His pure and blissful role in The Notebook, proves that he was in the mood for romance even in his old age



Even though most biographies of James Garner, the great Hollywood charmer, usually focus on his more famous roles such as the one in the revolutionary TV series The Rockford Files, in which he portrayed the private detective who keeps a gun in his cookie jar and adores beer and tacos, or the one in Maverick, TV series that later got its feature film remake in which he also starred together with Mel Gibson, we happen to prefer his underestimated films, which have been pushed aside unjustly. Let us remember his great role of a pimp who falls in love with Julie Andrews in the anti-war jewel by Arthur Hiller The Americanization of Emily in which he held the memorable speech about American demonic generals who transform the military wives into widows. Let us also remember his Marlowe that maybe was not as hardboiled as Bogart’s or as ethereal as Elliott Gould’s but was rather melancholy and cool while watching Bruce Lee destroy his L.A. office. Let us remember the forgotten film by Martin Ritt Murphy’s Romance in which he refuses to be treated as an uncle by Sally Field. We also love his roles in the two films by the great Blake Edwards – the portrayal of Wyatt Earp in Sunset and the role in Victoru Victoria. His pure and blissful role in The Notebook with Gena Rowlands, proves that he was in the mood for romance even in his old age. (Dragan Rubeša)