Yankee Doodle

It's the evening of July 4th. The parade's over, the cookout's over, the fireworks are over, the Boston Pops on TV is over. And yet, you're still in the mood for some flag-waving. Well, you could tap out "Stars and Stripes Forever" on your armchair, but where's the fun in that? Here's a much better idea: break out a movie. Patriotism may go in and out of fashion, but celebrating the good old red, white and blue has been a staple of American cinema since the early days. Here for your consideration are 10 movies, arranged from earliest to latest, that celebrate the American spirit, if not America itself.

100 Years Ago Yankee Doodle Dandy "Ford's Grand Opera House: Week, February 24th, Cohan and Harris offer, a new satirical comedy, The Children of Today, by Clara Lipman and Samuel Shipman. Representative Company. "Children of Today, a play which will appeal to all classes and to every parent, is a modern satirical comedy full of fun and good sense, entertaining from start to finish. It is by Clara Lipman and Samuel Shipman and produced under the auspices of Messrs Cohan and Harris.

GENUINE vaudeville in Baltimore has been dead since the early 1950s. (We're not talking here about burlesque, an offshoot of vaudeville, or the strip show, an offshoot of burlesque you can see tonight on The Block.)But now comes the National Museum of Live Entertainment Inc., a nonprofit group headed by Donald Hicken. He is talking about reopening the Hippodrome Theater, 12 N. Eutaw St., as a sort of "Smithsonian of live entertainment."There's still something magic that happens in live entertainment," he says, "and it's even more magic as we move away from it. We're going to keep the lamp lit."

This week's Sunny did nothing if not prove one of my longest-living theories: The makers of shows like “Toddlers and Tiaras” hold production meetings at strip joints. Frank Reynolds has never turned down an opportunity to finance a hot idea. After meeting a potential business partner at a gentlemen's club, Frank is led to believe he's fronting the cash for a “legitimate” beauty pageant. Surprisingly, Frank's partner is a dirtbag and had inappropriate relations with a contestant.

IF THE GULF crisis ends in a quick victory with moderate (by the harsh calculus of war) casualties, look for loud choruses of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" throughout the land.A back-down by Saddam Hussein would be greeted by a similar jingoistic euphoria. There's a lot of Vietnam frustration still abroad in the U.S., as witnessed by the elation over such piddling exploits as Grenada and Panama.President Bush will become a latter-day Teddy Roosevelt if we prevail over seedy little Iraq. America once more will be tall in the saddle, the only superpower in town.

Every actor and actress dreams of performing for the perfect audience.For the seven Annapolis-area children who have spent the past two months sharing the musical "Six Kids and a Little Brother" with the county's senior centers and nursing homes, the dream came true."

NEW YORK - In a ceremony filled with pride and painful memories, New York officials laid a 20-ton slab of granite yesterday as the cornerstone of a new tower at the site of the World Trade Center. As jets soared overhead on a sunny morning, political leaders pledged that construction of the Freedom Tower - which at 1,776 feet would be the world's tallest building - will be finished on schedule by the end of 2008. "The terrorists who attacked us hoped to break our spirit, but instead they broke our hearts," said New York Gov. George E. Pataki, who along with other officials dismissed doubts that financing problems might delay completion of the tower.

The end of the year is a time to reminisce, and there is cause for celebrating the number and quality of cultural events offered in Anne Arundel County. But the audiences present another issue. Those that I've been part of over the past year have been overwhelmingly middle-aged.To survive, the arts need to attract more young people. Doing my part, I have been sharing an array of cultural diversions over the past year with my granddaughter, Marie, who is nearly 6.Like most children, she is a tough, honest critic, unwavering in her loyalty to favorite performers and characters.

The Carroll County Farm Museum is taking John Adams' advice in organizing its celebration of the 218th anniversary of America's independence."The fourth ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore," Adams wrote to his wife after independence had been declared in 1776.While there won't be a parade, guns or bonfire Monday, there will be just about everything else from noon to 9:30 p.m., when the Westminster Jaycees fireworks display will light up the sky."

About 90 former soldiers from Carroll County gathered yesterday in Westminster for a Veterans Day ceremony that featured speakers revisiting experiences from past and present wars, starting with World War I and ending with Operation Iraqi Freedom. Though long converted into the city's gymnasium, Longwell Armory regained a part of its past with the tribute to the military yesterday. Maj. Thomas Long of the Carroll County Sheriff's Office talked about his "grandpap." Army Lt. John Long arrived in France singing patriotic songs such as "Yankee Doodle" and "Over There," but then endured machine gun fire, artillery barrages and poison gas. John Long survived, but, Thomas Long said, his grandfather's brothers-in-law weren't so fortunate, suffering and later dying from their injuries in the war. "Sadly, it wasn't the war to end all wars," Thomas Long said.