James Cagney: Song and Dance Man

Ruby Keeler, James Cagney, and Joan Blondell
in a promotional photo fro Footlight Parade.

It was 120 years ago today that James Cagney was born. Today Mr. Cagney still remains one of the best known actors of all time. Even people who have never seen his films know who he is. For better or worse, James Cagney also remains best known for the gangster movies he made. What most average people do not realise is that Mr. Cagney was also a song and dance man and thought of himself as such.

In fact, it would be as a song and dance man that James Cagney's career would begin. He learned to tap dance when he was only a boy. He made his Broadway debut in the musical Pitter Patter in 1920. In turn, this would launch Mr. Cagney on a ten year career in vaudeville. He would return to Broadway several times, including the musical Grand Street Follies. He also appeared on London's West End in the musical Broadway. While James Cagney had established himself in both vaudeville and Broadway as a song and dance man, it would not be one of his musicals that led him to a film career. In 1930 he appeared in the drama Penny Arcade alongside Joan Blondell, with whom he had earlier appeared on Broadway in Maggie the Magnificent. Despite largely negative reviews from critics, Al Jolsen bought the film rights for Penny Arcade for $20,000. Afterwards he sold the film rights to Warner Bros. on the condition that they retain James Cagney and Joan Blondell from the play. In adapting Penny Arcade as a film, they gave it a new name: Sinners' Holiday. It was released on October 11 1930.

In Sinners' Holiday James Cagney recreated his role in Penny Arcade as Harry Delano, a young man who becomes involved in bootlegging. As a result of the strength of his performance in Sinner's Holiday, James Cagney would find himself cast in another gangster movie, Doorway to Hell (1931). While James Cagney's next three films would be two comedies and a drama (in which he didn't play a gangster), he would find himself typecast as a gangster due to the phenomenal success of The Public Enemy (1931).  Curiously, Edward Woods had originally been cast as Tom Powers, while James Cagney played his best friend Matt. It was director William Wellman who switched the two roles, thinking Mr. Cagney would be better as Tom Powers. Regardless, over the next several years at Warner Bros. James Cagney would find himself consistently cast in gangster movies, crime movies, and dramas.

It would be in one of his gangster movies that James Cagney would first dance on screen. In Taxi! James Cagney played a young taxi cab driver named Matt Nolan. In one portion of the movie Matt takes part in a ballroom dance competition. His partner was his love interest, Sue, played by Loretta Young. His primary competition in the contest would be another song and dance man who had been typecast in gangster movies, George Raft (who goes uncredited in the movie). It was George Raft who won the contest.

That a lengthy ballroom dance contest should appear in a Warner Bros. crime drama probably did not surprise audiences in 1932. While Warner Bros. was well known for their gangster movies, they were also well known for their musicals. In the early Thirties the studio had seen success with such musicals as Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) and 42nd Street (1933). At the same time that Warner Bros. was making musicals, James Cagney was anxious for a change of pace. It should come as no surprise, then, that song and dance man James Cagney actively fought to be cast in Warner Bros.' musical Footlight Parade (1933).

It was in 1933 that Warner Bros. had phenomenal success with two musicals featuring choreography by Busby Berkeley: 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933. As soon as James Cagney learned that the studio was planning a follow-up to these two films, he campaigned to be cast in the film by reminding Warner Bros. he had started out as a song and dance man. Fortunately, Mr. Cagney was able to convince studio head Jack Warner to cast him in the film. It was then that Footlight Parade would be James Cagney's first movie musical.

In Footlight Parade James Cagney plays as a failing Broadway producer who takes to producing live musical prologues that would be performed before movies in cinemas. He would be reunited with Joan Blondell, with whom he had appeared on Broadway and in the films as Sinner's Holiday, The Public Enemy, and Blonde Crazy (1931). It would also re-team Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler, who had already made several films together. For the most part Footlight Parade plays out as a somewhat racy comedy, holding back the bulk of its musical numbers for the very end. The film's climax, featuring the song "Shanghai," proved once and for all James Cagney's credentials as a song and dance man.

Footlight Parade would prove to be one of Warner Bros.' big hits of 1933. Unfortunately, it did not mean that the studio would start casting James Cagney in musicals. His next film, The Mayor of Hell (1933), would see him playing the deputy commissioner of a reform school. Over the next few years James Cagney would appear in dramas and comedies, but no musicals. In fact, his next musical would be produced by a studio other than Warner Bros.

It was in 1935 that James Cagney broke ties with Warner Bros., even suing the studio for breach of contract. Once free of Warner Bros., Mr. Cagney signed with the newly formed Grand National Films. The first movie that he made for Grand National was Great Guy, another crime film. His next film for Grand National would be the musical Something to Sing About. Like Footlight Parade, Something to Sing About capitalised on James Cagney's talents as a song and dance man. It is James Cagney's dancing and singing that begin and end the film. The film also teamed him with two friends from vaudeville, Johnny Boyle and Harland Dixon, both of who had influenced Mr. Cagney's dance style. Something to Sing About also featured such luminaries as William Frawley, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, and Dwight Frye.

Although Something to Sing About would turn out to be a highly entertaining film, it is obvious that its budget was much lower than musicals produced by such major studios as Warner Bros. As Grand National Films was an independent, it also did not receive very good distribution. Ultimately, it would fail at the box office. Grand National Films would make six more movies before going bankrupt in 1939.

Following the failure of Something to Sing About and his lawsuit against Warner Bros. being decided in his favour, James Cagney returned to Warner Bros. with a much better contract. It was with his first film back at Warner Bros., Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), that he would receive his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. While Angles with Dirty Faces was a gangster film, James Cagney would find himself appearing in more of a variety of films than he had earlier at the studio. He appeared in Westerns (The Oklahoma Kid), comedies (The Strawberry Blonde), and war films (The Fighting 69th) in addition to gangster movies. Eventually he would appear in another musical. What is more, it was the most famous musical he ever made. It would also be the favourite of James Cagney's films that he made.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) is a biographical musical about legendary composer and producer George M. Cohan. As shocking as it might seem today, there was a chance that it might never have been made. Earlier George M. Cohan had made an agreement with MGM for them to make a movie called The Four Cohans, based on the life of his family. It would have starred Mickey Rooney as Mr. Cohan. Fortunately, George M. Cohan had a falling out with MGM when they refused to give him final cut of the film. Samuel Goldwyn then wanted to make a George M. Cohan movie, with Fred Astaire as George M. Cohan. Mr. Astaire turned Mr. Goldwyn down, feeling that the role of Mr. Cohan was not right for him. Finally, Warner Bros. got the rights to produce a George M. Cohan movie. They promptly cast James Cagney in the lead role. George M. Cohan himself thoroughly approved of the casting.

James Cagney was more than ideal as George M. Cohan. Among the people who had taught Mr. Cagney how to dance was Johnny Boyle, who had appeared on Broadway in George M. Cohan's various productions and had even choreographed dances for Mr. Cohan's productions. For two months prior to shooting began, Johnny Boyle taught James Cagney and his sister Jeanne Cagney (who played George M. Cohan's sister Josie in the film) George M. Cohan's dance style. What is more, he taught James Cagney George M. Cohan's various mannerisms. By the time shooting began, James Cagney was more than ready to play Mr. Cohan.

Yankee Doodle Dandy proved to be a hit at the box office, and proved to be the second highest grossing film of 1942. It also received overwhelmingly good reviews. It also did well at the Academy Awards, winning the Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role for James Cagney; Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture; and Best Sound Recording. It was nominated for several more Academy Awards, among them Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Writing, Original Story.


Despite the success of Yankee Doodle Dandy and the variety of roles that James Cagney had played in the Forties, he was still largely identified with the crime genre in many people's minds. It would be in 1949 that White Heat would be released. The role of criminal Cody Jarrett would become one of James Cagney's best known roles. Fortunately for Mr. Cagney, his next movie would be another musical, The West Point Story (1950).

In The West Point Story James Cagney played an out of work Broadway director who is asked to produce the annual 100th Night Show (so called because it is the first of the last 100th days at the Academy) at West Point. Co-starring were Virginia Mayo, Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, and Gene Nelson. If Warner Bros. had been hoping for another Yankee Doodle Dandy, then they were going to be disappointed. While The West Point Story received positive reviews, it did not receive the acclaim of Yankee Doodle Dandy, nor did it perform as well at the box office.

James Cagney would have a cameo as himself in the musical Starlift (1951). He would make a more significant appearance in the comedy musical film The Seven Little Foys (1955). The Seven Little Foys starred Bob Hope as comedian Eddie Foy. Mr. Cagney reprised his role as George M. Cohan, who engages in a tap dance competition with Edddie Foy.

It would also be in 1955 that James Cagney would appear in the biographical film  Love Me or Leave Me (1955) starring Doris Day as singer Ruth Ettig. Love Me or Leave Me would be much heavier fare than Miss Day and Mr. Cagney's previous film together, The West Side Story. It was a dramatic, at times dark film. Although not generally considered a musical, it does feature several nightclub sequences in which Doris Day gets to sing. Playing gangster Martin Snyder, at no point does James Cagney get to sing. Regardless, Love Me or Leave Me did well at the box office and received positive reviews. It also won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story and was nominated for several other Oscars, including Best Actor in a Leading Role for James Cagney.

James Cagney's final musical would be Never Steal Anything Small (1959). The movie was based on an unproduced play, The Devil's Hornpipe by Maxwell Anderson and Rouben Mamoulian. Never Steal Anything Small centred around James Cagney as Jake MacIllaney, a gangster out to control a union and also starred Shirley Jones, Roger Smith, and Cara Williams. Unlike Love Me and Leave Me, James Cagney gets to sing and dance in the film, including a duet with Cara Williams, "I'm Sorry, I Want a Ferrari." Sadly, James Cagney's last musical would not be a success. Critics were underwhelmed by the movie, and it did not do particularly well at the box office.

Despite having been typecast in crime dramas, James Cagney always thought of himself as a song and dance man. In his autobiography, Cagney by Cagney, he writes, "Once a song and dance man, always a song and dance man." Sadly, Mr. Cagney was rarely given a chance to display his talents as a song and dance man on screen. In a career consisting of over sixty movies, he only starred in five musicals and had the opportunity to sing or dance in a few more. This is made all the sadder still by the fact that James Cagney was very talented as a song and dance man. It is with very good reason that he won an Oscar for Yankee Doodle Dandy.  It is also with very good reason that Footlight Parade and Yankee Doodle Dandy are counted among the greatest movies ever made. I do not think it is far-fetched to say that if Warner Bros. had not typecast James Cagney as a gangster, he might be counted alongside Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, and Gene Kelly as among the greatest musical stars of all time.