{"id":1045,"date":"2006-03-22T23:52:59","date_gmt":"2006-03-22T23:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"0"},"modified":"2006-09-28T12:09:39","modified_gmt":"2006-09-28T12:09:39","slug":"till_its_over_o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/?p=1045","title":{"rendered":"‘Till It’s Over Over There…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neo \u2013 Neocon has started<\/a> a series of posts on propaganda in wartime; her latest is focused on the famous \u201cFour Freedoms\u201d paintings Norman Rockwell did during WWII.<\/p>\n

By odd synchronicity, we\u2019d just watched James Cagney\u2019s WWII film \u201cYankee Doodle Dandy<\/a>\u201d \u2013 it turns out that Littlest Guy shares our affection for musicals, so we\u2019re bringing him from Sondheim<\/a> to Singin\u2019 In The Rain<\/a> to Yankee Doodle Dandy<\/a> as a quick tour d\u2019horizon.<\/p>\n

And about fifteen minutes into YDD, I picked up the Netflix sleeve to see when it had been made \u2013 and noted, as I\u2019d expected, that it had been made during WWII.<\/p>\n

The naked patriotism \u2013 bleeding over to jingoism – of the film can be captured in two quotes and an image.<\/p>\n

The image is the poster for the film (lifted from Tim Dirks site \u201cThe Greatest Films\u201d – http:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/ as are the cites) seen here:<\/p>\n

\"yank.gif\"One quote from the start of the film:<\/p>\n

George:<\/b> (smiling to himself) I was a pretty cocky kid in those days – a pretty cocky kid. A regular Yankee Doodle Dandy, always carrying a flag in a parade or following one.<\/p>\n

\nPresident:<\/b> I hope you haven’t outgrown the habit.<\/p>\n

\nGeorge:<\/b> Not a chance.<\/p>\n

\nPresident:<\/b> Well that’s one thing I’ve always admired about you Irish-Americans. You carry your love of country like a flag, right out in the open. It’s a great quality.<\/p>\n

\nGeorge:<\/b> I inherited that – I got that from my father. He ran away to the Civil War when he was thirteen – the proudest kid in the whole state of Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\nPresident:<\/b> So you’ve spent your life telling the other forty-seven states what a great country it is.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One from the end:<\/p>\n

President:<\/b> Why, I wanted to hear the story of your life. It has a direct bearing on my sending for you. Do you know what this is?<\/p>\n

\nGeorge:<\/b> The Congressional Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n

\nPresident:<\/b> Let’s see what the inscription says: ‘To George M. Cohan, for his contribution to the American spirit. Over There and Grand Old Flag Presented by Act of Congress.’ I congratulate you, Mr. Cohan. (He hands the medal to George) I understand you’re the first person of your profession to receive this honor. You should be very proud.<\/p>\n

\nGeorge:<\/b> Oh, I am proud. In fact, I’m flabbergasted. First time in my life, I’m speechless. Are you sure there isn’t some mistake?<\/p>\n

\nPresident:<\/b> Quite sure.<\/p>\n

\nGeorge:<\/b> (modestly) But this medal is for people who’ve given their lives to their country or done something big. I’m just a song and dance man. Everybody knows that.<\/p>\n

\nPresident:<\/b> A man may give his life to his country in many different ways, Mr. Cohan. And quite often he isn’t the best judge of how much he has given. Your songs were a symbol of the American spirit. Over There was just as powerful a weapon as any cannon, as any battleship we had in the First World War. Today, we’re all soldiers, we’re all on the front. We need more songs to express America. I know you and your comrades will give them to us.<\/b><\/p>\n

\nGeorge:<\/b> Mr. President, I’ve just begun to earn this medal. It’s quite a thing.<\/p>\n

\n[emphasis added]<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Add the lyrics to one of his songs:<\/p>\n

Johnnie, get your gun, get your gun, get your gun
\nTake it on the run, on the run, on the run
\nHear them calling you and me, Ev’ry son of liberty.
\nHurry right away, No delay, Go today,
\nMake your daddy glad to have had such a lad,
\nTell your sweetheart not to pine, To be proud her boy’s in line.
\nOver there, Over there,
\nSend the word, Send the word, Over there
\nThat the Yanks are coming, The Yanks are coming,
\nThe drums rum-tumming ev’rywhere.
\nSo prepare, Say a prayer,
\nSend the word, Send the word, To beware
\nWe’ll be over, We’re coming over,
\nAnd we won’t come back till it’s over, Over There.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You\u2019ll have a funny set of reactions to the film if you watch it today \u2013 first, you\u2019ll be gobsmacked by the fact that Jimmy Cagney is a hoofer!<\/i> \u2026and quite a good one.<\/p>\n

Then you\u2019ll get a sense of the true datedness of the film from the inferences on race and gender\u2026\u201d\u2026 about you Irish-Americans.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

But a part of it is that I can\u2019t imagine a film today that wore our flag so nakedly on its sleeve.<\/p>\n

And I wonder whether and how we can fight or win a war without doing so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neo Neocon has Norman Rockwell, and Armed Liberal has Jimmy Cagney. Patriotism ensues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}