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Monday, November 11, 2019

The Americanization Of Emily (1964)

In 1944 WWII Londonan American naval officer (James Garner) is a cynic who has no interest in becoming a war hero and instead spends the war providing both women and black market goods for high ranking officers. When he meets a British war widow (Julie Andrews) who is tired of heroes and losing loved ones to warthey fall in love. Loosely based on the novel by William Bradford Huie (THE REVOLT OF MAMIE STOVER) adapted for the screen by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Arthur Hiller (THE OUT OF TOWNERS). This dark romantic satire seems to want to have its cake and eat it too. One is never really sure of the movie's stance. It seems to be anti-war and against the glorification of heroes on one hand yet hedges its bets by having Garner (whose character is a self professed coward) deceptively accept his fake hero status rather than be honest about it. I suppose there's an irony in that but if that's the casethe film doesn't make it clear. It seems it doesn't want to offend anyone and wants to keep everyone happy. All that asideit's very well written (and I'm not a Chayefsky fan) and the performances are excellent. With James CoburnMelvyn DouglasKeenan WynnEdward BinnsJoyce GrenfellWilliam WindomJudy Carne and Alan Sues.

2 comments:

  1. Great review. I think its a well-made movie but I'm not a fan of "serious" James garner or Julie Andrews. There seem to have been a lot of subtle anti-war Hollywood movies in the late 50s and 60s. They came to cordura, Up from the Beach, The war lover, the Victors, even Bridge on the River Kwai is fairly cynical. Not sure why.

    Side Note: W.B Huie was also the author of "The Execution of Pvt. Slovik".

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    1. I think Garner has been very good in some "serious" films like 36 Hours, Grand Prix and Hour Of The Gun. My favorite serious Julie Andrews performance is Hawaii.

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