Cinema: In Praise of Cowardice

The Ameicanization of Emily.

"As long as valor remains a virtue." says the unheroic hero of this film. " we shall have soldiers. So I preach cowardice Cowards run at the first shot. If everybody did, we would never get to the second shot. I'm a coward, and I Say that cowardice will save the world!"

Playwright Paddy Chayefsky, who wrote the script for Emily, obviously intended a black comedy in the style of Dr. Strangelove, a savage sneer at war and all it bloody works. But if Strangelove with cheery ferocity reminded its audiences that...

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