Doll-A-Day 2023 #250: James Cagney as James M. Cohan

   I almost made it out of the first doll show that weekend without buying a single thing. And then I saw this guy. I had been wanting one for these for several years.

 I have mentioned before that I like dolls of real people that actually look like them, and I like Jimmy Cagney. So this doll was one I'd had my eye on.

He was made by Effanbee in 1987, as part of their 'Legends' series, that also included Humphrey Bogart as Rick from "Casablanca", and John Wayne in a couple of his iconic roles, and W.C. Fields. (W.C. Fields was always W.C. Fields.)

This particular Jimmy Cagney doll represents him as he appeared as James M. Cohan in the 1942 movie "Yankee Doodle Dandy".

These dolls have limited articulation, but his arms and legs do move, and his head turns, although not much. He's 16 inches tall.

He has a really good face. He does look like James Cagney.

He has James Cagney's red hair, and signature center part.

These Effanbee celebrity dolls were usually pretty accurate likenesses.

 

This costume from "Yankee Doodle Dandy" consists of the cloth cap, striped suit with white shirt and cream coloured waistcoat....

 

The front is velvety and the back is silky.

...and a teal cravat with gold toned pin.

He's even wearing spats!

The buttons are in kind of a weird place. They are more on the front than the side. He's also wearing white socks and brown shoes that are removable.

   He would also have originally had a walking stick, as pictured on his tag. 

 "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was based on the life of Broadway composer and star George M. Cohan. James Cagney was perfect for the role, although he had spent most of his career playing gangsters and other tough guys. He's well known for the famous scene in "The Public Enemy", where he mashes a grapefruit in Mae Clarke's face. (Watch that scene HERE.) Like fellow tough guy star George Raft, Cagney started out as a dancer, and always wanted to play musical parts. But, like Raft, he did so well as a tough guy, that he ended up getting type cast, and lost out on the chance to become a musical star. (He even lost out on more sympathetic non musical roles because of type casting. He was considered for the role of Father Flannigan in 1938's "Boy's Town", but the role went to Spencer Tracy. Both were nominated for Oscars that year, Tracy for "Boys Town", and Cagney for his great performance as a criminal in "Angel's With Dirty Faces". Tracy won. Side note: Cagney insisted on not using live ammunition in his movies. On Angel's With Dirty Faces he was told he was to do a scene using live machine gun ammunition. He refused, and it saved his life. When the shots were added later, a bullet ricocheted into the exact spot his head would have been in the scene.) 

  Cagney actually made less than half a dozen musicals in his entire career, something that frustrated him, because he wanted to dance. He made a few musicals early in his career, like 1933's "Footlight Parade", in which he performed the famous musical number "Shanghai Lil". (You can watch it HERE, and yes, it is politically incorrect, but quite enjoyable if you ignore that.) But by the time he starred in Yankee Doodle Dandy, he was already 43 years old. I suppose it says something that he won his only Oscar for "Yankee Doodle Dandy".  You can watch the title number HERE. He made a cameo of sorts as James M. Cohan, in the Bob Hope movie "The Seven Little Foys", in 1955, but his musical roles were nearly past by then. (You can watch that scene, where 56 year old Cagney's dancing is so much more graceful and effortless looking than 52 year old Bob Hope's, HERE.) He made a few musicals that other characters sang and danced in, like "Love Me or Leave Me", also in 1955, which left the singing and dancing to Doris Day, and Cagney went back to a tough guy role. His last musical role was in "Never Steal Anything Small" in 1959, before he retired in 1961. He was lured out of retirement in 1981, for the movie "Ragtime". His last role was in a made for TV movie, "Terrible Joe Moran", in 1984. He passed away in 1986, just a few months before his 87th birthday.

  That's today's doll. See you tomorrow for another doll, but I shall be elsewhere, celebrating our 34th anniversary with Ken.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm