Best Actor 1942: James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy

James Cagney won his Oscar from his second nomination for portraying George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Yankee Doodle Dandy tells of the patriotic vaudevillian George M. Cohan.

This is a biography from the 40's so George M. Cohan has very few flaws. The only flaw one could really say he has at all is a lack of modesty about his talents as a performer, and a writer. This is only shown as all that negative of a thing when he is a kid, so really there is barely anything negatively said about George M. Cohan. James Cagney really does not really portray all that complex of a character in George M. Cohan. Who is Cohan, well he is a nice enough guy, who loves his family, loves his wife, loves his country, and most certainly loves show business. There really is not all that much there in terms of Cohan as a man, but what there is Cagney does realize, he really suggests everything he needs to about Cohan.

When there are somewhat more dramatic scenes required Cagney is up to the task, such as the dramatic death scene of George's father, sure it is perhaps a bit hokey, but Cagney certianly is good anyways. There are not really many more dramatic scenes besides that one, but he is also charming enough in his scenes with Joan Leslie as his wife. The focus of this performance though are the almost endless dance, and singing scenes that he is in, in his many reenactment of Cohan's actual songs, and plays. Cagney certainly is not a great singer, or even a great dancer, but this is not opera, or ballet, it is vaudevillian in style so what Cagney does do fits for the part.

In all of these scenes Cagney always has a very high level of energy which he infuses into the part in every single one of these scenes that certainly is notable. Cagney completely throws himself in the part in every scene and every single different song, or dance number of the Cohan repertoire. James Cagney performance is really not a complex one, and most of his scenes do consist of his various songs and dances, but everything in the part that there is Cagney does well in context of the film. Cagney certainly has a particular style in this film that certainly is old fashioned, but in its old fashioned way this performance most certainly works.

I don't have too much to add to my original thoughts, as they are all more or less consistent with what I still feel regarding Cagney's performance. There isn't a bit of negativity towards the man himself and even any hesitation for praise is more built within the fabric of the film. Having said that, I think can offer a bit more praise than I had originally given for what it already is. The performance itself is one could argue an against type Oscar win where Cagney, who was most known for his gangster turns, plays the complete antithesis of gangster, as a happy-go-lucky showman, whose dogged conviction to success is probably his greatest flaw if you can consider that a flaw. Cagney though isn't just successful at going against his expected genre, he's more successful than many of those who prided themselves within the song and dance man genre. Cagney throws into it the same conviction, particularly physical conviction, that he gave any of his gangsters turns. Cagney might not be a Fred Astaire, but he doesn't need to be. Cagney's presence makes the dances mesmerizing by as much engaging in this magnetic energy that is hard not to be captivated with even when not as technically impressive. His singing sounds like Cagney singing, though that is better than it might sound if you only knew him from his gangster fair, again it is the way he sells it that is more than enough. A supremely confident turn that sells every moment for what it's worth and his brand of sincerity make theoretical corn absolutely delicious.