The Americanization of Emily (1964)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Very Cool!!!

Boring

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Think of Network or The Hospital, Paddy Chayefsky was seeing into the future and what he saw was ugly. Here we have an insane admiral and how his men, who know he's crazy, stand in line to follow his wishes/commands. An anti war film without sentimentality. Julie Andrews is a total delight as the tough cookie with a razor sharp mind. James Garner has the best lines of his career. His tea with Joyce Grenfell is a superb written scene. Joyce Grenfell as Julie's mother is divine, yes, divine! Melvyn Douglas as the crazy man in charge is the Howard Beale of the situation and what he does with it is pure genius. Highly recommend it.

As a Chayefsky fan, I sorta held off on this movie because it was presented to me as a mere anti-war film. I'm a little bit tired of anti-war films. I think we all are... But here I am, finishing my second viewing of this movie on back-to-back nights, and with great pleasure I can say that The Americanization of Emily is not a simple anti-war film. True to the Chayefsky name, this is one of the most original, well-crafted movies you will ever see. This is screen writing at its best: where conventional romances and gags are turned into a statement on the human condition, and you can laugh and, at the same time, hear your own thoughts put more eloquently than you could ever manage. The Americanization of Emily is not content to stop at anti-war. It moves on and on, sometimes so quick it may be a little jarring at first or seem a little preachy, and maybe it is, but, for all it's flaws (the love song is eerily similar to Spartacus's love theme), this film could easily enter a top ten list. I don't want to hype it up too much, though. I may only like it because I agree. I also don't want to neglect director Arthur Hiller's great contribution (keep an eye out for the 3 minute take in the hotel room.) If you're a Chayefsky fan (which should be just about everyone), however, or if you enjoy the absolute mastery of craft exhibited by Hollywod during its Golden Age, you'll love this film. I highly suggest it. I really do.

A brilliant anti-war film with a very unlikely cast & director. Scripted by Paddy Chayefsky (from a novel by William Bradford Huie), James Garner is a cowardly admiral's aide in WWII London who gets mixed up with car pool member Julie Andrews and, despite his best efforts, finds himself landing in Normandy on D-Day. While the tone is definitely satiric and the film features a fair amount of laughs, it's also both harsh & unforgiving. A major highlight has Garner, in a gut wrenching speech, explaining to Andrews' shell-shocked mother the true meaning of war and what the deaths of soldiers really means. It's a genuinely "cruel to be kind" moment. Chayefsky's script is both rip-roaring and surprisingly touching. The direction by Arthur Hiller is excellent. The supporting cast includes Edward Binns, Liz Fraser (as a very willing party girl) and James Coburn as Garner's by-the-book best buddy. Joyce Grenfell is excellent as Andrews' mother. Melvyn Douglas, in an astounding performance, is Garner's superior who sets into motion some truly outrageous events. The chemistry between Garner & Andrews is undeniable. Andrews gives a great straight performance, especially impressive considering she played her signature role in MARY POPPINS the same year. The mightily impressive D-Day landing sequence was actually shot on a beach in Oxnard, CA.

Julie Andrews means Mary Poppins, right? And James Garner was the admirable star of The Rockford Files. And Arthur Hiller hasn't been much of a director, overall. So this film was a major surprise to me, an amazingly interesting examination of the American character, a trenchant satire, not on war itself, but on the glorification of war, a bitter screed about those in power who choose all kinds of reasons to send young men to death except the right ones--and it's a funny film, too, although when James Garner delivers a reasonable tirade about wartime death to a war widow in denial, I must admit to chagrin and then agreement: it's Paddy Chayevsky's brilliant script that makes this satire work--the direction is lackluster, the film a little too long, but it's probably more vital today than it was some forty years ago. Bad title, brilliantly acted, recommended!