I'm surprised that it has taken this long for the songs of George M. Cohan to make it into my Year. I consider him a seminal American songwriter, who deserves some credit for the integration of book and score if only because he wrote them all--script, lyrics, music. Okay, so as Yankee Doodle Dandy shows, his songs were particularly patriotic, but still, all that one-man-band stuff has got to lead to a little bit of the songs coming out of the story.
Why do I consider Mr. Cohan's music seminal. Well, it's one example of a way in which American composers and songwriters were trying to find an "American" voice for music in the early part of the 20th Century. Perhaps it started with Stephen Foster, but it certainly continued with classical composers like Charles Wakefield Cadman, Charles Ives, and perhaps most notably Aaron Copland. They were looking to throw off the shackles of European musical tastes--whether that was on the concert platform, the opera house or the Broadway theater. Cohan helped create a new vernacular for Broadway that, while very sentimental, was all about Americana. And while some of his songs are in the style of operetta, most are not.
This film from 1942 uses the story and music of Cohan to bolster a nation preparing for war--I mean bolsters its 1942 audience preparing for WWII--by depicting Cohan's music as a balm for a nation at war--the Great War. It works for the most part, particularly if you've ever been in a theater and been transported away from your own troubles.
My previous experience with the music of Mr. Cohan is from having been in the chorus of a production of George M--a musical created as a balm for a nation at war--the Vietnam War. There is nothing incendiary or rabble-rousing about his music. It is unadulterated flag-waving, and maybe I'm still in the mood to waive a flag after our recent Presidential election and inauguration. The funniest line for me in Yankee Doodle Dandy come from an actress considering a part in a Cohan production: "Can you write a play without a flag?" To which Cohan replies "I can write a play with nothing but a pen."
James Cagney won an Oscar for his depiction of Cohan, and deservedly so. No, he's not a great singer, but he is a lively dancer and delivers all the goods without ever dipping into irony. And it's such a change from the heavies he usually portrayed.
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Warner Bros. Film release of 1942
Music and lyrics by George M. Cohan
Cast: James Cagney
Why do I consider Mr. Cohan's music seminal. Well, it's one example of a way in which American composers and songwriters were trying to find an "American" voice for music in the early part of the 20th Century. Perhaps it started with Stephen Foster, but it certainly continued with classical composers like Charles Wakefield Cadman, Charles Ives, and perhaps most notably Aaron Copland. They were looking to throw off the shackles of European musical tastes--whether that was on the concert platform, the opera house or the Broadway theater. Cohan helped create a new vernacular for Broadway that, while very sentimental, was all about Americana. And while some of his songs are in the style of operetta, most are not.
This film from 1942 uses the story and music of Cohan to bolster a nation preparing for war--I mean bolsters its 1942 audience preparing for WWII--by depicting Cohan's music as a balm for a nation at war--the Great War. It works for the most part, particularly if you've ever been in a theater and been transported away from your own troubles.
My previous experience with the music of Mr. Cohan is from having been in the chorus of a production of George M--a musical created as a balm for a nation at war--the Vietnam War. There is nothing incendiary or rabble-rousing about his music. It is unadulterated flag-waving, and maybe I'm still in the mood to waive a flag after our recent Presidential election and inauguration. The funniest line for me in Yankee Doodle Dandy come from an actress considering a part in a Cohan production: "Can you write a play without a flag?" To which Cohan replies "I can write a play with nothing but a pen."
James Cagney won an Oscar for his depiction of Cohan, and deservedly so. No, he's not a great singer, but he is a lively dancer and delivers all the goods without ever dipping into irony. And it's such a change from the heavies he usually portrayed.
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Warner Bros. Film release of 1942
Music and lyrics by George M. Cohan
Cast: James Cagney
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