Saturday Night Cinema: Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Tonight's Saturday Night Cinema is the stylish classic, Breakfast at Tiffany's, a near-perfect little package of glamour, cynicism, and love in the greatest city there ever was. It stars Audrey Hepburn at her absolute elegant best.

…..Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a must-see classic that, despite diversions from Truman Capote’s original novel, remains his clearest statement on what it feels like to be young, ambitious, and on the make in a rapacious city full of hidden agendas. Set in present-day 1961 (as opposed to during World War II as in the novel), the film introduces us to the gorgeous Holly Golightly (a sparkling Audrey Hepburn) as she staggers home early one morning in her little black dress and sunglasses after yet another all-night bender during which she likely doled out small favors to amorous older gentlemen in exchange for rent money. Pausing in front of Tiffany’s, Holly munches a danish and sips coffee as she admires the jewelry in the window. It’s an iconic movie moment.

VARIETY: Out of the elusive, but curiously intoxicating Truman Capote fiction, scenarist George Axelrod has developed a surprisingly moving film, touched up into a stunningly visual motion picture. Capote buffs may find some of Axelrod's fanciful alterations a bit too precocious, pat and glossy for comfort, but enough of the original's charm and vigor has been retained.

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What makes Tiffany's an appealing tale is its heroine, Holly Golightly, a charming, wild and amoral 'free spirit' with a latent romantic streak. Axelrod's once-over-go-lightly erases the amorality and bloats the romanticism, but retains the essential spirit ('a phony, but a real phony') of the character, and, in the exciting person of Audrey Hepburn, she comes vividly to life on the screen.

Hepburn's expressive, 'top banana in the shock department' portrayal is complemented by the reserved, capable work of George Peppard as the young writer whose love ultimately (in the film, not the book) enables the heroine to come to realistic terms with herself.

Excellent featured characterizations are contributed by Martin Balsam as a Hollywood agent, Buddy Ebsen as Hepburn's deserted husband, and Patricia Neal as Peppard's wealthy 'sponsor'. Mickey Rooney as a much-harassed upstairs Japanese photographer adds an unnecessarily incongruous note to the proceedings.

The film is a sleek, artistic piece of craftsmanship, particularly notable for Franz F. Planer's haunting photography and Henry Mancini's memorably moody score. The latter's 'Moon River', with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, is an enchanting tune.

1961: Best Song ('Moon River'), Scoring of a Dramatic Picture.

Nominations: Best Actress (Audrey Hepburn), Adapted Screenplay, Color Art DIrection

Holly Golightly . . . . . Audrey Hepburn
Paul Varjak . . . . . George Peppard
"2-E" . . . . . Patricia Neal
O. J. Berman . . . . . Martin Balsam
Mr. Yunioshi . . . . . Mickey Rooney
Doc Golightly . . . . . Buddy Ebsen
Tiffany's Clerk . . . . . John McGiver
Jose da Silva Perreira . . . . . Vilallonga
Mag Wildwood . . . . . Dorothy Whitney
Rusty Trawler . . . . . Stanley Adams
Librarian . . . . . Elvia Allman
Sally Tomato . . . . . Alan Reed
Stripper . . . . . Beverly Hills
Sid Arbuck . . . . . Claude Stroud

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poetcomic1

11 years ago

I know Mickey Rooney takes a lot of flack for his ‘racist’ portrayal of a Japanese. But then I suppose we should also attack other ‘broad’ and ‘offensive’ stereotypes such as Mischa Auer’s comic Russians, Marjorie Main’s ‘offensive’ portrayal of ‘poor whites’ not to mention a half dozen classic Irishmen-comics, Gertrude Berg’s Molly Goldberg… the list is endless and we would be poorer without all of them.

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Annie

11 years ago

One of the best movies of all time! Love the party scene!lol

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MA02169

11 years ago

ATTENTION ALL SHRUGGERS! ATTENTION ALL SHRUGGERS!
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING! SAY SOMETHING!
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The incident began on February 26, 2011, when an employee with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found a black Husky tool bag at the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building in Detroit. He reported the abandoned bag to Federal Protective Service (FPS) officer Ralph Smith, who seized it and stowed it under a desk.
The bag, which contained a metal rectangular cash box, went unnoticed for three weeks until FPS officer McManus ran the bag through an x-ray machine on March 18 and discovered the cash box appeared to contain wires and other suspicious material. He then called the Detroit Police Department Bomb Squad, which took the bag to Detroit’s Belle Isle Park where the bomb went off as experts were attempting to render it safe.
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“Although the IED did not explode, it represented a serious risk to the safety and security of the building and its occupants,” the 37-page report said. It also criticized the training, hiring practices and oversight of security guards at the building, where an FPS inspector failed to identify the suspicious bag during four inspections.
“““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““`
The guards were fired by the way.
Read the rest at: http://www.minews26.com/content/?p=18812

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sharon griindle

11 years ago

87 deaths of our family members since Memorial Day. So while we’ve been at the beach. at bbq’s, fireworks and the likes, these 87 YOUNG men gave their lives…please remember them and say a prayer for their families as well as our country.

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Diane

11 years ago

Thank you for posting this Pamela. I’m reminded also of my all time fav Mickey Rooney

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