This film is only of historical interest but it does contain one valuable element. In one scene, GEORGE M COHAN, portraying a medicine-show huckster, actually does a soft shoe dance which is brief, but delightful. Cohan was a renowned dancer on stage and in vaudeville. He learned his dancing on the road, from the best vaudeville performers, and he developed a very distinctive dancing style. This film is possibly the only film image we have of Cohan dancing. (There are plenty of records of his singing, which was only passable.) What's interesting about the dance routine is, once you've seen it, you realize what a great job Jimmy Cagney did in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. Cagney imitates the George M Cohan style perfectly. See this film and YANKEE DOODLE DANDY and compare!

I saw this movie on PBS in New York many years ago and unfortunately before video tape. I recall reading an article about the way some of the special effects were done. Remember Cohan is playing two roles. There are many scenes in which he is talking and acting with himself. There is a particularly interesting scene on the front porch of an old house. Cohan #1 is in a rocking chair when Cohan #2 approaches him; Cohan #1 gets up to shake hands with Cohan #2- thereby shaking hands with himself. The rocking chair in the background continues to rock. After the hand shake they reverse positions and Cohan #2 walks up and gets into the rocking chair, which has never stopped rocking. Cohan #1 looks on. Done done in split screen? Apparently. but the effects artist died shortly after the film was made and to this day no one knows how he produced the effect. Great line by Colbert's character: "The night's so lovely you could eat it with a spoon".

A populist political satire in the Frank Capra mold.George M. Cohan's dance is blackface during a medicine show is interesting and the scenes where his two characters appear together are well done.Jimmy Durante puts in a good performance. Sidney Toler is very good as a political consultant, but doesn't get much screen time, not does the Hawaiian band at the convention.

If you saw Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy, you've got the wrong idea. George M. Cohan was the smoothest song-and dance-man of them all, not the edgy fireball that Cagney portrayed. (No knock to Cagney; but he couldn't repress his natural energies) Watching Cohan, the original, is a delightful experience.The plot is a fairly funny political satire. A politician with just what it takes to be president, but none of the "good American sex appeal" needed to get elected, finds an exact double: a medicine show charlatan. The medicine show man is hired to pinch hit for campaign purposes. His sidekick (Durante) comes along for the ride. They turn the medicine show into the convention. Durante does one of his famous "I won't talk on the radio" routines. It's, overall, light fare, but thoroughly enjoyable.This film used to be shown on New York City local TV every four years on Election Night. Now, it seems to be virtually impossible to see. Too bad Universal (which owns the old Paramount films) doesn't dig it out of the vault and put it on Video.