Cinema {ish} With Jennifer: Yankee Doodle Dandy

AFI # 98: Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942

What I “Think” The Movie is about

A biography of the life of The great Babe Ruth, his time with the New York Yankees and the rest of his historic 35-year career.

The Real Review

“A man named George falls in love with a girl named Mary and meets an angel named Clarence. Wait, different George, wrong movie, let’s start again. A man named

Cohen

..I mean Cohan is nervous when the President of the United States

Donald Trump

 Franklin Delano Roosevelt summons him to the oval office. While there, Cohan is presented with a Medal of commendation and has flashbacks with the President about his time as a struggling tap dancing leprechaun all the way to his Broadway staring days. Cohan is

very

thankful to the President for the recognition. His mother is thankful, his father his thankful, his sister is thankful, and I'm pretty sure his hamster, Atriums is also thankful.”

                         Wrong George and Mary          Right George and Mary

      Wrong (Cohen) and President              Right (Cohan) and President

This movie

surprised

me in many ways. This

was

a musical and

NOT

a baseball movie as I had hoped it would be. Also, it is a true story and based on a real person. I didn't know that! This discovery was made when George mentions his sister as "Being gone now." I asked myself, "Where did she go? Did she die, did she go to market, to the salon to get her nails done?" I need details George. After consulting the great and powerful Wikipedia, I began to see facts on what I

thought

was a fictional character only to realize that these people were REAL! Another surprise was the music! With the exception of a few songs, I was very familiar with most of the tunes. Give My regards to Broadway, You're a Grand Old Flag, and my favorite (thanks to the Golden Girls) Over There.

I enjoyed the movie, but I must admit I had to watch it

twice

to fully understand what was going on (I'm not stupid, I swear). The flashback didn't help, then I kept confusing George's sister for his would-be wife. I asked my husband 3 times “Now is that his girlfriend or his sister? Oh, they are kissing, I

hope

it’s his girlfriend.”

The dancing is what

really

caught my eye! When I saw the name 'Cagney' in the opening credits my mind immediately went to great, it's a “tough guy film.” When I saw it was a musical I then became worried because "surely this guy can't dance." WRONG! He sang and danced through-out the whole film and it was wonderful! In fact I replayed several scenes over and over again almost because I was so taken with his skills. So taken in fact, I tried to copy his moves at home. I’ll let you know when I find my knee caps again. Thankfully I don't have access to a stair case, I probably would have broken my neck!

Are you a fan of Yankee Doodle Dandy and want to watch along with me? Click HERE to read my 'live' scene reactions while I watched this movie for the first time.

Also, are you looking for a serious review of this movie and the rest of movies on AFI's greatest 100 list? Check out the The Confusing Middle and read his thoughts!

3 movies down, 97 to go. Next up, Blade Runner!