The Americanization of Emily | | Cast : | James Garner, Julie Andrews, Melvyn Douglas | | Director : | Arthur Hiller | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Black & White, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | October 27, 1964 | | DVD Released Date : | May 10, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | NR (Not Rated) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 07, 2005 | | Summary | Great Movie | Content
 | I really enjoyed this movie. The story is very humorous with a very interesting message. The chemistry between Julie Andrews and James Garner is amazing. I bought this movie because I am a Julie Andrews' fan and I hadn't read any of the reviews. I absolutley loved the movie until the end when I was a afraid that such a great movie was going to end up with a crap ending but it all worked out (you'll understand after you see it). I highly recomend this film. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 07, 2005 | | Summary | The Absurdities of War | Content
| He - James Garner as Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison - is a dog robber, a military aide who duty it is to see to it that the general or admiral he's attached to is well fed, well clothed, and well loved. She - Julie Andrews as Emily Barham - looking cute in her military dress, is his driver from the British motor pool. D-Day looms and England broils with military activity.
Madison is a pragmatic, self-centered sensualist who finds the whole idea of valorous heroism ridiculous. Emily is idealistic and giving, a young war-widow who is moved to tears by tales of bravery. They are also deeply, madly, hopelessly in love with other.
Garner co-stars with Andrews in Arthur Hiller's classic THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY. Although, to do justice to things the first name mentioned in connection with this film has to be Paddy Chayefsky, the screenwriter who here has, in my opinion, written the perfect script. As someone who's a big fan of war movies, someone who will pretty much start bawling whenever someone like John Ford wants me too, I ought to hate a movie that attacks those who praise martial courage and debunks the very concept of military heroism. I ought to, but the genius - at least one of the many geniuses -- of Chayefsky's script is that he doesn't demean those he decries. To put it simply, THE AMERICAN OF EMILY isn't anti-war. It's pro-coward. It's less an attack on War than on the glorification of war and the elevation of heroes.
Also on the dvd is a relaxed, anecdote filled commentary track with director Hiller. EMILY, he tells us, was Garner's and Andrews' favorite film. It's certainly the best I've seen either actor in. Garner's career especially seemed to have been affected by this movie. In his more popular works, the Support Your Local movies and particularly his television series "The Rockford Files", his character has a bit of the coward (in the best sense of the word) in him. Of course, his other characters never express themselves nearly as eloquently as they do here. I played the commentary track a couple of days after watching the film sans commentary. It went well until I got to the scene where Garner begins a speech that ends with "Europe was a going brothel long before we came to town." Had to listen to that one without Hiller, no matter how interesting he was, chattering over it. I buttoned mashed back to the commentary track until I got to the scene where Madison is taking tea with Emily and her mother. Had to turn the commentary off to listen to that one again. Button mashed back to commentary until... well, until I got to the proposal scene. I gave up on the commentary track - the good commentary track - at that point. I was weak and track surfing was growing tedious. The highest recommendation for this essential movie. It's warm, moving, at times hilarious and at other times it will move you to tears. A great movie.
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| Rating | | | Date | June 19, 2005 | | Summary | What are dog-robbers made of? | Content
| During the build-up to D-Day in 1944, James Garner is Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Madison. He worked is way into a SAFE and cushy job as Admiral William Jessup's dog-robber (procurement specialist); thus assuring himself of being far away form the invasion.
Unforeseen, his commanding officer has a mental breakdown and assigns him to FILM the first sailor on Omaha beach. Nothing would happen if it were not for his gung-ho co-worker James Coburn as Lieutenant Commander "Bus" Cummings, who now wants to carry out the commander's intent.
Parallel to this James Garner is convincing Julie Andrews as Emily Barham that it is the nobleizing of war that perpetuates war, and people that die in wars are not heroes. So will Charlie (self-proclaimed coward), Americanize Emily or will he turn British?
See James Coburn again with Dick Shawn in "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?" (1966)
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| Rating | | | Date | June 17, 2005 | | Summary | One of my all-time favorite movies | Content
| This was a movie that I was coerced into watching by my father, although after the first five minutes, I was hooked. The cast is all-round excellent, with James Garner leading the way as the "loveable rogue", and Julie Andrews as the titular Emily (in a very un-"Sound of Music"-ish role) at her charming best.
The story centers around Charlie (James Garner) and his role as a "dog-catcher" (essentially a military butler) for a high-ranking general. Set near the time of operation "Overlord" and the storming of Normandy, the plot sees Charlie embroiled in a high-stakes Navy PR campaign that will probably get him killed.
This movie is especially pertinent in these post 9-11 days, and at the risk of turning this review into a political soapbox, it serves as a grim (yet extremely funny) reminder of the sheer insanity and horror of war.
The dialogue is excellent throughout, what with Paddy Chayefsky's deft hand shaping the script to an extremely satisfying conclusion.
A marvellous film, definitely not to be missed.
Oh, and one final note for the reviewer who didn't understand the title: Watch the last scene again. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 30, 2005 | | Summary | Americanization? | Content
| I've never understood the title of this movie. It is as anti-american as it is anti-war. But I love the movie. It's perfect, all except the ending, but I guess that's in sync with the whole philosophy, set of values. I only laughed once and did not find it particularly funny, only entertaining in its dark and wholesome way. All the actors did great jobs I thought, the story (though from a book by someone else) was wonderful, and the plot switches kept kept coming. I love this movie as I said, but I don't imagine it would be very popular with the americans Emily is supposedly becoming one of. Charlie was NOT a typical american, and his philosophy, values are NOT american at all. So whence the title??? It's a great flick. Like "Network," and just as pertinent and piercing. |
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