The late Michael Jackson was inarguably one of the most talented entertainers of our time and certainly one of the most innovative dancers. But well before Jackson, there was James Cagney, who was every bit as talented an entertainer and dancer as Jackson. In fact, I seem to recall reading an interview of Jackson years ago in which he admitted that he patterned many of his dance techniques on those of Cagney.
Although better known for his gangster movie roles, Cagney was actually Hollywood’s best dancer for much of his long and storied career. Check out three of Cagney’s signature dance scenes below from the 1942 film, Yankee Doodle Dandy, in which Cagney plays the early-20th century composer, George M. Cohan.
The first video below is probably Cagney’s most famous dance sequence, the "Yankee Doodle Boy" scene from Cohan’s first big-hit musical in the movie. The end of that video includes a short clip of a later salute to Cagney by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, which serves primarily to prove just how far Cagney’s glorious talent exceeded that of a couple of pedestrian Hollywood hoofers. The third video below is the final dance scene of the movie in which Cagney as an ebullient Cohan descends the White House staircase after receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Roosevelt. Note that the scene is shot in one take (the camera never strays from Cagney) and Cagney never once looks down at his feet. Heck, I cannot even walk down a staircase of that size without watching my feet. Enjoy!
Although less to do with Cagney and more to do with the song “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, it amazes me that most people have no idea what that refers to and most children think it is a type of pasta!
A maccaroni as the song refers according to wikipedia is a “Fashionable fellow who dressed and even spoke in an outlandishly affected and epicene manner. The term pejoratively referred to a man who “exceeded the ordinary bounds of fashion”[2] in terms of clothes, fastidious eating and gambling.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaroni_(fashion))
And of course at that time the revolutionist were considered liberals (which has to do more with Classical iberalism versus welfare liberalism) and not conservatives of the old rite!
But of course we American’s are
…Don’t know what happened to the last line…
But of course we American’s are known for our outlandish ways…..
I did notice a few moves in the first one that seemed somewhat similar to jackson’s. I am surprised how much attention his death has brought. Its been a few days and it still seems to be front and center on all the major news sites (cnn yahoo etc)