Breakfast at Tiffany's
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| Breakfast at Tiffany's (film) | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster from 1961 |
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| Directed by | Blake Edwards |
| Produced by | Martin Jurow and Richard Shepherd |
| Written by | Truman Capote (novel) George Axelrod (screenplay) |
| Starring | Audrey Hepburn George Peppard Patricia Neal Buddy Ebsen Martin Balsam Mickey Rooney |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Cinematography | Franz Planer and Philip H. Lathrop |
| Editing by | Howard A. Smith |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 5, 1961 |
| Running time | 115 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,500,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 Academy Award-winning 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.
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[edit] The screenplay
The Oscar-nominated screenplay was written by George Axelrod, loosely based on the novella by Truman Capote.
Truman 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."[1] Screenwriter Axelrod was hired to "tailor the screenplay for Monroe."[1] When Audrey 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. And the film changed the novella's unresolved, open ending to a more conventional "Hollywood" romantic happy ending.
[edit] Summary
The movie is about Holly Golightly, a young woman always on the run from herself. Lacking a stable childhood, she marries at the age of fourteen, has the marriage annulled, moves to Hollywood to start a film career, leaves Hollywood for New York (where she earns money as a call girl and by unknowingly carrying coded messages for an incarcerated mafia boss), and plans to leave New York for Brazil to marry one of the world's richest men.
The main plot of the movie is Holly's relationship with neighbor Paul Varjak, who has confidence problems of his own. The story explores the relationship between Holly and Paul, Holly and 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 famous closing sequence that shows Paul's "lecture" to Holly and Holly's self-discovery of who she really is and who makes her truly happy. The film ends with a famous scene in the rain.
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 for 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.
Some critics consider the film's sole blunder to be Caucasian Mickey Rooney's "yellowfaced" performance as Holly's bucktoothed Japanese neighbor. 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. He does, however, indicate that he would not have cast Peppard in the lead male role of the film if he were to do it over again.
[edit] Academy Awards
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Argentina: | Atp |
| Australia: | PG |
| Finland: | K-16 |
| Iceland: | L |
| Netherlands: | AL |
| Sweden: | 15 |
| United Kingdom: | PG |
| United States: | Approved |
[edit] Award wins
- Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album or Recording or Score – (John Addison)
- WGA for Best Written American Drama – (George Axelrod)
[edit] Award nominations
[edit] Cast
- Audrey Hepburn: Holly Golightly
- George Peppard: Paul "Fred" Varjak
- Patricia Neal: 2E
- Buddy Ebsen: Doc Golightly
- Martin Balsam: O. J. Berman
- José Luis de Villalonga: José da Silva Pereira
- Mickey Rooney: Mr. Yunioshi
- John McGiver: Tiffany's salesman
- Alan Reed: Sally Tomato
- Dorothy Whitney: Mag Wildwood
- Stanley Adams: Rusty Trawler
- Claude Stroud: Sid Arbuck
- Orangey: Cat (trained by Frank Inn)
[edit] DVD availability
Breakfast at Tiffany's was one of the first Hepburn films to be released to the home video market in the early 1980s, and is also widely available on DVD. On February 7, 2006, Paramount released a 45th anniversary special edition DVD set in North America with featurettes not included on the prior DVD release. These include a widescreen-only restored print of the film, commentary track by producer Richard Shepherd, a tribute to Hepburn, a brief history of Tiffany & Co., and an accounting of Hepburn's letter to Tiffany & Co. on the occasion of the company's 150th anniversary in 1987. A featurette on the making of the film is also included, featuring interviews with Edwards, Neal, the "laughing/crying" woman from the party scene, and Sean Ferrer (Hepburn's son).
[edit] Musical adaptation
In 1966, David Merrick produced a Broadway musical of the same name. The troubled production closed after four previews.
In 2004, A new musical adaptation of the film made its world debut at The St. Louis Muny.
[edit] Tributes
- In 1995, the Texas band Deep Blue Something had a hit with a song called "Breakfast at Tiffany's." The song was inspired by Hepburn's performance in the film Roman Holiday, but the author, Todd David Pipes, thought that one of Hepburn's other films would make a better song title.[2] The song reached the top five in the United States and number one in the United Kingdom.
- The band Jets to Brazil takes their name from the poster seen in Holly's apartment. [3]
- The Japanese toy company Jun Planning produced a doll based on Holly Golightly, for the March 2006 Pullip doll. [4]
- On episode 605 of Seinfeld, entitled "The Couch", George joins a book club and has to read Breakfast At Tiffany's. However, George tries renting the movie instead so he doesn't have to actually read it.
- Episode 302 of CSI: New York, "Not What It Looks Like", features a trio of women who dress as Holly Golightly and rob Tiffany's.
[edit] Trivia
- In the original novella Mag Wildwood, a model with a stuttering problem, moves into Holly's apartment after Holly falls out with the novelist upstairs. The true nature of the relationship is not detailed in the book although both characters are described as heterosexual and both engage in subsequent heterosexual relationships later in the story. Wildwood still appears briefly in the film, a guest at the party at Holly's, with her stutter intact.
- One of three dresses designed by Givenchy for Hepburn for possible use in the movie sold at auction by Christie's [5] on December 5, 2006 for £467,200 (~US$800,000), about seven times the reserve price. [6]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Breakfast at Tiffany's at the Internet Movie Database
- Breakfast at Tiffany's at the TCM Movie Database
- Breakfast At Tiffany's On The Cast Album Database
Feature films: Dutch in Seven Lessons (1948) • Laughter in Paradise (1951) • Young Wives' Tale (1951) • One Wild Oat (1951) • The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) • Monte Carlo Baby (1951) • We Will All Go to Monte Carlo (1952) • The Secret People (1952) • Roman Holiday (1953) • Sabrina (1954) • War and Peace (1956) • Funny Face (1957) • Love in the Afternoon (1957) • Green Mansions (1959) • The Nun's Story (1959) • The Unforgiven (1960) • Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) • The Children's Hour (1961) • Charade (1963) • Paris, When It Sizzles (1964) • My Fair Lady (1964) • How to Steal a Million (1966) • Two For The Road (1967) • Wait Until Dark (1967) • Robin and Marian (1976) • Bloodline (1979) • They All Laughed (1981) • Always (1989) (cameo)
Television: Mayerling (1957) • Love Among Thieves (1987) • Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn (1993)
| Works by Truman Capote |
|---|
| Novels: Summer Crossing · The Grass Harp · The Thanksgiving Visitor · Other Voices, Other Rooms
Breakfast at Tiffany's · Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Novel |
