This is why It's called The Golden Age of Hollywood. When was the last time you saw a Movie that made you feel the way this movie makes you feel, the way you do. As it ends.
None- they try, but the magic just isn't there anymore, perhaps the innocence is gone, we're 'too knowing, too cynical' to just enjoy spectacles like this anymore- makes me deeply sad.
The late Richard Attenborough once said in a TV interview that he loved the way movies could lift us up or make us cry or smile. He confessed that his favourite schmaltzy moment in all Cinema was Cagney tapping down those White House stairs !!
william wright: I, too, cry @ movies, just None out of Hollywood 4 sev-eral decades... rarely. Garbage nowadays. Clint Eastwood is 'on' 2 something: mak-ing movies w/ real people that don't have an Agenda of hating America.
This is very patriotic and I love it, questioning authority when you think it's wrong is also very patriotic, and most importantly your right to do so as an American.
"Jimmy Cagney did a SUPERB version of Cohan!!!!, he put his heart into this movie for sure, Cagney was not only a great dance man and actor, but a very strong Patriot, and he put his feelings in this movie"!!!! 😉🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
This is one of my favorite movies. The man could dance! I saw a clip of Cagney and Bob Hope dancing and they were great. Seems like most people loved Cagney except his children.
Only James Cagney could do that with a dance and that is really him doing it, such a class act! I thought he was really great in the movie (Mr. Roberts) with Henry Fonda, William Powell, Ward Bond, Jack Lemmon.
I never tire of watching the stair dance, even though it frustrates me not being able to follow it close enough to be able to copy it it I had to. And he improved it! Cagney's performing gifts were never ending!
I always thought I'd like to own one of Cagney's suits from this film, but now I want the shoes he wore going down the stairs at the end. Those would be priceless.
Stay proud of your Irish forefathers. There was a time in Boston and New York and other Northeast cities the Irish were villianized. There were signs in shop windows , NINA.(no Irish need apply) They had their own schools, and becauae mist werw Catholic, their own churches. Talk about segregation. Thank heavens those days are behind us. Remember..JFK was an Irish American!!🇺🇸🇺🇸
I have watched this movie every year for over 65 years. I saw the play "Cagney" on Broadway, and think he was the greatest actor of all time. I also loved him in "Strawberry Blond", West Point Story, City For Conquest and Mr. Roberts! His acting range was incredible! His gangsters and criminals were scary! RIP James Cagney! From an Italian immigrant family.
@@johnjones5354 Then you probably don't remember the commercial:" You don't have to be Jewish to Love Levy's." (rye bread)? Just like you don't have to be Irish to love James Cagney or Yankee Doodle Dandy! That was the point I was trying to convey to Craig Clarke.
I miss the old USA. It wasn't perfect, but it was harder, better and more free than now. You knew hard work would bring a good future- there actually was a future to look foreword to.
DOnnelle Barfield There will always be a minority. The way the system is, there can be no other way. Besides, the term "minority" is an incorrect term, since there is a "minority" of rich people, motivated people, insightful people, entrepreneurs, politicians and so on. We are all minorities. We falsely place our worth on money- the system wants you to do so to keep you depressed so they may control you. You can be poor of money yet rich in spirit and only one of these lasts forever. Jesus was dead broke, Caesar was money rich- who was the better man? Who actually had the power? But I do understand what you mean.
NO EXCUSES--THE ONLY OBSTACLE YOU HAVE IS **YOU**!! Google "List of African American Scientists and Inventors". (Includes both male & female, and the list goes on, and on, and on.) When you've finished that, then Google "African American Women in Medicine", followed by "African American Women in Computer Science". That ought to last you for the 1st couple of hours, at least. *THEN*, Google "Warren Washington receives National Science Medal, National Center for Atmospheric Research, 2010". Need I go on? The list is endless...
Yes, we were free to speak our minds and believe in America's greatness. Now, we have thought-control police who claim to believe in freedom, but only as long as they control the message.
It is true that dance sequence down the stairs was not scripted and it was Cagney who felt that it would be a great finale...turned out to be one of the highlights of an unforgetable film. Cagney was quite an athlete. In the restored colour footage of Gold Diggers 0f 1929 two male dancers come on and do some remarkable tap dancing (including somersaults and landing on the heads). The one on the right with the red hair is presumed to be a young Cagney. Watching that rare footage is like watching the formation of a cosmic star.
Who Else But The Late Great James Cagney To Play The Late Song And Dance Man George M.Cohan,In 1942 Film Classic "Yankee Doodle Dandy"? It Was Role James Cagney Was Born To Play.
Matthew Bulger Oh I agree.. I watch it every year thanks goodness for Turner Classics and now a DVR one can tape it.. certain parts just tug at one.. these last two scenes especially.. :)
I love that film, for what I remember the values of America meant to me and....you saw the power and boundless talent of the great James Cagney! Roosevelt was beautifully done in this scene too! Those were...sure as hell...The Days!
You couldn't say it better! Movies like this & actors like James Cagney can & never will be replaced or duplicated! Long live the old-time films & songs! :)
I always liked to think that the man standing next to James Cagney in the crowd at 3:20-3:25, when he turned to look at Cagney and made that face, it was because he recognized him as George Cohan and realized they were all singing his song. Whether or not that's true, I don't know, but I like to think so.
Always loved this movie. Have seen it several times. Only bump is when he calls it the Congressional Medal of Honor. It's the Medal of Honor, awarded by congress.
Watch this movie at least 3 times a year and thank to you tube I get to see my favorite parts. The hoofing down the stairway is the best part of the movie. The little gangster is great and showed the world he was just a bad guy..
Herman Melville himself made fun of nit-pickers in the Preface to his novel Moby Dick. He called them "sub-sub-librarians", and I couldn't agree more. Face it: "Those that can, DO; those that can't, CRITICIZE."...
Resonates with me too. A time when our president and government weren't just about political power and narcissism, when we had a leader, in FDR, who actually believed in American values and tried to support them abroad. Unlike now where our president is attacking our cherished symbols like the Statue of Liberty, doesn't know thing 1 about our other traditional values (democracy, Bill of Rights freedoms, equality of opportunity regardless of race/ethnicity/creed, immigration nation with no national language or ethnicity because to be American is supposed to be much bigger than such things). Who makes the USA more the friend of anti-American tyrants than our traditional role as the friend of democracy, and is trying to redefine America as a place for "whatever makes whites like me happy." Supported by like-minded fools waving the American flag, but it's just three colors and egotistical self-worship for them, not really believing in the America behind it.
YOU DONT HAVE A CLUE.....part of the reason Cagney made this film...was because he was being accused of being a commie...many lives were ruined..careers destroyed...relationships destroyed all by men...who had more desire for personal ambition..then they ever did for their country.....anyone can wave a flag while they are taking you to war and stealing your rights....people WHO QUESTION POWER..are the ONLY PATRIOTS!
First, let say that the Congressional Gold Medal is the same thing as the Congressional Medal of Honor. The full name is Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. James Cagney has been my favorite actor of all time since I was ten years old when I first saw him in 'Footlight Parade' in which he stood out over all the other performers and when he made his first appearance in the movie, he instantly became my favorite actor. Yankee Doodle Dandy has been my favorite of all James Cagney 's movies and one of my favorites of all time. To date I have seen all of his 60+ movies except maybe 3 or 4 of them. James Cagney is one of the greatest and best actors of all time.
No one is gonna mention how good of a FDR portrayal that is. Must’ve been weird having the current President being portrayed on film. That voice is pretty good.
This scene is mirrored in real life when Reagan bestowed upon Jim, the Medal Of Freedom award, in 1984. Check the clip on youtube, if interested, it can be found under the description, President Reagan remarks on the medal of freedom ceremony on march 29, 1984...possibly the last public glimse of the peerless Cagney...
Nice scene if you can ignore the fact that this happened in 1936 when America was not at war and the fact that the medal is called the Congressional Gold Medal; there is no such thing as the Congressional Medal of Honor
.in Cagneys GANGSTER films.. I really wanted him to burst into song.&dance..wudnt a gone down well wid them hoodlums, but BOY wud them DAMES dropped at his ft.
I love it when Cagney pushes the grapefruit in Frances Langford's face. That was really........Huh?..............What??!! Well...............hmmmmmmmm...........Uhhhhh, never mind.
The Yanks fought alongside us Brits in two World Wars and here we are in 2020 with another war on our hands, fighting an unseen enemy but I know the Americans will help us find the vaccine to beat it. Thanks.
You know it wasn't planned for him to dance down the steps, he said he just did it spontaneously, and it worked wonderfully. Cagney is great. I watch this every July 4th.
He said the director couldn't believe he did that. "Are you nuts?", He asked him. "You could have fallen and broken your neck!" To which Cagney replied, "Not a chance, It's in my contract, I don't do stunt work."
I've always loved this movie; the final scene never fails to bring tears to my eyes. James Cagney was and is one of the greatest actors of all time. Portraying a vicious criminal, check. Comedy, song and dance man, straight drama, check, check, and check. The man could do it all. Thank you for posting this; with the 4th of July just around the corner, it's a perfect time to watch the whole movie!
@@jeaninefrank8019 You cry because the National Socialists got their butts kicked. BTW, the blacks, Asians and Mexicans don't need some whitebread snowflake to speak for them.
@@oldschool1993 Agreed, people would call this ‘racist, homophobic, sexist’ and whole lotta shit now. But me and you? We think this is a masterpiece of the American Spirit. Don’t care what you say, this is a masterpiece. And the snowflake thing? True. Just watch EMMA, Compare that and this then tell me what you think, pal.
The clip contains one of the greatest and most famous ab libs in movie history. Originally, the scene just called for James Cagney as George M. Cohan to walk down the stairs. Cagney, on his own, just broke into the dance steps & was later scored with "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and the moment became golden for generations of movie fans.
Because it epitomized what the movie was about. The human spirit of hard work, perseverance, exuberance, freedom of expression, of pure joy and happiness of just being alive, entertaining others and making them feel good about themselves and their country. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-" To use the talents that God has given you to make life both better for yourself and for others. That is what that little dance down the stairs symbolises. It's what made the subject of the movie - George Cohen played by the immortal James Cagney, worthy of your country's deep and abiding respect. It was a symbol of what it once meant to be an American. You should certainly cherish that spirit, remember it well...celebrate it and keep it alive so that others can follow in the footsteps of the likes of your Cohen's and Cagney 's and help to Make America Great Again.
James Cagney was so talented! They don’t make movies like they used to. Back then , people had to sing, dance and act to be a star. Today anyone can be a star for doing nothing significant. I absolutely love old movies! I am 31 years old and I love all those antique classics!
This is one movie I never get tired of watching. James Cagney will always be George M. Cohen. What a marvelous actor and person he was. Thank you Mr. Cohen and Mr. Cagney for the legacy you both left behind for us to enjoy. Las Vegas, NV June 17, 2019
True he danced down those stairs elegantly, but he climbed up another set of stairs in white heat, and blew himself sky high, made it ma, top of the world😂
@JadeZee He did! I knew the gentleman who played the guitar for this, the late Alton (Al) Hendrickson and he said Cagney did improvise this scene. Cagney was one of the greatest tap dancers ever!, and Alton Hendrickson was the greatest guitar player ever!
George M Cohen was dying (Look it up) when this movie was made. Hollywood rushed to make the movie before George M Chen died. He was dying of Cancer of the Stomach in 1942. He died on November 5 1942 at the darkest period of when the US was in WWII when this movie was made. The movie had a huge effect on the sale of war bonds in the US and UK where the Allied powers got major funding to fight and beat the Axis! There were a lot of changes that were made in the movie that were not factually correct to make the movie more patriotic since we were fighting another World War. However, its a brilliant movie and I love watching it!
Cagney was a young man when this was made, and at the height of his physical condition. Certainly one of the finest all-round entertainers of all time.
They finished the cut, and Cohan's family sent their lawyer out to see it. He was a typical, cynical New Yorker type; seen it all, knows it all, bored with it all. He had been the Cohan lawyer for a long time. They were in the screening room, and the lawyer was sitting back in a big lounge chair. Jack Warner was seated close enough that he could touch the chair. As they got to the last scenes Warner realized that the lounge chair was shaking a little. And then he realized that the lawyer was crying.
Dancing down the stairs a the end of the film was all ad-libbed! Can you imagine tap-dancing down that long staircase? Only the one and ONLY Jimmy Cagney could!
@@lbcharlie05 James Cagney was dancing long before he got into acting because he is from a long line of entertainers who learned their craft doing vaudeville until making movies came along!
I had no idea, the dance was ad- libbed🤭. Cagney, was a genius, only wanted to be a ‘song and dance’ man apparently. I read somewhere, he wanted the roll so much, he offered to do it without a fee❤️ don’t know if there’s any truth to it. Much loved, and greatly missed😢
Angela Roquemore That makes it so much more powerful for the audience - it is like we are in on an inside joke. We’d all love to tell that soldier and watch his look of amazement! What a great movie ending’
Saw this when I was pre-teen, and watched it more times than any movie ever. I smiled, laughed and cried over scenes, but this ending was by far the most heart wrenching. I was inspired and in awe of that staircase dance. Still can't get enough of it to this day, 60 years after first seeing it. No wonder it was Cagney's favorite role, and of course my top movie of all time.
![What's My Line? - James Cagney; Gore Vidal [panel] (May 15, 1960)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2r15ptBpbTw/mqdefault.jpg)
This is why It's called The Golden Age of Hollywood. When was the last time you saw a Movie that made you feel the way this movie makes you feel, the way you do. As it ends.
absolutely correct, no modern movies come close
None- they try, but the magic just isn't there anymore, perhaps the innocence is gone, we're 'too knowing, too cynical' to just enjoy spectacles like this anymore- makes me deeply sad.
This was It! When Hollywood was Patriotic.
As a kid this was and still is one of my all-time favorites ....HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA
Definitely. Wow! James cagney, was, is an amazing actor 👏.
This remains one of my favorite movies. Cagney' s dancing and Cohan's music make this something truly special.
The late Richard Attenborough once said in a TV interview that he loved the way movies could lift us up or make us cry or smile. He confessed that his favourite schmaltzy moment in all Cinema was Cagney tapping down those White House stairs !!
william wright: I, too, cry @ movies, just None out of Hollywood 4 sev-eral decades... rarely. Garbage nowadays. Clint Eastwood is 'on' 2 something: mak-ing movies w/ real people that don't have an Agenda of hating America.
This is very patriotic and I love it, questioning authority when you think it's wrong is also very patriotic, and most importantly your right to do so as an American.
The movies today will never compare to the old Hollywood movies NEVER
Class act.....thank you Mr. Cagney...I wish today’s actors had your talent and wisdom.
Great Cagney!
The best one going down the stairs.
"Jimmy Cagney did a SUPERB version of Cohan!!!!, he put his heart into this movie for sure, Cagney was not only a great dance man and actor, but a very strong Patriot, and he put his feelings in this movie"!!!! 😉🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I love this movie and I watched it over and over and over again. It has such meaning to me.
I LOVED Cagney! He WAS the triple threat that Walken, ans so many others wanted to be. THIS fella could DO IT ALL! May God Bless him!
This is one of my favorite movies. The man could dance! I saw a clip of Cagney and Bob Hope dancing and they were great. Seems like most people loved Cagney except his children.
The Seven Little Foys!
One of my favorite childhood memories watching this every 4th of July, My daughter Julia loves it and she is only 7 Happy Independence day.
sweettrt: I pray your daughter Doesn't attend a large public school like we gotz in Brazzaville Texis!
Me too
I grew up with this. James Cagney became my hero as a young man. This IS what it means to be an AMERICAN, in my humble opinion.
Love this movie. Thanks mom for when I was young to get me interested in great films
Only James Cagney could do that with a dance and that is really him doing it, such a class act! I thought he was really great in the movie (Mr. Roberts) with Henry Fonda, William Powell, Ward Bond, Jack Lemmon.
Loved this movie. Love how he dances down the stairs.
The Golden Age Of Hollywood at its Greatest.
I never tire of watching the stair dance, even though it frustrates me not being able to follow it close enough to be able to copy it it I had to. And he improved it! Cagney's performing gifts were never ending!
I saw this movie when I was a teenager and it brought tears to my eyes.
I always thought I'd like to own one of Cagney's suits from this film, but now I want the shoes he wore going down the stairs at the end. Those would be priceless.
this never fails to make me tear up. One of my favorite movies, ever...
The tears on his face. Unbelievable actor
.Jimmy your the greatest and I hope you know it
Being Irish ☘️ we watch this movie every 4th of July.
Stay proud of your Irish forefathers. There was a time in Boston and New York and other Northeast cities the Irish were villianized. There were signs in shop windows , NINA.(no Irish need apply) They had their own schools, and becauae mist werw Catholic, their own churches. Talk about segregation. Thank heavens those days are behind us. Remember..JFK was an Irish American!!🇺🇸🇺🇸
I have watched this movie every year for over 65 years. I saw the play "Cagney" on Broadway, and think he was the greatest actor of all time. I also loved him in "Strawberry Blond", West Point Story, City For Conquest and Mr. Roberts! His acting range was incredible! His gangsters and criminals were scary! RIP James Cagney! From an Italian immigrant family.
@@maryleone2023 Wow. You've got me beat. I'm somewhere in the 40 year range.
@@johnjones5354 Then you probably don't remember the commercial:" You don't have to be Jewish to Love Levy's." (rye bread)? Just like you don't have to be Irish to love James Cagney or Yankee Doodle Dandy! That was the point I was trying to convey to Craig Clarke.
One of the greatest moments in films.. I salute you, James Cagney.. You're simply the best..
I miss the old USA. It wasn't perfect, but it was harder, better and more free than now.
You knew hard work would bring a good future- there actually was a future to look foreword to.
unless u was a minority
DOnnelle Barfield
There will always be a minority. The way the system is, there can be no other way. Besides, the term "minority" is an incorrect term, since there is a "minority" of rich people, motivated people, insightful people, entrepreneurs, politicians and so on. We are all minorities. We falsely place our worth on money- the system wants you to do so to keep you depressed so they may control you. You can be poor of money yet rich in spirit and only one of these lasts forever. Jesus was dead broke, Caesar was money rich- who was the better man? Who actually had the power?
But I do understand what you mean.
NO EXCUSES--THE ONLY OBSTACLE YOU HAVE IS **YOU**!!
Google "List of African American Scientists and Inventors". (Includes both male & female, and the list goes on, and on, and on.) When you've finished that, then Google "African American Women in Medicine", followed by "African American Women in Computer Science". That ought to last you for the 1st couple of hours, at least. *THEN*, Google
"Warren Washington receives National Science Medal, National Center for Atmospheric Research, 2010".
Need I go on? The list is endless...
newstart49 I'm just tired of our pussies in society and our loss of American culture
Yes, we were free to speak our minds and believe in America's greatness. Now, we have thought-control police who claim to believe in freedom, but only as long as they control the message.
When I first saw this movie I was so baffled on how he tapdanced down those stairs.
He was an Irish American. That is what they did
Cagney did that on his own. It wasn't in the script, he said he was so moved by the scene he just had to throw that in.
It is true that dance sequence down the stairs was not scripted and it was Cagney who felt that it would be a great finale...turned out to be one of the highlights of an unforgetable film. Cagney was quite an athlete. In the restored colour footage of Gold Diggers 0f 1929 two male dancers come on and do some remarkable tap dancing (including somersaults and landing on the heads). The one on the right with the red hair is presumed to be a young Cagney. Watching that rare footage is like watching the formation of a cosmic star.
This is one of my favorite movies Cagney made.
Who Else But The Late Great James Cagney To Play The Late Song And Dance Man George M.Cohan,In 1942 Film Classic "Yankee Doodle Dandy"? It Was Role James Cagney Was Born To Play.
Matthew Bulger Oh I agree.. I watch it every year thanks goodness for Turner Classics and now a DVR one can tape it.. certain parts just tug at one.. these last two scenes especially.. :)
The part where he cries in the end makes me shed a tear every time.
Tyler..just watched these last scenes again ( 2/3/2019) and like many it brought tears. I'd like to buy it..guess I need to go online!
I love that film, for what I remember the values of America meant to me and....you saw the power and boundless talent of the great James Cagney! Roosevelt was beautifully done in this scene too! Those were...sure as hell...The Days!
You couldn't say it better! Movies like this & actors like James Cagney can & never will be replaced or duplicated! Long live the old-time films & songs! :)
Cagney... Dance? Check. Sing? Check. Comedy? Check. Drama? Check. A true artist of his craft.
This movie comes on every 4th of july here in fresno and I watch it every year we miss you mr Cagney no one can come close!
I always liked to think that the man standing next to James Cagney in the crowd at 3:20-3:25, when he turned to look at Cagney and made that face, it was because he recognized him as George Cohan and realized they were all singing his song. Whether or not that's true, I don't know, but I like to think so.
Descending a staircase as only Cagney could ...
Always loved this movie. Have seen it several times. Only bump is when he calls it the Congressional Medal of Honor. It's the Medal of Honor, awarded by congress.
Thanks very much. Like a few others, I have this on my 4th of July playlist. Mr. Cagney was one of the greatest.
He so very much deserved the Academy Award he received for this performance!
Watch this movie at least 3 times a year and thank to you tube I get to see my favorite parts. The hoofing down the stairway is the best part of the movie. The little gangster is great and showed the world he was just a bad guy..
My dad made his clothes when he filmed in Ireland. Love his dancing an all rounder. That's a long time ago now as they are all dead. RIP.
I saw this in music class when I was in 7th grade and became one of my all-time favorite movies.
Greatest scene in movie history.
Those were the movies and songs that held this country together and made is proud to be Americans
Script gaffe: Cohan was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, not the MoH
And they didn't call it the First World War in 1936 when FDR presented it to him!
Glad I'm not the only one who gets annoyed at this kind of mistake. It's not like you can't look stuff up. Even in 1942, libraries existed.
Herman Melville himself made fun of nit-pickers in the Preface to his novel Moby Dick. He called them "sub-sub-librarians", and I couldn't agree more. Face it: "Those that can, DO; those that can't, CRITICIZE."...
CLASSICALFAN100
And those who don't give a damn about history are doomed to repeat it.
@@SweetSweetWaldo And Roosevelt didn't actually present Cohan with the medal until May 1940.
One of my all-time favorite movies, makes my heart swell...=-D
When Hollywood was patriotic. Now it's just filth. This still resonates with me.
Resonates with me too. A time when our president and government weren't just about political power and narcissism, when we had a leader, in FDR, who actually believed in American values and tried to support them abroad. Unlike now where our president is attacking our cherished symbols like the Statue of Liberty, doesn't know thing 1 about our other traditional values (democracy, Bill of Rights freedoms, equality of opportunity regardless of race/ethnicity/creed, immigration nation with no national language or ethnicity because to be American is supposed to be much bigger than such things). Who makes the USA more the friend of anti-American tyrants than our traditional role as the friend of democracy, and is trying to redefine America as a place for "whatever makes whites like me happy." Supported by like-minded fools waving the American flag, but it's just three colors and egotistical self-worship for them, not really believing in the America behind it.
YOU DONT HAVE A CLUE.....part of the reason Cagney made this film...was because he was being accused of being a commie...many lives were ruined..careers destroyed...relationships destroyed all by men...who had more desire for personal ambition..then they ever did for their country.....anyone can wave a flag while they are taking you to war and stealing your rights....people WHO QUESTION POWER..are the ONLY PATRIOTS!
Americans are proud and Brave
@@jadezee6316 what?
@@jadezee6316 I know that lady?
First, let say that the Congressional Gold Medal is the same thing as the Congressional Medal of Honor. The full name is Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. James Cagney has been my favorite actor of all time since I was ten years old when I first saw him in 'Footlight Parade' in which he stood out over all the other performers and when he made his first appearance in the movie, he instantly became my favorite actor. Yankee Doodle Dandy has been my favorite of all James Cagney 's movies and one of my favorites of all time. To date I have seen all of his 60+ movies except maybe 3 or 4 of them. James Cagney is one of the greatest and best actors of all time.
I think the Congressional Gold Medal is a civilian honor. The Medal of Honor is for bravery during action.
I always wanted George to tell that guy, that "he wrote, the damn song" lol
James Cagney All-American. R.I.H.
George M. Cohen, what a patriot!
Patriots-Keep praying-keep fighting-rely on individual virtue.
No one is gonna mention how good of a FDR portrayal that is. Must’ve been weird having the current President being portrayed on film. That voice is pretty good.
JAMES CAGNEY
PERFECTION!!
Beautiful ! Luv Cagney
Back before CGI and explosions, where movies were successful or not directly because of Directors and Actor's abilities.
Those words say it all: "proud" rather than "grateful to God."
If it's called living in the past I'm glad I'm there
Well Done !!!
This scene is mirrored in real life when Reagan bestowed upon Jim, the Medal Of Freedom award, in 1984. Check the clip on youtube, if interested, it can be found under the description, President Reagan remarks on the medal of freedom ceremony on march 29, 1984...possibly the last public glimse of the peerless Cagney...
Yeah, it always makes me cry too.
It's virtually impossible to believe anything patriotic could ever have been made by Hollyweird.
Oh, how I wished that was my country now.
0:15 - Actually it was the Congressional Gold Medal, a civilian award; as opposed to the Medal of Honor, which is awarded to military personnel.
Great Movie
My eyes fill up when I hear this…
Considering how stirring german marches were, Cohan was a musical howitzer.
Back when you had to have major talent...
Nice scene if you can ignore the fact that this happened in 1936 when America was not at war and the fact that the medal is called the Congressional Gold Medal; there is no such thing as the Congressional Medal of Honor
Great Movie. Great Irish / American Man / Melinda ? What Think ?
love it
My other father knew FDR, Cagney, and Cohan! My dad...guess who? The Five Kellys met Mr. Cohan. Yeah, Fred, Gene, Louise, Jay, and James.🎉🎉🎉
For once I'm speechless.
God bless James Cagney and George Cohen
We're still over there
Cagney performed the stairs on his own
James Cagney in this clip sounded like former President Ronald Reagan
.in Cagneys GANGSTER films.. I really wanted him to burst into song.&dance..wudnt a gone down well wid them hoodlums, but BOY wud them DAMES dropped at his ft.
The only error here
It was the congressional gold medal, not the Medal of Honor
If you watch it real close, one of the butler has a false hand and the cane got stuck
I love it when Cagney pushes the grapefruit in Frances Langford's face. That was really........Huh?..............What??!! Well...............hmmmmmmmm...........Uhhhhh, never mind.
The Yanks fought alongside us Brits in two World Wars and here we are in 2020 with another war on our hands, fighting an unseen enemy but I know the Americans will help us find the vaccine to beat it. Thanks.
Cagney tap-dancing down those stairs never fails to put a lump in my throat and a tear to my eye... 🙂
That's the best part of the movie.
That was not part of the movie. Cagney made it up on the spot.
Yep. The whole movie was great, but that moment put the lump in my throat.
Exactly... everytime
Damn he could dance
That dance down the stairs was not rehearsed he just did it, brilliant.
❤
And we have a president that can’t even walk up the stairs.
Best kind of show off haha
What a talented man I love watching him dance....one of my favorite actors❤❤❤
You know it wasn't planned for him to dance down the steps, he said he just did it spontaneously, and it worked wonderfully. Cagney is great. I watch this every July 4th.
He said the director couldn't believe he did that. "Are you nuts?", He asked him. "You could have fallen and broken your neck!" To which Cagney replied, "Not a chance, It's in my contract, I don't do stunt work."
@@albundy6008 He learned it in Vaudville as part of an act then.
"Everything I know I learned in Vaudebille" -Cagney.
@@albundy6008 o
He was a brilliant man..we need one like him right now.
Cagney started out as a dancer and choreographer on Broadway before he started in movies.
I've always loved this movie; the final scene never fails to bring tears to my eyes. James Cagney was and is one of the greatest actors of all time. Portraying a vicious criminal, check. Comedy, song and dance man, straight drama, check, check, and check. The man could do it all. Thank you for posting this; with the 4th of July just around the corner, it's a perfect time to watch the whole movie!
where are all the other Men..that served in that War?.. black..asian..mexican...yes, i cry too now, at the Finale..but for a different reason....
One of my most favorite actors!
Mine too!
@@jeaninefrank8019 You cry because the National Socialists got their butts kicked. BTW, the blacks, Asians and Mexicans don't need some whitebread snowflake to speak for them.
@@oldschool1993 Agreed, people would call this ‘racist, homophobic, sexist’ and whole lotta shit now. But me and you? We think this is a masterpiece of the American Spirit. Don’t care what you say, this is a masterpiece. And the snowflake thing? True. Just watch EMMA, Compare that and this then tell me what you think, pal.
The clip contains one of the greatest and most famous ab libs in movie history. Originally, the scene just called for James Cagney as George M. Cohan to walk down the stairs. Cagney, on his own, just broke into the dance steps & was later scored with "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and the moment became golden for generations of movie fans.
Because it epitomized what the movie was about. The human spirit of hard work, perseverance, exuberance, freedom of expression, of pure joy and happiness of just being alive, entertaining others and making them feel good about themselves and their country.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-"
To use the talents that God has given you to make life both better for yourself and for others.
That is what that little dance down the stairs symbolises. It's what made the subject of the movie - George Cohen played by the immortal James Cagney, worthy of your country's deep and abiding respect. It was a symbol of what it once meant to be an American.
You should certainly cherish that spirit, remember it well...celebrate it and keep it alive so that others can follow in the footsteps of the likes of your Cohen's and Cagney 's and help to Make America Great Again.
James Cagney was so talented! They don’t make movies like they used to. Back then , people had to sing, dance and act to be a star. Today anyone can be a star for doing nothing significant. I absolutely love old movies! I am 31 years old and I love all those antique classics!
This is one movie I never get tired of watching. James Cagney will always be George M. Cohen. What a marvelous actor and person he was. Thank you Mr. Cohen and Mr. Cagney for the legacy you both left behind for us to enjoy. Las Vegas, NV June 17, 2019
I like the gangster movies with Cagney more.
@@mucro849 True he was a great ganster actor. Mesa, AZ 11/3/2023
True he danced down those stairs elegantly, but he climbed up another set of stairs in white heat, and blew himself sky high, made it ma, top of the world😂
Lovely stuff. Cagney was unique. Tough, talented and tender. Nice to see people still remember him.
jc y 32 😎
Just got through watching this movie. One of the greatest patriotic movies of all time and an outstanding performance by Cagney!!
This movie still brings a tear to my eye. Whenever I feel pent up emotionally, I watch this movie and feel totally free of the problems of the day.
Jimmy Cagney they only come around once god bless him Legend
One of the greatest talents of all time. He could do it all
a GREAT scene..Cagney tap dancing down those stairs is one of the great iconic scenes in all of film....and i believe he improvised it!!
@JadeZee He did! I knew the gentleman who played the guitar for this, the late Alton (Al) Hendrickson and he said Cagney did improvise this scene. Cagney was one of the greatest tap dancers ever!, and Alton Hendrickson was the greatest guitar player ever!
Powerful scene. I've seen the movie many times and can't help but cry at this every time.
George M Cohen was dying (Look it up) when this movie was made. Hollywood rushed to make the movie before George M Chen died. He was dying of Cancer of the Stomach in 1942. He died on November 5 1942 at the darkest period of when the US was in WWII when this movie was made. The movie had a huge effect on the sale of war bonds in the US and UK where the Allied powers got major funding to fight and beat the Axis! There were a lot of changes that were made in the movie that were not factually correct to make the movie more patriotic since we were fighting another World War. However, its a brilliant movie and I love watching it!
Yeah, that would be about right.
Garret Ross )
Garret Ross: Thank you so very much 4 the history, thanks 2 the up-loader: may GOD Bless you both!!!
Cagney was a young man when this was made, and at the height of his physical condition. Certainly one of the finest all-round entertainers of all time.
They finished the cut, and Cohan's family sent their lawyer out to see it. He was a typical, cynical New Yorker type; seen it all, knows it all, bored with it all. He had been the Cohan lawyer for a long time. They were in the screening room, and the lawyer was sitting back in a big lounge chair. Jack Warner was seated close enough that he could touch the chair. As they got to the last scenes Warner realized that the lounge chair was shaking a little. And then he realized that the lawyer was crying.
James Cagney was an amazing talent like Sammy Davis Jr. he could do so many things. He is GREAT in this movie. So happy to see this post.
Dancing down the stairs a the end of the film was all ad-libbed! Can you imagine tap-dancing down that long staircase? Only the one and ONLY Jimmy Cagney could!
I would love to see ANY actor today perform that. Not some dancer turned actor. Cagney paid his dues before he was recognized for his greatness.
@@lbcharlie05 James Cagney was dancing long before he got into acting because he is from a long line of entertainers who learned their craft doing vaudeville until making movies came along!
I had no idea, the dance was ad- libbed🤭. Cagney, was a genius, only wanted to be a ‘song and dance’ man apparently. I read somewhere, he wanted the roll so much, he offered to do it without a fee❤️ don’t know if there’s any truth to it. Much loved, and greatly missed😢
Because Jimmy Cagney did that, they put that tune in that scene.
Finest actor there ever was.☺
NOT scripted!!! Purely ad libbed tap dance down the stairs. Irish and PROUD!
That step he does down the stairs is called a "buck and wing."
It's on today, Feb. 10, 2019 on Turner Classic Movies at 1:15 pm. I can't wait!!😎
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Hell yes... Forever... I adore him
I'd like to give you a 1,000 thumbs up but they'll only let me give you 1.
If that soldier only knew who he was calling an "old timer," he'd probably crap himself... .
Angela Roquemore That makes it so much more powerful for the audience - it is like we are in on an inside joke. We’d all love to tell that soldier and watch his look of amazement! What a great movie ending’
Ha!Ha!
That soldier later was on a tv show in the 60s. He was the father of Donnie Gills
Saw this when I was pre-teen, and watched it more times than any movie ever. I smiled, laughed and cried over scenes, but this ending was by far the most heart wrenching. I was inspired and in awe of that staircase dance. Still can't get enough of it to this day, 60 years after first seeing it. No wonder it was Cagney's favorite role, and of course my top movie of all time.