Editing Yankee Doodle Dandy (section)

===Critical response===
Contemporary reviews were highly positive. [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' said film patrons would do well to see it, for "you will find as warm and delightful a musical picture as has hit the screen in years, a corking good entertainment and as affectionate, if not as accurate, a film biography as has ever—yes, ever—been made ... there is so much in this picture and so many persons that deserve their meed of praise that every one connected with it can stick a feather in his hat and take our word—it's dandy!"<ref>{{cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley  |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9406E2D7133CE33BBC4850DFB3668389659EDE |title=Movie Review - ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 30, 1942 |access-date=January 7, 2016 }}</ref> ''Variety'' called the film "as entertaining as any top filmusical ever made ... James Cagney does a Cohan of which the original George M. might well be proud."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Green |first=Abel|author-link=Abel Green |date=June 3, 1942 |title=Film reviews: Yankee Doodle Dandy|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |url=https://variety.com/1942/film/reviews/yankee-doodle-dandy-1200413939/|page=8 |access-date=September 2, 2019 }}</ref> ''[[Harrison's Reports]]'' wrote: "Excellent! Audiences should find this musical comedy, which is based on the life of George M. Cohan, one of the most sparkling and delightful musical pictures that have ever been brought to the screen. Much of its entertainment value is due to the exceptionally fine performance of James Cagney, whose impersonation of Mr. Cohan is uncanny—his gestures, his talk, and his dancing, are done to perfection."<ref>{{cite journal |date=June 6, 1942 |title='Yankee Doodle Dandy' with James Cagney |journal=[[Harrison's Reports]] |page=92 }}</ref> [[John Mosher (writer)|John Mosher]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' called the film "a complete delight, an extravaganza of tunes the country has liked for decades," although he considered it "dubious" as a biography of Cohan.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mosher |first=John |author-link=John Mosher (writer) |date=June 6, 1942 |title=The Current Cinema |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |location=New York |publisher=F-R Publishing Corp. |pages=76–77 }}</ref>

Review aggregator website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reports that 90% of 29 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "James Cagney deploys his musical gifts to galvanizing effect in ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'', a celebration of patriotic fervor as much as it is a biopic of George M. Cohan."<ref>{{cite web|title= Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)|publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/yankee_doodle_dandy |access-date=July 28, 2021}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{Cite Metacritic |id=yankee-doodle-dandy |type=movie |title=Yankee Doodle Dandy Reviews |access-date=July 28, 2021}}</ref>