Les Jeux de l'amour et de la guerre

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.

Masterfully scripted by Paddy Chayefsky, this 1964 anti-war film is not quite a classic but nonetheless an unexpected treat and one that deserves resurrection by a new generation of viewers. Set in WWII London, the dark hearted plot focuses on Navy Lieutenant Commander Charles Madison, an especially notorious personal assistant to the mentally unstable Admiral William Jessup. Madison's job is to make sure Jessup gets anything he wants, and he has a warehouse full of contraband to back him up. Smug in his self-awareness about his cowardice, he meets Emily Barham, an English war widow who has lost her father and brother as well as her husband to the war. She is repulsed by Madison's manipulative agenda and cavalier materialism, and he finds her priggish and self-righteous. Needless to say, they fall in love. Complicating matters is Jessup's hare-brained scheme to ensure the first casualty of the D-Day invasion on Omaha Beach be a naval man. Without a glimmer of irony recognized, the admiral assigns Madison and his colleague "Buzz" Cummings to find the appropriate sailor and film his heroic death.

The sheer audacity of this task is a hallmark of Chayefsky's vitriolic style, and the film is full of his brittle, observant dialogue and sharply articulate soliloquies. You need an actor of consummate charm and cunning to play Madison effectively, and Garner responds by turning in one of the best performances of his long career. He shows not only his deft comedic touch but also a piercing insight into the integrity that can come from an acknowledged lack of courage. Squeezed in between her twin juggernauts of sugar, "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music", Julie Andrews gives an intelligent, passionate performance as Emily that actually eclipses her acting in either mega-hit. The movie's title comes from her character's resistance to what she sees as cheapening her values by becoming more American. Together, they not only spark romantically but also trade speeches of barbed cynicism making Chayefsky's words fly off the page with supple dexterity.

Screen stalwart Melvyn Douglas is a terrifically befuddled blowhard as Jessup, while an especially energetic James Coburn aggressively turns "Buzz" into a monomaniacal yes-man. Joyce Grenfell is superb in her few scenes as Emily's no-nonsense mother. For interested baby boomers, you can even see future "Laugh-In" regulars Alan Sues and Judy Carne in bit parts, as well as the late Sharon Tate. If there is a weakness to the film, it comes from Arthur Hiller's pedestrian direction making the film more episodic than it should. The 2005 DVD package has a sharp print of the film and includes Hiller's informative commentary on an alternate track. He is understandably proud of the film since his subsequent work ("Love Story", "Making Love") has not even come close to the quality of this production. There is also a short, "Action on the Beach", which shows how the realistic filming of the D-Day scene was executed. It would be interesting to see this film in a double bill with Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" to get alternative perspectives on the same event.

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.

Americanization of Emily is not an anti-war or pacifist film. Its position is anti- glorification of war or heroism. Chayefsky himself was a war hero and awarded a Purple Heart. His position on war is stated clearly by the James Garner character in the amazing garden scene with Emily and her mother, who has been driven mad with grief over the loss of her husband, son-in-law, etc. in the war. Emily takes Charlie's cowardice and throws it back at him. The film was unavailable for years since the widow of the author of the book on which it is based held the copyright and would not release it for DVD. It is finally available for a new generation, and the ideas are still timely and valid. The theme song, Emily, is a jazz classic that has become better known than the film itself.

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!