The Americanization of Emily
Emily, with Julie Andrews in title role as an English motor pool driver in World War II, takes place immediately before the Normandy invasion. Most of the action unspools in London where Garner, a lieutenant commander who makes avowed cowardice his career, is 'dog robber' to Melvyn Douglas, an erratic admiral and one of the heads of the oncoming onslaught on the French coast.
Emily, with Julie Andrews in title role as an English motor pool driver in World War II, takes place immediately before the Normandy invasion. Most of the action unspools in London where Garner, a lieutenant commander who makes avowed cowardice his career, is ‘dog robber’ to Melvyn Douglas, an erratic admiral and one of the heads of the oncoming onslaught on the French coast.
Most of Garner’s duties consist of rounding up delicacies and services, impossible to get, for his boss, until the admiral orders him to make a film showing activities of navy demolition on their landing at Omaha Beach.
Basic idea builds around the admiral being beset with an obsession to have the first man killed on Omaha Beach a sailor, to show the navy can have no peer in the service, and the script takes it from there.
Pic [based on the novel by William Bradford Huie] is primarily interesting for the romance between Andrews and Garner, the former struggling against being Americanized through her contact with the outgoing and freewheeling Garner.
Garner generally delivers a satisfactory performance. Douglas plays his admiral strictly for laughs. James Coburn as a navy officer is outstanding particularly for his comedy scenes. Joyce Grenfell as femme star’s mother and Keenan Wynn, a salty old salt, likewise handle their roles well.
1964: Nominations: Best B&W Cinematography, B&W Art Direction
The Americanization of Emily
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