Artist:James Cagney
Song:You're a Grand Old Flag
Album:Yankee Doodle Dandy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Fans of movie musicals are going to want to check out the soundtrack for the 1943 musical Yankee Doodle Dandy. This is a biopic about famed songwriter George M. Cohan for which James Cagney won an Oscar. Cagney was one of Hollywood's biggest stars but he didn't like being typecast as a tough guy. He was born July 17, 1899 in New York City. He started tap dancing as a boy. He was also an amateur boxer but his mother wouldn't let him turn pro. Cagney appeared in vaudeville and on Broadway in the 20s. After Cagney and Joan Blondell appeared on the play Penny Arcade, Al Jolson bought the play and sold it to Warner Bros. on the condition that Cagney and Blondell star in it. This led to Cagney's 1931 breakthrough film The Public Enemy and to years of tough guy typecasting. This and money were a constant battle between Cagney and Warner Bros. president Jack Warner. After leaving Warners and winning a lawsuit, Cagney returned in 1938. In 1942, famed patriotic songwriter George M. Cohan agreed to have his life turned into a movie. Yankee Doodle Dandy producer Hal B. Wallis always said that Cagney was his only choice to play Cohan, Cohan himself wanted Fred Astaire. But Astaire agreed with Wallis and passed. Of course the film was a great success and Cagney won a Best Actor Oscar. It was the pinnacle of his career and he wasn't playing a tough guy. The soundtrack was first released in 1992 by Curtain Calls. Turner Classic Movies acquired the rights and released it via Rhino. BTW, the black singer in the video is William Gillespie of Golden Echo Quartet. He also appeared in the 1941 film Blues in the Night. Cagney again left Warner Bros. to start a production company with his brother. That didn't go well and Cagney returned to Warners to make White Heat in 1949. Cagney continued until his 1962 retirement. He returned in the 1981 film Ragtime. His health continued to deteriorate until he died on Mar. 30, 1986 at age 86. Here's James Cagney performing You're a Grand Old Flag from the 1943 film Yankee Doodle Dandy.
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