Action on the Beach (1964)

Behind the scenes look at the D-Day special effects created in filming The Americanization of Emily.

Stars:

Martin Ransohoff, James Garner, Arthur Hiller

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Martin Ransohoff	...	Himself
James Garner	...	Himself
Arthur Hiller	...	Himself
Paul Byrd	...	Himself
James Coburn	...	Himself
Al Shenberg	...	Himself

Storyline

The D-Day invasion scene in The Americanization of Emily lasts approximately 3 minutes on the screen. However, it took four months of setup work to prepare the location for shooting. This short shows how the production crew handled the various challenges they faced. The scene was filmed on an unidentified California beach. Sand had to be dredged; special scaffolding had to be built to accommodate the cameras and sound equipment; and explosives had to be placed properly (and safely) to simulate shelling by German troops.

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Plot Keywords:

special effects | behind the scenes | narration | promotional | making of

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Genres:

Short | Documentary

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

6 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included as a special feature on the DVD The Americanization of Emily released in 2005 by Warner Home Video.

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Connections

References The Americanization of Emily (1964)

User Reviews

All the hard work that goes into three minutes of screen time...

A sequence in THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY required a three minute scene depicting JAMES GARNER and JAMES COBURN emerging from the water and engaging in a battle scene recreating D-Day WWII's action on the Normandy beachhead.

For this three minute scene, four months of preparation went into rigging the scaffolds to hold cameras and equipment, including heavy lights (even for daytime filming), dredging the sand to plant explosives set to go off by cue, and finally training the actors to know where the explosives were planted and how to avoid injuries during the actual shot.

Garner is shown taking directions from director Arthur Hiller as he and Coburn prepare for the shot.

An interesting glimpse of the painstaking effort that goes into making even a brief scene in an effort to recreate an historical event with authenticity. Fortunately for all concerned, the scene, using four cameras shooting simultaneously, went off without a hitch.