Yankee Doodle Dandy

The movie literally made me want to vomit with all the Jingoistic display. I realize this movie did come out right after Pearl Harbor was bombed so there was a lot of patriotic fervor, but all the brash flag waving, and celebration of American bullyism was just too much for my post-colonial, post 9/11 stomach. The movie was made to be a tribute to George M. Cohan, 'the man who owns Broadway', whom, I'll admit I've never heard of till now, despite being a Broadway fan, yet the movie was entirely too much of a caricature to be any sort of a meaningful dedication. I don't know if it was Cohan's dance style, the manner in which James Cagney mimicked it, or even Cagney's own style of dance, but it looked ridiculous when compared with the grace and class of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Generally I love movie musicals, but I found myself almost fast-forwarding through all the songs in this. I'm sorry, I just can't say anything positive about this as have no idea why it is even on the list (even if it is #98).