Ignore the only other comment. Clearly, not a musical fan. Of course, neither am I. James Cagney has always been one of my favorite actors in old films, but I never pictured him playing a Broadway superstar icon. Dancing? Singing? Actually good at dancing and singing?? There's a reason James Cagney won the Oscar for Best Actor for this film. He nailed it, including the acting. Honestly, it might be the best of all his films. Well deserved Oscar. Proved he was one of the all time most talented greats to ever grace a screen.

That James Cagney is quite the performer. A bit much with the flag waving. 1942 (15th) Academy Award nominations: Outstanding Motion Picture, Best Director (Michael Curtiz), Best Actor (James Cagney - Winner), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Walter Huston), Best Writing - Original Motion Picture Story (Robert Buckner), Best Music - Scoring of a Musical Picture (Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld - Winner), Best Sound Recording (Nathan Levinson - Winner), Best Film Editing (George Amy)

Somewhat dull on a biopic level, but elevated by Cagney's dynamo performance. The movie's a bit too long for what it contains--no major conflict, not a lot of character growth, just an account of a lifetime of show business, anecdote by anecdote. That said, the life is interesting and the music is pretty good. I first watched this movie over 20 years ago (during the AFI craze) and Cagney's performance stuck with me--it's my favorite of his. Lord knows what he did to his knees with all that dancing.

Some of the songs and dances were fun. James Cagney was pretty good but the movie felt a little dull.