Réalisation:
Michael CurtizScénario:
Robert BucknerPhotographie:
James Wong HoweActeurs·trices:
James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf, Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp, Jeanne Cagney, Frances Langford (plus)Résumés(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. (texte officiel du distributeur)
(plus)Acteurs·trices
James Cagney
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Un, deux, trois (1961)
White Heat (1949)
Joan Leslie
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Rhapsodie en bleu (1945)
Correspondant 17 (1940)
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
Walter Huston
Canada
Meilleurs films :
Le Trésor de la Sierra Madre (1948)
L'Ange des ténèbres (1943)
Le Faucon maltais (1941)
Richard Whorf
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Keeper of the Flame (1942)
La Glorieuse Parade (1942)
Christmas Holiday (1944)
Irene Manning
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Producers' Showcase (1954) (série)
La Glorieuse Parade (1942)
The Big Shot (1942)
George Tobias
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Le Roman de Mildred Pierce (1945)
Ninotchka (1939)
Romance inachevée (1954)
Rosemary DeCamp
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Rhapsodie en bleu (1945)
Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
L'Inéxorable enquête (1952)
Jeanne Cagney
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Troublez-moi ce soir (1952)
La Glorieuse Parade (1942)
Sables mouvants (1950)
Frances Langford
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Romance inachevée (1954)
La Glorieuse Parade (1942)
Born to Dance (1936)
S.Z. Sakall
Autriche-Hongrie
Meilleurs films :
Casablanca (1942)
Boule de feu (1941)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
George Barbier
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Le Lieutenant souriant (1931)
Les Croisades (1935)
Une heure près de toi (1932)
Walter Catlett
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
It Started with Eve (1941)
L'Extravagant Mr. Deeds (1936)
L'Amour en première page (1937)
Eddie Foy Jr.
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Producers' Showcase (1954) (série)
L'Aigle des frontières (1939)
Wilson (1944)
Minor Watson
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Gentleman Jim (1942)
Convoi vers la Russie (1943)
Chester Clute
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Le Roman de Mildred Pierce (1945)
Arsenic et Vieilles Dentelles (1944)
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
Odette Myrtil
France
Meilleurs films :
Rhapsodie en bleu (1945)
L'Inconnu du Nord-Express (1951)
Saboteur sans gloire (1944)
Creighton Hale
Irlande
Meilleurs films :
Boulevard du crépuscule (1950)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Casablanca (1942)
Walter Brooke
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Le Lauréat (1967)
East of Eden (1981) (série)
Tora ! Tora ! Tora ! (1970)
Charles Irwin
Irlande
Meilleurs films :
Le Dictateur (1940)
Jeux dangereux (1942)
La Valse dans l'ombre (1940)
Ann Doran
États-Unis
Meilleurs films :
Mr. Smith au sénat (1939)
L'Extravagant Mr. Deeds (1936)
Vacances (1938)