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Breakfast at Tiffany's
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 American film starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, and featuring Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, and Mickey Rooney. It was directed by Blake Edwards. The portrayal of Holly Golightly as the naive, eccentric socialite is generally considered to be Audrey Hepburn's most memorable and identifiable role. She herself regarded it as one of her most challenging roles to play, as she was an introvert who had to play an extrovert. Hepburn's singing of "Moon River" helped garner an Oscar for Best Song for composer Henry Mancini and lyricist Johnny Mercer. The film also featured what was arguably George Peppard's greatest acting role and the high point of his career. The film is based on the novella of the same name by Truman Capote.
Plot
The movie follows the exploits of Holly Golightly, a young woman always on the run from herself. Lacking a stable childhood, she marries at the age of 14, has the marriage annulled, moves to Hollywood to start a film career, then suddenly leaves Hollywood for New York. Although the nature of her livelihood in New York is never explicitly stated, it is implied that she is either a call girl or, at the very least, makes a living by dating well-off men. Holly also earns an extra $100 a week by carrying coded messages for an incarcerated mafia boss.
The plot revolves around Holly's relationship with her new neighbor, Paul Varjak, a writer who has only written one book five years before, and has confidence problems of his own. He is, in fact, being maintained by a Mrs. Failenson, and in effect makes his living as gigolo - which creates the first bond between him and Holly, as being "colleagues".
The story explores the relationship between Holly and Paul, her other paramours and the resolution that occurs within Holly's own mind and between Holly and Paul. The film includes Hepburn singing the original performance of "Moon River," and the closing sequence that shows Paul's "lecture" to Holly and her self-discovery of who she really is and who makes her truly happy. The film ends with a scene in the rain.
Cast
Audrey Hepburn as Lulu Mae Barnes, alias Holly Golightly
George Peppard as Paul "Fred" Varjak
Patricia Neal as Mrs. Failenson
Buddy Ebsen as Doc Golightly
Martin Balsam as O.J. Berman
Orangey as Cat (trained by Frank Inn)
Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi
The screenplay
The Oscar-nominated screenplay was written by George Axelrod, loosely based on the novella by Truman Capote.
Capote, who sold the film rights of his novella to Paramount Studios, wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the role of Holly Golightly in the film. Barry Paris references a quote by Capote: "Marilyn was always my first choice to play the girl, Holly Golightly." Screenwriter Axelrod was hired to "tailor the screenplay for Monroe." When Hepburn was cast instead of Marilyn, Capote remarked: "Paramount double-crossed me in every way and cast Audrey."[1]
A number of changes were made to the storyline to adapt the story to fit the medium of cinema. Capote's novella included language that was toned down for the film. The character of 2E (Patricia Neal) was invented for the movie. This character, Mrs. Failenson, is called 2E because her real name is Emily Eustace. In the novella, Mag Wildwood, a model with a stuttering problem, moves into Holly's apartment after Holly falls out with the novelist upstairs. Wildwood appears briefly in the film, as a guest at the party at Holly's, with her stutter intact. The film also changed the novella's unresolved, open ending to a more conventional "Hollywood" romantic happy ending.
Production
Originally producers Martin Jurow and Richard Shepherd had picked John Frankenheimer as the director, but as production began they replaced him, fearing that Frankenheimer would make the film "too dark".
Kim Novak was approached to play the role of Holly Golightly, but she turned it down, for fear of being typecast as a scared sex kitten.
It has been rumored that the film's on-location opening sequence, in which Holly gazes into a Tiffany's display window, was extremely difficult for director Blake Edwards to film. Although it was simple in concept, crowd control, Hepburn's dislike of pastries, and an accident that nearly resulted in the electrocution of a crew member are all said to have made capturing the scene a challenge. However, Edwards, in an interview given for the 45th anniversary DVD, said that the sequence was captured rather quickly due to the good fortune of an unexpected traffic lull despite the location in the heart of Manhattan.
Hepburn introduced the film's signature song, "Moon River", by Henry Mancini, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Sung by Hepburn herself, it was written to her singing range based on the vocal solos she had performed in 1957's Funny Face. According to Mancini and Edwards, a studio executive hated the song and demanded it be cut from the film; Hepburn, who was present when this proclamation was made, responded to the suggestion by standing up and saying, "over my dead body."
Wisp-thin Hepburn as Holly, carrying a cigarette holder, is considered one of the iconic images of 20th century American cinema. The film rejuvenated the career of 1930s movie song-and-dance man Buddy Ebsen, who had a small but effective role in this film as Doc Golightly, Holly's ex-husband. His success here led directly to his best-known role as Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies.
Many critics consider the film's sole blunder to be Caucasian Mickey Rooney's "yellowfaced" performance as Holly's bucktoothed, stereotyped Japanese neighbor, a point of contention raised in the 1993 film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, and on the March 17, 2008 episode of The Colbert Report. In the 45th anniversary edition DVD release, producer Richard Shepherd repeatedly apologizes for this, stating "If we could just change Mickey Rooney, I'd be thrilled with the movie." Edwards does not apologize for the portrayal, although he does say he would cast someone else if he had the chance. He does, however, indicate that he would not cast Peppard in the lead male role of the film if he were to do it over again.
In the commentary on the anniversary edition DVD, producer Richard Shepherd says that 9 different cats were used for the role of "Cat".
Most of the exteriors were filmed in New York City, except the fire escape scenes and the scene at the in end in the rain where Holly puts Cat out of the cab and then Paul and Holly look for Cat. All of the interiors, except for portions of the scene inside Tiffany & Company, were filmed on the Paramount studio lot in Burbank.
One of three dresses designed by Givenchy for Hepburn for possible use in the movie sold at auction by Christie's [2][dead link] on December 5, 2006 for £467,200 (~US$947,000), about seven times the reserve price.[3]
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
Award Person
Academy Award for Original Music Score Henry Mancini
Academy Award for Best Song: "Moon River" Johnny Mercer
Henry Mancini
Nominated:
Academy Award for Best Actress Audrey Hepburn
Academy Award for Best Art Direction Hal Pereira
Roland Anderson
Sam Comer
Ray Moyer
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay George Axelrod
Other awards
John Addison won the Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album or Recording or Score.
George Axelrod won the Writers Guild of America for Best Written American Drama.
Blake Edwards was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.
References
- ^ Barry Paris (1996). Audrey Hepburn. Berkley Books.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Auction frenzy over Hepburn dress. BBC NEWS (2006-12-05).
- ^ British Hit Singles & Albums (Edition 18), Guinness World Records Limited
- ^ Biography of Jets to Brazil. rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
- ^ Pullip
- ^ http://www.snpp.com/episodes/AABF11
