Threaded Order Chronological Order
| How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: charles1055 10:53 am EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| I've been thinking a lot about George M since this weekend's Encores and don't know much about it, but have seen the Cagney film. Curious how it compares. | |
| reply to this message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 11:12 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - charles1055 10:53 am EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| Yankee Doodle Dandy is a very entertaining film but it's not a very accurate portrayal of Cohan's life. Regarding George M, I only know it from it's cast recording and the TV version, but it does a much better job of getting the details right about Cohan's life and career. | |
| reply to this message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 11:27 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - BroadwayTonyJ 11:12 am EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| For me YDD is much more accurate about Cohans Broadway life etc than George M (which I also loved). The film conflates Cohan's two wives Ethel and Agnes into one, and plays fast and loose with chronology. But its depictions of his vaudeville days and Broadway shows are spot on. And if you have seen THE PHANTOM PRESIDENT, you will know that Cagney was pitch perfect in his portrayal of Cohan's dancing style, including the steps off the proscenium arch. The films portrayal of Sam Harris is pretty terrific as well. Cagney was predisposed to hate Cohan because Cohan sided with the producers during the Equity strike in 1919. Equity gave Cohan, 'The Man Who Owned Broadway' a dispensation - while everyone else on stage on Broadway now had to sign Equity contracts, Cohan was exempt. He never signed one, though he kept working for decades. But then Cagney was called before HUAC, and accused of being a Communist. Although he was cleared, his name had been tarnished. His brother, producer William Cagney, thought they needed to do something patriotic to help his image with the public - what better than playing Cohan! So Cagney relented, made a great film, and won an Oscar. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 08:09 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - NewtonUK 11:27 am EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| During the Equity strike, Cohan said, "I will drive an elevator for a living before I will work with actors in a union." The next day, a sign appeared in the Equity window: ELEVATOR OPERATOR WANTED, GEORGE M. COHAN NEED NOT APPLY. But Eddie Cantor had the last word, when he informed Cohan that the elevator operators had a union. Laura |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 01:59 am EST 02/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - showtunetrivia 08:09 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| Did Cohan mostly speak-sing his songs? I saw the film "Phantom President" years ago, and while the rhyming dialogue was interesting, unfortunately I seem to recall that Cohan never really sang, and he didn't seem that well suited to film. Cohan apparently really resented Rodgers and Hart during the making of the film. Of course, Cagney in "YDD" speak/sings the title song, but has plenty of film magnetism in his Oscar-winning role. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 11:57 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - NewtonUK 11:27 am EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| Cagney was a staunchly pro-union actor who fought being controlled by the studio system (in his case, Warner Brothers), but I'd never heard of an actor being brought before HUAC until after WWII. Interesting, NewtonUK. One thing Yankee Doodle Dandy got very wrong was showing Cohan having a moment with FDR. Cohan was as staunchly anti-union as Cagney had been pro-, and showing him "supporting our president" was surely a bit of war time propaganda. He hated FDR. I don't know how accurate it is otherwise. Film biographies of that era usually played with the facts, and much of what's depicted is on the hokey side, but the musical numbers and vaudeville ambience, topped off with Cagney's ebullience, explain its enduring popularity. I have never seen George M. William Goldman depicts it as a poor show that somehow got by the critics without ever going over well with audiences in The Season. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 12:40 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - TheOtherOne 11:57 am EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| Yankee Doodle Dandy is a very entertaining film and Cagney is great, but it's pretty bad as an accurate biography. It falsely depicts George M. being born on the 4th of July (he was born on the July 3). It leaves out Cohan's first wife, Ethel Levey. It changes the name of his second wife Agnes Nolan to Mary and then concocts the story that the song "Mary Is a Grand Old Name" was written for her instead of for Fay Templeton in Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway. It does not mention that George M. had 4 children. It leaves out his opposition to the 1919 Actors Equity strike. It states that Nellie Cohan preceded her husband Jerry in passing when the reverse was the case -- Jerry died in 1917 and Nellie in 1928. It leaves out George M.'s movie career. It barely mentions one of his most significant stage performances in the 1933 Ah, Wilderness then falsely claims that he was retired "for 2 or 3 generations afterward". He actually returned to the stage in 1937 as FDR in I'd Rather Be Right. Nevertheless, it got one detail correct: FDR did present Cohan with the Congressional Gold Medal on 6/29/36 for his morale boosting efforts during World War I. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: comedywest 12:56 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - BroadwayTonyJ 12:40 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| The introduction the the published screenplay for Yankee Doodle Dandy talks about some of the differences. Given how much Cohan disliked Roosevelt I imagine that medal scene played out a bit different in real life. all this aside, I really like YDD, probably more than George M! which I saw on TV as a kid. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 12:52 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - BroadwayTonyJ 12:40 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| I thought for sure that FDR scene was a fabrication, because Cohan so disliked FDR. Thank you for this information, Tony. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 12:28 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - TheOtherOne 11:57 am EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| Film biographies almost always play fast and loose with facts - as do all films based on fact (and most plays for that matter). I was always like to point out the major inaccuracy in the film (and play) of FINDING NEVERLAND. While the film and play tell us that BArrie is depressed after the reception of his latest play, LITTLE MARY (1903), The History of the London Stage (1576-1903) calles LITTLE MARY a great success - an enormous success. Following on his two previous big hits, QUALITY STREET and THE ADMIRABLE CRICHTON. And Frohman produced 53 shows on Broadway alone in the 1903-1904 season, including Barrie's LITTLE MARY. If it had flopped in London, Frohman would not likely have reproduced the show in NYC. Yet FINDING NEVERLAND revolves around Barrie's despair at his failure. The core of what was to become PETER PAN IN KENSINGTON GARDENS appeared in Barries 1902 novel THE LITTLE WHITE BIRD. So Peter Pan existed before Barrie thought to write the play. As a PS - we know that Frohman's protege Maude Adams created the role of the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up on Broadway. In London, the very first Peter Pan onstage was Nina Boucicault, daughter of the great British playwright, Dion Boucicault (the London Assurance). But we accept the fabrications because they make a more entertaining narrative |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: A GEORGE M 'fabrication' | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 01:56 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - NewtonUK 12:28 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| for good dramatic reasons. In the GEORGE M Cohan's first Broadway show, THE GOVERNORS SON is a flop - as it was, running only 32 performances. In GEORGE M this is followed by his first hit, LITTLE JOHNNY JONES. But thats not quite how it happened. A month after GOVERNORS SON died, he opened another new show, starring his family (the 4 Cohans) called RUNNING FOR OFFICE. This musical ran for 48 performances. 6 months later he contributed a song to a big holiday show at the New Amsterdam - MOTHER GOOSE. It was one of his signature songs, "Always leave them laughing when you say goodbye!" Six months after that he contributed two songs to a successful show called A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING. One of them was "I love to hear a Yankee Doodle Tune". Then 6 months after THAT, LITTLE JOHNNY JONES opened at the Liberty Theatre, and ran 52 performances before going out on tour. It came back the next year for an 128 performance 'revival'. The show had been revised for the tour. It included the two hits you recall, YANKEE DOODLE BOY and GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY - and also one of his best lesser known songs, LIFE'S A FUNNY PROPOSITION AFTER ALL. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: StageManager 11:48 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - NewtonUK 11:27 am EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| Remember the TV broadcast of "George M!" with Jack Cassidy as the father and loving it. Also remember that the show was a big flop the first time around. Remember reading Goldman in "The Season" talking about it Anybody have any insight on why this bird did not fly? |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? | |
| Posted by: raydan 11:59 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: How does George M compare to the film Yankee Doodle Dandy? - StageManager 11:48 am EST 02/12/18 | |
|
|
|
| I was in the 7 th grade when it came through Dallas on a road tourbefore opening. I was dazzled by the magnetic Grey, the show optics, etc. A young Bernadette Peters played his sister, Josie Cohan. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
Time to render: 0.038524 seconds.