JAMES CAGNEY (1899-1986)

JAMES FRANCIS CAGNEY

Born: July 17th, 1899 (New York City)

Died: March 30th, 1986 (heart attack related to diabetes)

Marriage: Frances Cagney (1922-1986 His Death)

Children: They adopted a boy and a girl: James Cagney Jr. & Cathleen Cagney.

Awards: He won only one Oscar, which was for his performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). He was nominated two other times for Best Actor: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) & Love Me or Leave Me (1955). He achieved eight other awards with one additional nomination. He also has a star on the Walk of Fame.

Interesting Fact: He began his career as a female dancer in a chorus line.

My Favorite Movie: Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). Though I love his gangster films, this one hits home for me. I was named after Cohan, and I just love Cagney's portrayal of him. Another favorite film is Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), it is a unique story about a unique man, Lon Chaney Sr..

First I would like to mention how odd it is that there are so many movie stars with the name James. Jimmy Stewart, James Cagney, Jimmy Durante, James Dean, James Garner and so on. Cagney was a strong actor who often got his way and it usually paid off when he did. He had a voice, he could dance, but all of that was incidental to his amazing ability as an actor.

One of his most powerful performances is found in Man of a Thousand Faces, here he is seen transforming himself as Chaney did with all the emotion that comes with it. Another thing to love about Cagney is his patriotism. This is seen best in the flag waving Yankee Doodle Dandy. He did an excellent job telling a story that would be considered corny in our day. This is a fantastic actor to watch.

This is a scene from Yankee Doodle Dandy

with a Rooney / Garland remake.

Here is a beautiful dance duet with Bob Hope in a
Cohan cameo on The Seven Little Foys (1955)

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE OF HIS?

BOB HOPE (1903-2003)

SIR LESLIE TOWNES HOPE

Born: May 29th, 1903 ( London).

Died: July 27th, 2003 (pneumonia).

Marriage: Dolores Hope (1934-His death).

Children: He & Dolores adopted four children: Eleanora Hope, William Kelly Francis Hope, Anthony J. Hope & Linda Hope., Maureen Hope

Interesting Fact: He is the only civilian to be classified as a US Veteran by Congress. This was done in 1996 for his almost 200 USO shows that he hosted or performed in during war time.

Awards: With Bob Hope, I will need to add a little disclaimer. This section of the post, which lists their awards, was intended to present the celebrities achievements in relation to their contributions to Motion Pictures themselves. At times, I have taken certain liberties by listing achievements such as knighthood and political honors on other individuals to spruce up this area. For Bob, this would be impossible to list without a thorough study that could take a few weeks. For interest of time, I will avoid those awards in order to not belittle one over another in importance. If you would like to see a complete list of his accomplishments, I would refer you to the sometimes inaccurate Wikipedia.

Though he had never received an Academy Award for his acting alone, he had been awarded five honorary Oscars throughout his life. He has received twenty-nine other awards for his performances with an additional eight nominations.

My Favorite Film: Any film that starts with the words "My Favorite" or "Road to" have a special place on my favorite list. Each one of them just keep on bringing more and more laughs. The one film that I really love is "The Ghost Breakers" (1940). It presents his cowardice character perfectly. It also gives lenience to an almost macho Hope you don't see much of in other pictures. This film was remade by Martin & Lewis in 1953, under the title "Scared Stiff." Bob has a cameo at the end, in honor of the remake, with Bing by his side. Though Crosby was not in the original film, they were shown together, since they just completed "Road to Bali" (1952) the year before.

As frugal as Bob was, no other star gave as much time & money as he did. From performing for our troops to golf, he kept himself pretty busy, making an occasional film now and then. He is the ultimate ad-libber & the most well known comedian to ever grace the silver-screen. He walked among some of the greatest of this country, whether it was in an Oval Office or a Barracks. He spread his medicine of laughter through Radio, Television, Motion Pictures and even the Stage. For the 100 years of his life, he gave America just what it needed, HOPE!

Here is the song that summed up the friendship of Bob & Bing in "Road to Utopia" (1946). Bob said of the friendship himself: "There's nothing I wouldn't do for Bing, and there's nothing he wouldn't do for me. And that's the way we go through life - doing nothing for each other!"

This is one of my favorite dance routines. Cagney relives his timeless portrail of the original "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942) with Bob in his film of the real-life depiction on "The Seven Little Foy's" (1955). My Mom always had me watch how often the the camera position would change, in order to see how much a routine they had to dance for. I invite you to see how long they last in this seguence. Quite impressive!