BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S: DVD

SYNOPSIS:
Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) is New York call girl, whose allure captivates her upstairs neighbour Paul Varjak (George Peppard), a writer who pays the rent with the help of his own wealthy "sponsor" (Patricia Neal).

Sheer delight as a romantic comedy, Breakfast At Tiffany's is also a fascinating relic of Hollywood in transition. Made after the collapse of the old studio system and before Bonnie and Clyde ushered in the new Hollywood with a blaze of bullets in 1967, Blake Edwards' film is a brightly polished gem with fleeting hints of the "adult" reality of its characters’ lives. Who wants reality anyway when you have Audrey Hepburn at her size 6 best (size 4, anyone??) as Holly Golightly, the heroine of Truman Capote's novella whom we meet window shopping at Tiffany's one morning after slipping elegantly out of a limousine. She might be a call girl who parties with her ritzy New York connections and disappears into nightclub bathrooms with a crisp $50 on her return but that doesn't stop her upstairs neighbour Paul Varjak (George Peppard) from becoming entranced.

A writer who pays the rent with the help of his own wealthy "sponsor" (Patricia Neal), Varjak is more intrigued by Holly's melancholy in between parties than her good time girl persona - leading to an elegant and humorous courtship around a New York that has rarely looked so magical and enchanting. This may be a bowdlerised adaptation of Truman Capote's novella and suffers markedly whenever a woeful Mickey Rooney appears as Holly's Japanese neighbour but it's still romantic comedy of a high order thanks to the Hepburn magic and smooth handling by Blake Edwards.

Henry Mancini's Oscar-winning score is way too sugary, and bohemian life early 60's style, looks badly dated now but the sight of Audrey Hepburn wearing a little black dress, a diamond tiara and elbow-length black gloves will never date. That's why we're here and that's why audiences will love this film forever. A splendid addition to any collection - even card-carrying cynics who've never seen it might be surprised should they give it a spin as a rental item.
Richard Kuipers

Published July 19, 2001

You can buy it HERE - next day delivery within Australia

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S [1961] (PG)
US

CAST: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Mickey
Rooney.

DIRECTOR: Blake Edwards

RUNNING TIME: 110 min

DVD DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Home Entertainment

DVD RELEASE: June 8 2001

SPECIAL FEATURES: Widescreen 1.78:1, Trailer, Languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian. Subtitles: English, English (H.O.H), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.


The World of Film in Australia - on the Internet	Updated Thursday February 11, 2010 - Edition No 675