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DVD The Americanization of Emily
Screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky (Marty) sinks his satirical fangs into this story of an American naval officer (James Garner) selected to be the first victim at the invasion of Normandy. Julie Andrews plays a prim, British war widow who falls for him. Cynical in tone, the story becomes an interesting collision of manipulative interests and renewed life, the same formula that worked so well in Chayefsky's scripts for Network and Hospital. --Tom Keogh
I saw this movie about 20 years ago when it was on Cinemax. I fell asleep while watching it then. I bought the DVD as part of the Controversial Classics set, and was looking forward to seeing the parts I missed.
This time, I fell asleep twice watching it; it took a total of three nights to see it all. I found it just as talky and heavy-handed as I did when I saw it back in college. Further, I didn't pick up on any chemistry between the leads, and found James Coburn's character loud and annoying. Finally, the great MGM hairstylist Sidney Guillaroff was way off the mark on this one. Almost all of the women had mid-60's hairdo's that were distracting, particularly Miss Andrews, whose distracting poofie 'do often changed from shot to shot within the same scene.
I get it; war is bad. Nevertheless, this film did little for me. It did, however, look very nice; the DVD transfer was well done.
The funny side of the War!
This is an anti war picture that reminded me in many ways to that glorious Billy Wilder 's film of 1953 Stalag 17, which chooses the comedy to unmask certain hidden vices. Kubrick ' Dr. Strangelove somehow marked the pathway this satiric genre that culminated with Norman Jewison 's The Russians are coming.
Paddy Chayevsky 's skillful screenplay is adapted from William Braford Huie 's book about a Navy officer whose man job during WW2 is to supply his superiors with creature comforts including girls. On the other side of the bridge there will be a widow portrayed by Julie Andrews who despises Garner 's non heroic attitude, but can not help falling in love with him.
The final is funny but there is a lot of cynicism that runs as corrosive acid throughout the film. Admirable work of Arthur Hiller and in many senses this could be his masterpiece.
The Americanization of Emily
Written by the gifted Paddy Chayefsky, this is one of the sharper anti-war satires ever made. Both leads are solid, with Andrews impressive in her first non-singing role. Veteran Douglas and James Coburn (as Charlies womanizing fellow officer) almost steal the movie, however. A touching and engrossing film, with something to say.
A welcome new DVD life might be in store for Darling Lili, an underrated film whose reputation is mostly locked as one of the big, expensive flops that helped reshape Hollywood at the turn of the seventies. Julie Andrews was still at the height of her popularity when she began shooting this musical-comedy-drama with new husband Blake Edwards directing; budget overruns, studio interference, and the changing box-office climate all doomed the movie's disastrous 1970 release.
Even fans of the picture would have to admit that the weird storyline had something to do with it, too. Andrews plays a World War I singer in London and Paris who's actually a spy for the Germans (part of her cover is singing popular patriotic songs, such as "Pack Up Your Troubles" and "It's a Long Way to... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Julie Andrews - Rock Hudson Director(s): Blake Edwards DVD Release Date: Released the 25 October 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) directed this adaptation of James Michener's novel about the history of the 50th state. Max von Sydow plays a zealous missionary with a Calvinist bent, intent on enlightening the natives even as his wife (Julie Andrews) is romanced by the dashing Richard Harris. The film is both a glossy vision of Hawaii in the early 19th century and a sometimes-brutal drama full of death, a rough childbirth, stormy weather, etc. Hill's blunt editing, meant to emphasize the more terrifying aspects of the natural order of life, makes the film look particularly dated and mannered today. This is best appreciated for its cast, all of whom were making inroads in Hollywood at the time. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Julie Andrews - Max von Sydow - Richard Harris Director(s): George Roy Hill DVD Release Date: Released the 12 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Tierney - Dana Andrews Director(s): Rouben Mamoulian - Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The DVD era has unearthed another treasure. For the first time ever, Julie Andrews's performance in the title role of the original 1957 television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is available to the public on home video. Cinderella was created as a Broadway-style television production with an original score from the creators of Oklahoma! and Carousel, featuring such songs as "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible," "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful," and "Stepsisters' Lament." Cast in the title role was the 21-year-old Andrews, at the time starring on Broadway in My Fair Lady (another Cinderella story of sorts), and the cast was filled out by a talented bunch of stage veterans (including Kaye Ballard, Edie Adams, Dorothy... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Julie Andrews - Ilka Chase - Edie Adams Director(s): Ralph Nelson DVD Release Date: Released the 14 December 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Otto Preminger expanded his vision in the 1960s with a whole series of ambitious, expansive dramas with huge casts and big themes. Advise and Consent, an examination of deal making, party politics, and congressional diplomacy in Washington's legislative halls (based on the novel by Allen Drury), is one of his best. Preminger broke the blacklist with his previous film, Exodus, and it rings through in this drama about a controversial nominee for secretary of state (a confident, stately Henry Fonda) accused of being a Communist. The nomination process becomes the center ring of the political circus, with fidgety accuser Burgess Meredith in the spotlight; devious, silver-tongued Charles Laughton cracking the whip as a southern senator with a grudge against Fonda; and party whip... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Henry Fonda - Charles Laughton - Don Murray - Walter Pidgeon - Peter Lawford Director(s): Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 10 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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