MovieChat Forums > The Americanization of Emily (1964) Discussion > Julie Andrews miscast

Julie Andrews miscast

posted 8 years ago by holchie
2 replies | jump to latest

Julie Andrews playing the role of Emily wrecked this movie for me. They needed someone with more of a worldly attitude and look. Someone with a naturally haughty visage and short bouffant hairdo of the 1960s was not realistic and was annoying. If she would have had a toned-down hairdo, it might have helped. Sorry to be so shallow about it, but that's it.

[–] murph24 8 years ago

They needed someone with more of a worldly attitude and look.

I don't know where you got that idea, because it has nothing to do with the script. The character of Emily is described as a "prig" and a "virgin goddess," someone with an "ingrained British morality" who is nonetheless "grotesquely sentimental" - someone who "falls in love too easily" and "shatters too easily." All of which makes Julie Andrews, if anything, IDEAL casting for Emily.

However, if you're talking about the women's costumes and hairstyles, there's no question the film stumbles - especially in the big party sequence. It's supposed to be 1944, and yet all of the women look like they're celebrating New Year's Eve in 1963. During the scenes when she's in uniform, Andrews looks more period-appropriate; however, when she arrives to play bridge with the admirals, she's a knockout - but a knockout from the early 60s, not the mid-40s. Still, Andrews can't be blamed for this; it's the responsibility of the film's director and costume designer to create a look that's suitable for the WWII period, and for whatever reason they really dropped the ball in this scene.

[–] holchie 8 years ago

However, if you're talking about the women's costumes and hairstyles, there's no question the film stumbles - especially in the big party sequence. It's supposed to be 1944, and yet all of the women look like they're celebrating New Year's Eve in 1963. During the scenes when she's in uniform, Andrews looks more period-appropriate; however, when she arrives to play bridge with the admirals, she's a knockout - but a knockout from the early 60s, not the mid-40s. Still, Andrews can't be blamed for this; it's the responsibility of the film's director and costume designer to create a look that's suitable for the WWII period, and for whatever reason they really dropped the ball in this scene.

EXACTLY!