One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

MUCH LIKE THE proverbial knight who hops on his horse and attempts to ride out into all directions at once, this film tries too hard to please its audience in too many ways. Rather than opting for one main genre (i.e., musical comedy), its mission in celluloid life appears to have intended as multi-genre comedy, musical, drama, service picture and show biz behind the scenes saga/tribute.THE CAST WAS superb. It reunited stars James Cagney and Virginia Mayo from their success of the previous year in WHITE HEAT; although the pairing was hardly to be considered neither as intense nor nearly as memorable. it also served as a re-teaming of Doris Day and Gordon Mac Rae; who apparently were intended to be a team.ALSO PROMINENT IN he cast is "Skipper" (himself), Alan Hale, Jr.; who does some great on screen support in dramatic and comic relief. It is in fact as noticeable of a screen appearance that he had during a long career in both the movies and television.WITH THE EXCEPTION of what appears to be an excessive application of the art of the Rear Screen Projection. Cagney & Mayo are seen in what seems to be an eternity of walking/talking with the West Point campus shown behind them.SOME ENJOYABLE PERFORMANCES turned in by Gene Nelson, Roland Winters and an unbilled Frank Ferguson are worth mentioning. Added to a typically "anonymous" Warner Brothers stock company providing the needed support.AS FOR OUR recommendations, we say see it, once anyway. It will definitely amuse, if somewhat confound.

He spits out lame dialog like it was Shakespeare, he talk-sings with a verve that could give Rex Harrison or Robert Preston lessons, he stomps up and down, he uppercuts, he dances up a storm. There's plenty of A-list talent in this uninspired Warners musical, but a 51-year-old Cagney is pretty much the whole show, and he appears to believe in the hole-filled plot so much that you buy it, too, despite the many lapses of logic. I find his teaming with Virginia Mayo a little distasteful--he's plainly too old for her--but she lends a lot of enthusiasm, too, as does Doris Day, given some middling Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn ballads to warble (and some very unattractive gowns to model), and Gene Nelson, tapping exuberantly, and Gordon MacRae, with his fine natural baritone. Cagney felt he did his best dancing in this film, and it's worth sitting through the dated, hit-you-on-the-head patriotism and weird plot mechanics to get to his virtuosic numbers--he even taps a bit with Day, who started out as a dancer and keeps up brilliantly with him. It's not a good movie, exactly, but I'd trade a lot of neater, better-crafted musicals for this one's dumb liveliness, and for Cagney's genius. I mentioned Robert Preston above; Cagney was, in fact, considered for Professor Harold Hill before Preston was hired. I think he'd have been terrific.

This one was a real disappointment. I mean with James Cagney, Doris Day, Virginia Mayo and Gene Nelson how could they go wrong! Somehow they did. Cursed with a dumb screenplay, clutzy direction, far too many stock shots of West Point and pretty sloppy rear screen projections, WEST POINT STORY just doesn't make it. Cagney is great as always, as is Doris Day, (and that the Academy has never seen fit to give her an honorary Oscar is a real crime!), but the songs they have, by Sammy Kahn and Julie Styne, no less are instantly forgettable. And to put the icing on the cake, the thing is filmed in not so glorious black and white!!! I can't believe that Jack Warner couldn't have sprung for color, but there you are! (Remember, this is the same man who passed on Julie Andrews for MY FAIR LADY!) Anyway, see it for Cagney and Doris, but otherwise give it a pass. A five..not horrible..not great...just "Bleh!"

James Cagney wrote in his autobiography that the only films he watched in his retirement years continually were the musical ones. He regretted he didn't do more of them. So do I, so should we all.While The West Point Story isn't the greatest film Cagney ever did at Warner Brothers, it's far from the worst and I find it charming and entertaining. This was his second film with Virginia Mayo and quite a contrast it was after White Heat. The lovely Ms. Mayo also got to show what a good dancer she was both with Cagney and Gene Nelson.The singing is carried in this film by Doris Day and Gordon MacRae. Usually folks don't think of Gordon MacRae as Doris's most frequent leading man, but in fact he did four films with her. He had a wonderful baritone voice and he could easily adapt to light musical fare like The West Point Story or do operetta like The Desert Song which he did a few years later. It's too bad for MacRae that he did not come along 20 years earlier and could have done a few of those operettas the way Nelson Eddy did.Gene Nelson was a fine dancer who when musicals went out of vogue, turned to directing. Another talented performer who came along a little too late. He never got the credit for being the fine dancer he was.The plot is simple, James Cagney and Virginia Mayo once a good pair of top choreographers are reduced to seedy nightclub work. Cagney gets an opportunity to go to West Point to help put on the annual 100th night show the graduating class does. The catch is he has to try to lure Gordon MacRae to the bright lights of Broadway for his producer uncle Roland Winters. From there the plot evolves.And it's a nice story with good musical numbers even though Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn got no hits out of the score. Still the songs are well integrated into the plot.I think people will enjoy watching The West Point Story.