Directed by:
Michael CurtizScreenplay:
Robert BucknerCinematography:
James Wong HoweCast:
James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf, Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp, Jeanne Cagney, Frances Langford, S.Z. Sakall (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Actor and songwriter George M. Cohan is impersonating President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the musical show I'd Rather Be Right , by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, when he is summoned to meet the president at the White House. In response to the president's questions, George tells him the story of his life: George was born on the Fourth of July, 1878 to Jerry and Nellie Cohan, a pair of vaudeville actors. A short time later, his sister Josie is born and soon the family is touring the country as "The Four Cohans." The family gets a big break when they are hired to star in Peck's Bad Boy . At thirteen, George, the star of the play, is a success, but his self-importance is responsible for losing the Cohans several bookings. Several years later, George, now a young man, meets aspiring singer Mary when he is playing the part of an old man and she comes backstage to ask his sage advice about breaking into show business. The Cohans and Mary, who soon learns George's real age, go to New York, where George tries to sell the songs he has written. When he learns that The Four Cohans are losing work because of his reputation for imperious behavior, he pretends that his play has been sold so that the others will accept a booking without him. Later, in a bar, George overhears Sam H. Harris talking with Schwab, a potential backer, and offers him his new musical, Little Johnny Jones . Sam and George become partners and produce a number of plays that feature George's popular formula of success stories laced with patriotism. In the meantime, George proposes to Mary, Josie becomes engaged, and the older Cohans buy a farm and retire. It is the end of The Four Cohans and George takes this opportunity to write Popularity , a serious play. It fails miserably, but news of its failure is wiped out of the papers by the sinking of the Lusitania by the Germans in 1915. When the U.S. enters the war, George tries to enlist, but at thirty-nine, is too old to be a soldier. Unable to fight, George writes the inspirational song "Over There." After World War I, Cohan writes more shows. Josie and Nellie die and then George's father Jerry dies. Feeling his age, George dissolves his partnership with Sam so that he and Mary can take a much-needed rest. They travel to Europe and Asia, and end up on the Cohan farm. George pretends to enjoy his life, but he hates being out of the limelight. After a group of teenagers see George reading Variety and think that the headline "Stix Nix Hix Pix" is a form of jive talk, George realizes how much he still wants to be performing and gladly accepts Sam's offer to star in I'd Rather be Right . The president has listened quietly to George's story and now presents him with the Congressional Medal of Honor for his songs "Over There" and "It's a Grand Old Flag." George is the first actor to receive this honor, and he responds as he used to when he was with The Four Cohans, "My mother thanks you; my father thanks you; my sister thanks you; and I thank you." When George leaves the White House, a parade of soldiers and a band march by singing "Over There," and George proudly joins them. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
![James Cagney](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/348/164348332_0d2b75.png)
James Cagney
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
One, Two, Three (1961)
White Heat (1949)
![Joan Leslie](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/163/293/163293063_57294e.jpg)
Joan Leslie
USA
Best movies:
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
![Walter Huston](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/360/164360037_3bc864.png)
Walter Huston
Canada
Best movies:
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Edge of Darkness (1943)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
![Richard Whorf](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/105/792/105792654_fcfcc3.jpg)
Richard Whorf
USA
Best movies:
Keeper of the Flame (1942)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Christmas Holiday (1944)
![Irene Manning](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/677/161677518_384bbb.jpg)
Irene Manning
USA
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
The Big Shot (1942)
![George Tobias](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/431/431683_bec1cb.jpg)
George Tobias
USA
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Ninotchka (1939)
The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
![Rosemary DeCamp](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/360/160360285_2f9ae5.jpg)
Rosemary DeCamp
USA
Best movies:
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
Scandal Sheet (1952)
![Jeanne Cagney](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/147/172/147172613_4c4d02.jpg)
Jeanne Cagney
USA
Best movies:
Don't Bother to Knock (1952)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Quicksand (1950)
![Frances Langford](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/444/444380_d7a3ed.jpg)
Frances Langford
USA
Best movies:
The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Born to Dance (1936)
![S.Z. Sakall](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/031/567/31567826_dbd84c.jpg)
S.Z. Sakall
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
![George Barbier](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/726/159726600_804271.jpg)
George Barbier
USA
Best movies:
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
The Crusades (1935)
One Hour with You (1932)
![Walter Catlett](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/000/159000249_b6dca7.jpg)
Walter Catlett
USA
Best movies:
It Started with Eve (1941)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Love Is News (1937)
![Eddie Foy Jr.](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/935/159935021_43d24b.jpg)
Eddie Foy Jr.
USA
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
Frontier Marshal (1939)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
![Minor Watson](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/400/159400681_60cf15.jpg)
Minor Watson
USA
Best movies:
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Gentleman Jim (1942)
Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
![Chester Clute](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/922/159922845_d7b18f.jpg)
Chester Clute
USA
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
![Odette Myrtil](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/628/161628823_5b507e.jpg)
Odette Myrtil
France
Best movies:
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Uncertain Glory (1944)
![Creighton Hale](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272353_490761.jpg)
Creighton Hale
Ireland
Best movies:
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Casablanca (1942)
Walter Brooke
USA
Best movies:
The Graduate (1967)
East of Eden (1981) (series)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
![Charles Irwin](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/004/158004149_d11696.jpg)
Charles Irwin
Ireland
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
![Ann Doran](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/505/505278_4186c0.jpg)
Ann Doran
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Holiday (1938)