Talking about "White Heat" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy" to me are like talking about "apples and oranges".
Cagney made his film career mostly on his gangster films and "tough guy roles".
"Yankee Doodle Dandy" was his masterpiece imo. It came out in 1942 (started filming right about the time of Pearl Harbor). It was the biographical musical film about George M. Cohan. Who was an actor, singer, dancer, playwright, songwriter, producer, theatre owner, director and choreographer known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway".
The song "The Yankee Doodle Boy" (a.k.a. "Yankee Doodle Dandy") was Cohan's trademark piece, a patriotic pastiche drawing from the lyrics and melody of the old Revolutionary War number, "Yankee Doodle". Other Cohan tunes in the movie include "Give My Regards to Broadway", "Harrigan", "Mary's a Grand Old Name", "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Over There".
Cagney was a fitting choice for the role, as a fellow Irish-American who had been a song-and-dance man himself early in his career. His unique and seemingly odd presentation style, of half-singing and half-reciting the songs, reflected the style that Cohan himself used. His natural dance style and physique were also a good match for Cohan. Newspapers at the time reported that Cagney intended to consciously imitate Cohan's song-and-dance style, but to play the normal part of the acting in his own style.
Although a number of the biographical particulars of the movie are Hollywood-ized fiction (omitting the fact that Cohan divorced and remarried, for example, and taking some liberties with the chronology of Cohan's life), care was taken to make the sets, costumes and dance steps match the original stage presentations. This effort was aided significantly by a former associate of Cohan's, Jack Boyle, who knew the original productions well. Boyle also appeared in the film in some of the dancing groups.
Cast notes:
James Cagney reprised the role of George M. Cohan in the movie The Seven Little Foys (1955), but agreed only on the condition that he receive no money – he did the film as a tribute to Eddie Foy. In Yankee Doodle Dandy, Eddie Foy, Jr. played the role of his own father.
Actress Jeanne Cagney, who played the part of Cohan's sister, was James Cagney's real-life sister. Cagney's brother, William Cagney, was the Associate Producer of the film.
The film won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (James Cagney), Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Walter Huston), Best Director, Best Film Editing for George Amy, Best Picture and Best Writing, Original Story.
In 1993, Yankee Doodle Dandy was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
American Film Institute recognition
1998: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies - #100
2004: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs - #71
The Yankee Doodle Boy
2005: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes - #97
"My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you."
2006: AFI's 100 Years of Musicals - #18
2006: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers - #88
2007: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - #98
I loved his dancing, as well as his singing presentation. And IMO one of the great scenes in Hollywood history is Cagney's dancing down the long steps in the "White House". Seen the movie on TCM probably 5 or 6 times, and hope to see it more.
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