Fernando's View
By Fernando F. Croce

With the Fourth of July just around the corner, here are five movies to get audiences to laugh, think, cheer, and salute.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (Michael Curtiz, 1942): Who would have thought that it would take a foreign filmmaker to come up with the most patriotic of American movies? Austria-born director Michael Curtiz ("Casablanca," "The Adventures of Robin hood") pulled out all the stops in this irresistible celebration of America's greatest features, from apple pie to the freedom of putting on a show. James Cagney won a well-deserved Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of flag-waving composer and song-and-dance man George M. Cohan, who over the years went from child star at vaudeville shows to the country's most beloved entertainer. Full of vintage tunes ("Yankee Doodle Dandy," "You're a Grand Old Flag," "The Red, White and Blue") and Cagney's electrifying numbers, it's the perfect Fourth of July movie.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939): Many critics nowadays dismiss Frank Capra ("It's a Wonderful Life") as a creator of corny fantasies, but the truth is that his pictures are much tougher and darker than their comfy reputation would suggest. Capra's account of idealistic Jefferson Smith (beautifully played by James Stewart) and his fall from innocence when he comes to Washington not only shows how vulnerable the political system is to human venality, it also anticipates the government scandals of many years to come. With an extraordinary cast that includes Jean Arthur, Claude Rains and Thomas Mitchell, it's a political film in the greatest sense-aware of injustice yet optimistic about humanity's potential for change.

Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford, 1939): Arguably America's greatest director ever, John Ford was on a roll in 1939, delivering classics such as "Stagecoach" and "Drums Along the Mohawk" in the same year. His greatest triumph that year, however, was this truly lovely portrait of the great president, Abraham Lincoln, when he was still a callow law practitioner facing his most decisive case. Beautifully played by Henry Fonda, Lincoln moves from Kentucky to Illinois in the 19th-century and, over the course of a dramatic trial, discovers the sage qualities that will in the future mark his leadership as the nation's leader. Ford's populist touch is felt profoundly in each delightful vignette, adding up to a moving and often funny, humanistic view of a great man.

Independence Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996): The U.S.A. takes to the interplanetary frontlines when aliens try to invade Earth. Director Roland Emmerich steals from just about every other science-fiction movie ever made, from "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers" to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," but succeeds in entertaining audiences thanks to an enthusiastic cast (including Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum). And what patriot could resist when, facing down the hordes of slimy creatures heading toward the planet, the American President (Bill Pullman) grabs the mike and delivers a speech that ends with: "We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"