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The Americanization of Emily (1964)

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40 comments in total

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37 out of 39 people found the following comment useful :-
Intelligent, poignant satire on the the meaning of heroism, 1 January 2004

Author: William Brown (wdbrown) from Salem, Oregon

Simply put, this is one of my all-time favorite movies. I can't possibly agree with the individual who wrote this was possibly James Garner's worst movie. The exact opposite is true. The character of Charlie is callous, and self-serving, but he has a dedication to the admiral that is logical and touching. It is the admiral, after all, who saved Charlie from the realities of war.

Listen to Charlie's speech about how he got there. He started off by going to war with all the ideals of any other Marine, but in the teeth of war he realized he wasn't the man he thought he was and "the glory" certainly wasn't worth it. Charlie is a coward, but not a deserter. He has priorities, which he lists to Emily.

Garner does a fine job in communicating the role of an outwardly selfish and uncaring man struggling hard to suppress his principles.

Julie Andrews' Emily is just the person to bring those principles out. And James Coburn is outstanding as the one person who actually takes the admiral's plan for a sailor to be the first casualty on Omaha Beach seriously.

Very good acting by all. Fine comic performances in a film that is easily overlooked by today's audiences because it isn't the type of humor that hits you over the head with a baseball bat to make its point. Instead, it uses characterization and intelligence.

How sad we are that we are no longer required to think about movies, since so many of them have no thought behind them other than making money.

"The Americanization of Emily" is definitely worth a look if you like smart, intelligent characters with something to say.

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32 out of 34 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent, funny, sad, sexy, 24 September 2002

Author: funkyfry from Oakland CA

This excellent film combines humor and drama in ways I've never seen before. Far from heavyhanded in either department, its notable trait is a kind of circular irony that runs through the film, becoming even more profound in the film's final scenes. Garner plays a man whose ideal is cowardice and self-service. Face dfinally with having to become and official "hero" and wanting no part of it, he has to realize that to be true to himself he has to play this role -- the nobility of any grand gesture of honesty in his cowardice would be too utside of his character! Andrews is magnificent and more sexy than usual as Emily, a girl afraid to have any man who's not a coward! No sentimentality, just good old dark irony. Very well written. Good film!

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23 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
An Absolute Classic, 13 March 2000

Author: Judger from Cranford, NJ

Unlike most WWII movies of this era, this movie wasn't afraid to take a dark but witty look at military establishment.

James Coburn character takes seriously a delusional Admiral (the great Melvin Douglas) who conceives of a "Tomb of the Unknown Sailor" Coburn assigns a devoutly un-heroic James Garner to storm Normandy Beach to film and retrieve the body of the first sailor killed on D-Day. In an unforgettable scene, a very intoxicated Keenan Wynne is assigned to the project and responds by saying "I may be drunk, but I'm not THAT drunk!".

The writing and dialog are some of the most intelligent and clever that you will ever see in a movie. Near the end of the movie, Julie Andrew gives a brilliant speach that takes Garner's anti-heroic philosophy and spins it back to him in a clever and unexpected way.

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18 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
A black comedy about the excesses of war set against the backdrop of D-Day., 19 June 2005

Author: llsee46 from United States

I first saw this movie in 1964 at the Air Force base where I was stationed. At the time I thought it was an odd choice to show on base, but in those days, I guess the military wasn't so sensitive that they had to censor the films shown on base. The movie practically disappeared for 40 years, and I was pleased to see that it is now released on DVD. I watched the DVD this weekend and was happy to find that the film still seemed fresh and had aged very well.

Watching this movie reminds one of why James Garner and Julie Andrews became stars. They are both extremely likable and have good chemistry together. Garner's character, Charlie Madison, is just a rift on his Maverick TV personae, but is well suited to the character. Andrews, in a non-singing role, is luminescent. She plays a British war widow the way all Americans think of British women. It is a classic portrayal. The star of this film though, is the script by Paddy Chayefsky. Snappy, witty dialog and that strong dose of black humor amply illustrate why Chayefsky should be considered on of the finest script writers of all time. This is equal to his work in Network.

The DVD extras are sparse. There is a 6 minute 1964 MGM featurette on the filming of the Omaha Beach scene. It is only notable by comparison of Mr Garner's treatment during filming to how today's over-indulged, ego-inflated, and under-whelming movie stars are treated. Recommended.

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19 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
"I'm not interested in the truth, just the momentary fact of things.", 18 August 2005

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

For those of today's fans who think Julie Andrews made her film debut in Mary Poppins, they would be wrong. After leaving Camelot on Broadway, The Americanization of Emily was the vehicle with which Julie made her debut. And she sings not a note.

She didn't have to. Beneath all the comedy revolving around the scheming and conniving of James Garner to stay as far away from the hail of bullets as possible are some profound statements about the futility of war and the geopolitics that got the USA in that particular war.

James Garner is in a quintessential James Garner role as set down by Bret Maverick, the part that made Garner a star. He's a "dog robber" a military aide to an admiral who specializes in acquiring certain creature comforts for his boss. Garner became one after serving some combat in Guadalcanal and finding it not to his liking. Fortunately for him, he had the connections to get out of that situation unlike several thousand others. Not a very admirable man.

But despite herself, stiff upper lip Britisher Julie Andrews finds herself falling for him. There's is one rocky romance.

Through a combination of circumstances Garner finds himself going to the front on D-Day to film the Naval Engineers disabling the mines in the water at Normandy Beach. Once again, it's not to his liking.

Garner and Andrews get good support from the supporting cast consisting of James Coburn, William Windom, Joyce Grenfell and Melvyn Douglas as the battle fatigued admiral who's Garner's boss and who got him in the situation described.

One of my favorite scenes involves two sailors, Keenan Wynn and Steve Franken who get assigned to Garner to make the film. The three of them get cockeyed drunk and Garner's immediate superior James Coburn finds them in a state of uselessness. He has them hauled aboard the transport with the cargo.

One of the great things this film had going for it was the Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer title song of Emily. They were a hot combination of movie song writers then, having one back to back Oscars for Moon River and Days of Wine and Roses. Frank Sinatra, Jack Jones, and Andy Williams are some of the artists who recorded that song back in 1964.

I can't give the ending away, but let's say that Garner through a bit of sophistry winds up doing exactly what he said he never would. But then again as Garner says, he's not interested in some great philosophical truth, just the momentary fact of things. He and Julie Andrews together are what counts most.

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18 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Great film. I watch it regularly., 4 March 1999

Author: peterb-5 from NJ

This is one of my favorite films of all time. Garner and Andrews are tremendous. Coburn adds the perfect finishing touch to an ensemble cast. Touchingly romantic and funny. Garner delivers a very powerful monologue in the middle of the film that adds perspective not often seen in the WWII genre.

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13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Intellectual black comedy, 21 May 2005

Author: ryancm from United States

Get ready for a well written, directed and acted film about a very cowardly man in service. He's played by James Garner in an incredible performance. It has been said EMILY is his favorite film and I agree. Along with Garner is an amazing performance by Julie Andrews who looks terrific. A great character study and movie that makes you think. So unlike todays films where the special effects and fancy camera movement take the place of good old fashioned writing and acting. Superb also in support roles are Melvyn Douglas and James Coburn. The only flaw is that the women, including Andrews, don't have that "1945" look. Much too modern looking, especially the hair styles.

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13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Wonderfully crafted romantic drama, 3 March 1999
Author: Doctor_Bombay from Lucas Buck, NC

There can be no Paddy Chayefsky without comedy, nor can there be without drama. His work is always serious, channeled with humor, but his presentation is so on-point, so honest, so blatant, that as viewers we are forced to soak it all up, and we are left the better for it.

Set in wartime, the Americanization of Emily looks at changing times in a very changing world. The ‘balloon will go up' any day now, signaling the Invasion of Europe and all around will be forever changed.

It is not solely the warriors, the decision makers, that are central to the battle. Chayefsky knows that, and shows us that war will change all it touches, from the simple Emily (Julie Andrews), a kind, intelligent, sensitive single English woman to the devil-may-care ‘scrounger', Lt Cmdr Charles Madison (James Garner-somewhat a reprise of his role in The Great Escape).

This movie is a romance, and a serious examination of people over-matched by forces outside their control, who struggle to do everything in their control to find their way.

A well-told story, skillfully delivered. It's hard to ask for much more than that.

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12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Movie I Loved It!, 12 August 2005

Author: Ralph from World Traveler

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I just watched this film last night for the third time ever (first time my wife saw it). The first time I watched it I loved the pentagon talk because all of that was and still does happen with inter service mission profiles and rivalries (I'm a Navy vet going over many years up to present day, IE Baghdad 2004). The drunken speech the Admiral gives about why Hitler didn't win the war could be strongly argued for (Hitler didn't have a strong enough NAVY). So I'm really into this movie first and foremost because it is a Navy film and like the film 7 Days in May it shows the Navy in a different light than the other services; more of a civilian flavor to our lives and thinking (In 7 Days in May it was the Admiral who stood by the President, while most of the Generals supported the coup). That first time I watch the film I cut it short right after Garner was "killed" on D Day, I felt the film tear at me and leave a bad taste in my mouth, reminiscent of "Paths Of Glory"; which made it a great movie to me.

Later on (years later) I would catch this film again and, for whatever reason that happened, I saw the real ending of the film and it probably took it down a peg for me to see Garner alive after all; but I was happy one of my favorite war film characters made it out alive after being really KIA for me.

Last night I re-watched it with my wife who is visiting me (the only thing good on is TCM (middle east) and they were showing it). I'm currently very close to Iraq on a job supporting the current war. The third time watching it's now after 9/11; all the dialog really snaps to attention and the arguments from Garner were sounding pretty persuasive but Andrews comebacks were equally sharp and sounded more in touch with the real world. Garner's character, in my book, is not a coward as he professes throughout the movie. His is a character that is a realist. He has been to Guadalcanal as a Marine private, he just knows what can happen to someone in a war zone and wants to avoid it. The problem with his "coward" philosophy is of course that the US was attacked by Japan and also had war declared on IT, by Germany. Eventually even the "coward" Commander in the film would have rose up against the oppressors after they put him on a cattle car headed to a death camp. The people who have posted here about Iraq and this film and than equating it to World War 2 really are not thinking it through. WW2 was a huge threat to the world that the democracies didn't have the stomach to face until it was forced to. The current situation is definitely a result of an attack on our homeland and an attempt to prevent increased Islam inspired fascism. If you study history (such as pre WW2), than a case could definitely be argued that the US is now trying to prevent a more serious 9/11 from happening by invading Afghanistan and Iraq. Was some of this pre emptive, yes. Will it work out for us, only time will tell. I'm on the side hoping it will.

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13 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the very best anti-war movies, esp. for Americans, 29 October 2002

Author: seajoe-1 from miami, fl, usa

This film is being released on cable again here in the fall of 2002. I guess I hope some liberal Hollywood mogul is doing it on purpose, to give us, especially those of us in the US, another good dose of anti-war. The movie seems especially apt for me, for my countrymen, because it is both funny and serious, and, set in England, it gives a pretty good sense of what a people who know war think and feel about it.

I'm afraid I doubt that it's going to have much effect against the probably coming Iraq action, but I'd like to think it might have a bit.

Both James Garner and Julie Andrews do well in the film, and Melvyn Douglas is real good as an American ranking Naval officer who's sane about the "glories of war". The Brit who plays Julie Andrews mother, whose name I unhappily cannot remember, deserves strong mention, too, especially with her scene about the absurdity and stupidity of memorializing the first Allied death in the invasion at Normandy in WW II.

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