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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Yankee Doodle Dandy" is the five star musical biography, based on the life of George M. Cohen (James Cagney). Cohen, as it turns out, is an impatient, often outspoken song writer who knows that his particular brand of patriotism would sell tickets on Broadway, if only he could find a producer to invest in his songs and show. He eventually does just that with S.Z. Sakall in a cameo role. Joan Leslie costars as Mary, the woman Cohen eventually marries, but the character is actually a composite of the two wives that shared Cohen's life. Walter Huston plays Cohen Sr. and is a masterful presence throughout the first two thirds of the film. His death scene, with Cagney tenderly hovering over him, will require more than one Kleenex to get through. The film is jam packed with standards that will leave your toes tapping. Although its obviously the title number that everyone today recalls with fondness, it's the elephantine production number, "It's a Grand Old Flag" that is the sort of patriotic fluff ball that will makes you glad to be an American.
In a word, the transfer is pristine. Warner Brothers DVD is immaculate with no digital artifacts of any kind. Better still, the glorious silver sheen of the original camera negative, long absent from previously issued VHS and laserdisc versions, is brilliantly restored herein. The audio is MONO and very nicely balanced.
Extra features include a beautiful compendium of shorts, documentaries, cartoons, isolated audio recordings; audio commentaries, outtakes and featurettes await you on this very special 2-disc edition. Everything has been designed to give you the look and feel of a "roadshow" engagement at the local movie house.
Nothing but kudos to the good people at Warner Brothers for a sterling, rousing and much appreciated DVD that is really one of the best looking transfers you are likely to encounter on DVD -- regardless of the film's age. A must have and then some! |
