The movie was written by Robert Buckner and Edmund Joseph, and directed by Michael Curtiz.
The title song was Cohan's trademark piece, a patriotic pastiche drawing from the lyrics and melody of the old Revolutionary War number, Yankee Doodle. Other Cohan tunes in the movie included "Give My Regards to Broadway", "Harrigan", "Mary's a Grand Old Name"; and "Over There".
According to the special edition DVD, significant and uncredited improvements were made to the script by the famous "script doctors" twin brothers Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein.
The title song (properly titled "The YankeeDoodle Boy") was Cohan's trademark piece, a patriotic pastiche drawing from the lyrics and melody of the old Revolutionary War number, YankeeDoodle.
The joke was that a coloniala Yankee "dandy"would stick a feather in his tricorne or coonskin cap and think himself as fashionable as any man à la mode in Paris or Rome.
YankeeDoodle went to town - Reflects the overwhelmingly rural nature of colonial life, where "going to town" is an event, even if the town is by rights a village.
YankeeDoodleDandy - A "dandy" has always been a British term for a man who spends his income on clothes in order to "appear above his station." "Swell" is a synonym, while "toff," in class-conscious British society, refers to a young man of the upper orders who looks and speaks the part.
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