{"id":45614,"date":"2019-11-07T15:42:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T22:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45614"},"modified":"2020-11-26T11:30:52","modified_gmt":"2020-11-26T18:30:52","slug":"americanization-of-emily-the-1964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45614","title":{"rendered":"Americanization of Emily, The (1964)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I&#8217;ve had it with heroes. Every man I&#8217;ve loved has died in this war.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-45616\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Poster.jpg 656w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nDuring World War II, a military adjutant (James Garner) tasked with keeping a Navy admiral (Melvyn Douglas) happy on the home front falls in love with a widowed chauffeur (Julie Andrews) who has mixed feelings about Garner&#8217;s access to rationed goods and his cynical insistence on keeping himself out of harm&#8217;s way. When Douglas has a nervous breakdown and insists that a film be made of the first Naval officer to die during D-Day, Garner is pressured by his buddy (James Coburn) to take part; but will Garner follow orders or save his own skin &#8212; and how will Andrews feel about his choice?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Corruption<\/li>\n<li>James Coburn Films<\/li>\n<li>James Garner Films<\/li>\n<li>Julie Andrews Films<\/li>\n<li>Keenan Wynn Films<\/li>\n<li>Melvyn Douglas Films<\/li>\n<li>Mental Breakdown<\/li>\n<li>Military<\/li>\n<li>Romance<\/li>\n<li>Widows and Widowers<\/li>\n<li>World War II<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPaddy Chayefsky wrote the ultra-cynical script for this film in which, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1615amer.html\">DVD Savant writes<\/a>, &#8220;War may be Hell, but&#8230; its glorification is a worse obscenity.&#8221; Garner plays a self-professed proud coward whose primary goal is to stay alive while the machinery of war works its lethal way around him. Andrews &#8212; in her second movie role, just after <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6006\"><em>Mary Poppins<\/em> (1964)<\/a> and before <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24471\"><em>The Sound of Music<\/em> (1965)<\/a> &#8212; is appropriately wary of Garner at first, but soon decides she&#8217;d rather enjoy a fling than continue to mourn the string of heroes she&#8217;s lost in her life (including not just her husband, but her father and brother as well). Unfortunately, the presentation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Batman_(military)\">&#8220;dog-robbing&#8221;<\/a> in the military is so blatantly womanizing that it&#8217;s hard to stomach, as women are literally objectified and treated as &#8220;procurement&#8221; for officers (complete with happy willingness to dye their hair and offer sex in exchange for chocolates, drink, and dresses); a running gag has Garner walking in on Coburn as he&#8217;s bedding various beautiful women, all positioned as brainless and vapid. Level-headed Andrews is presumably meant to be the counter-balance to this portrayal, but Chayefsky ultimately has her give in and agree she &#8220;shouldn&#8217;t be a prig&#8221;. Meanwhile,  hearing dialogue like, &#8220;Do the Russians still like their girls short, fat, and reactionary?&#8221; becomes not only tiresome but radically unfunny. With that said, the rest of the narrative does eventually pay off, to an extent; but the road to get there &#8212; while expertly filmed, especially during the D-Day sequences &#8212; isn&#8217;t worth it. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Another minor irritant, as pointed out by DVD Savant, is &#8220;the women&#8217;s hairstyles: Andrews, [Liz] Fraser and all of Garner&#8217;s good-time motor pool girls have poofy 1964 big-hair hairdos &#8230; there&#8217;s little or no period feeling.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Philip Lathrop&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still-1024x613.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"383\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-45617\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still-1024x613.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still-300x179.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still-768x459.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still.png 1613w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still2-1024x613.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"383\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-45615\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still2-1024x613.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still2-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still2-300x179.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still2-768x459.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Americanization-of-Emily-Still2.png 1623w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though film fanatics may want to check out beautiful Andrews in one of her earliest roles. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0057840\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1615amer.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/67267\/the-americanization-of-emily#articles-reviews?articleId=1184\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve had it with heroes. Every man I&#8217;ve loved has died in this war.&#8221; Synopsis: During World War II, a military adjutant (James Garner) tasked with keeping a Navy admiral (Melvyn Douglas) happy on the home front falls in love with a widowed chauffeur (Julie Andrews) who has mixed feelings about Garner&#8217;s access to rationed goods and his cynical insistence on keeping himself out of harm&#8217;s way. When Douglas has a nervous breakdown and insists that a film be made&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45614\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45614"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55068,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45614\/revisions\/55068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}