life as to be ghostlike.
Another Cagney movie which I love and which you've probably seen is The Strawberry Blonde. There is nothing about that movie which isn't great. Even the name of Rita Hayworth's character, Virginia Brush, is perfect for a young woman in late Victorian era Brooklyn.
It's a blessing to have movies preserved for the toe-tapping, sing-along glory of great entertainment.
My family moved to NY in the sixties, and my parents adored theater. I was privileged to witness some iconic musicals, including "George M!" starring Joel Grey in the Cohan lead. (1968... Bernadette Peters earned her chops as the sister). Memorable, prompting regular viewings of Cagney in the super film role.
Another fabulous musical (based on historical America) worth mentioning is "Purlie" from 1970, adapted from Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee's play, "Purlie Victorious." Cleavon Little dazzled in the lead role. Sherman Hemsley & Melba Moore were fantastic new talented soon-to-be stars and not to take anything away from Ossie & his wife, the musical was better than the play.
Sorry to digress from movies to live theater, but seeing it in person gives one a true appreciation of the talent, strength and skill necessary to sing, dance and navigate stairs in one take! Oh, to be so gifted!!
Thx for the memories!