The Americanization of Emily

The Americanization of Emily is a nearly great satire that, unfortunately, stumbles at the finish.

The story sees James Garner as an American officer in World War II London, content to ride out the war living the good life while seeing to the needs of his Admiral, until he finds himself in love with a British widow, played by Julie Andrews, and given a dangerous assignment.

Garner leads a knockout cast in a performance that’s perfect for the part. He’s charming but cynical, passionate but nonchalant. It’s a tricky role, and Garner makes it look easy. Supporting him, Andrews is solid as his widowed love-interest, Melvyn Douglas is convincing as his ailing commander, and James Coburn nearly steals the film as a fellow officer who gets caught up in the chase for glory.

The script by Paddy Chayefsky, who would go on to write the great Network, does a fantastic job of satirizing the machinations of war, until it loses its way toward the film’s finale. It’s not a bad ending, but not the great one the film, up to that point, deserved. It’s almost as if Chayefsky wasn’t willing to go as far as he would with Network, or as far as Stanley Kubrick did in Dr. Strangelove. Both of those films took their satire to over-the-top heights in their finales, but this one attempts to reign it back in and tack on a happier ending that just doesn’t feel organic.