DVD Release Date: 1/13/2009 Running Time: 115 minutes
Audrey Hepburn is undoubtedly one of the icons of both the Hollywood Golden Age and the New Hollywood era. Having started her career in the early 1950’s, she quickly rose to stardom at Paramount Studios with her first American film role, the 1953 romantic comedy Roman Holiday. It was a huge success and garnered the fresh-faced starlet her first Academy Award for Best Actress. She would go on to become a multi-time Oscar nominee and winner and one of the most successful film actors in the world, as well as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. Along the way she redefined the look of beauty in Hollywood, away from the voluptuous curves of Marilyn Monroe. Her most iconic performance, perhaps, is that of Holly Golightly in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The romance film, co-starring George Peppard and Patricia Neal, was a huge success for the studio and earned five Academy Award nominations. One of those was for Hebpurn for Best Actress. It has endured throughout the last forty-eight years as one of the great films of the twentieth century, and stands as one of the proudest films in Paramount’s library. It’s only fitting that it has become the fifth film released by Paramount under their Centennial Collection, celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the studio, in a two-disc set.
The Movie
In the film—based off the novel of the same name by Truman Capote—Hepburn stars as Holly Golightly, a young woman living in New York City. She lives as an escort, providing company to men and visiting mob bosses in prison. After returning home to her apartment one morning to sleep the night off, she is woken up by her new neighbor Paul Varjak (Peppard). Paul is a kept man himself, with his income being maintained by the wealthy Mrs. Failenson (Neal). This connection creates the first bond between Holly and Paul, who become quite close. Holly’s agent O.J. Berman (Balsam) warns Paul that Holly is a bit of a wild spirit, but that doesn’t dissuade the aspiring writer. As they draw closer, Holly’s desire for a life of comfort, romanticized life like she imagines living at the jewelry story Tiffany’s to be causes problems and entanglements. Can Holly and Paul find love amidst all of this?
Breakfast at Tiffany’s was written by George Axelrod, who is also known for such classic films as The Seven-Year Itch, Bus Stop and The Manchurian Candidate. Like all of those films, his story for Tiffany’s has its strengths and its faults. The loyalty to the source material is fast and loose, which probably worked better in the more innocent times of Hollywood, and Axelrod makes this what is easily the most light-hearted story of a call girl ever committed to film (yes, even moreso then Pretty Woman). Unfortunately the script falls down in a few very glaring spots. The worst is the character of Mr. Yunioshi, Holly’s upstairs neighbor, which is a Japanese caricature of the most offensive sort. Axelrod can be forgiven only slightly for the prevailing attitude toward minorities in Hollywood at the time, because there are few characters as as blatantly stereotypical as Yunioshi, who is played for maximum physical laughs and offensiveness by Mickey Rooney. Nothing about this character is remotely appealing, even when regressing oneself back to the 1960’s mindset, and the slapstick role doesn’t even seem like an appropriate fit in the otherwise fluffy plot. Some story plots are left dangling, but it’s all done so fluidly that the plot holes are easy to ignore.
A big reason for that is the effervescent feel of the film, as guided along by Blake Edwards. Edwards is perhaps better known these days for the Pink Panther series of films, and one can see that his skill at making fanciful movies predated them. He lines up shots with a sure hand and creates moments of absolute chaos, such as the infamous cocktail party scene, yet the film never seems to go wild or out of bounds with the exception of the Japanese character. Edwards knew how to curtail his cast and keep them looking like they’re having fun; along the way he’s managed to make a very visually pleasing experience with cinematographer Franz Planar. The score, by the famous Henry Mancini, has a status of being one of the great film scores of the era, and that is a status well-deserved. From the unforgettable “Moon River” through the music of the cocktail scene, Mancini was at the top of his form here in order to help Edwards tell the story.
Of all the praises that can be sung upon this film, the most deserved is for the lead. Hepburn would do many great things in her career, but it’s possible that Holly Golightly was her greatest. Hepburn floats through the movie with charm and grace, handling the role so well and being so warm and engaging that you forget she “takes fifty dollars to go into the powder room.” The opening scene, as she departs from a taxi and walks up to Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue to stare in the window, is one of the great moments in cinema. Had any other actress played this role it would have been drastically different, a fact acknowledged by the crew, and probably not for the better. Peppard, better known to people these days as Hannibal Smith from The A-Team, is tolerable as Paul, though he comes nowhere close to matching his counterpart, and Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen and Martin Balsam all do fine in their roles.
Is this a perfect fim, or even a truly great one? Objectively, that’s hard to say yes. The movie is saved by Hepburn, the score, and the sense of fun in the film, and while those are all absolute stand-outs and allow the film to earn its place in history, the flaws make it too much to be one of the greatest of all time. As a romance goes it’s charming and shiny, much like the jewelry that Holly wants so desperately to live among. That it’s as transparent as those shiny gems is just a fact that audiences have come to accept.
Film Rating: 8.0
The Video
Presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio and enhanced for 16:9 televisions, the video transfer of Breakfast at Tiffany’s has been clearly remastered, even from the 45th Anniversary Edition two years ago. Delineation is sharper and color more vibrant; there are still some very minor flaws with grain and specks, almost surely off of the master negative that are probably there to stay. The colors could still stand out just a bit, but again there is only so much one can do with a film that was made almost half a century ago. This is definitely the sharpest Holly Golightly and company have ever looked, and the effort is sure to appreciated.
Video Rating: 8.5
The Audio
The audio track appears to be a port from the 45th Anniversary Edition, which is fine as the track is quite sharp. Paramout took the original mono track and remixed it for multichannel speakers and the result is quite nice. Of course, the music dominates the speakers, although it is leveled quite nicely with the dialogue and ambient effects to never seem overwhelming. It’s simply a sharp, quality track that is quite good to listen to. The Restored Mono track is also available, as are French and Spanish Monos. Subtitles are in English, French or Spanish.
Audio Rating: 9.0
The Packaging
Like all of the Centennial Collection sets, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is presented in a DVD snap case inside a slip-case box. The design is the same as all the Centennial Collection sets, quite clean and attractive while giving the “prestigious” feel that the film deserves. A six-page pamphlet with some production notes and phots is included inside. The DVD menus are minimalistic and sharp, making them quite simple to navigate.
Packaging Rating: 8.5
Special Features
Most of the features are ones from the 45th Anniversary Special Edition put out two years ago, though Paramount has offered us some new stuff to take in as well.
Audio Commentary with Producer Richard Shepherd: This is the sole commentary track, ported over from the 45th Anniversary Edition. Shepherd has a tolerable amount of information on the production of the film, casting decisions, the director and such, although his observations are often a bit shallow and you have a lot of dead air at times. One wishes that director Blake Edwards had been along with Shepherd to fill some of the dead spots and provide some insight, but such was not to be and while this is worth a listen for true enthusiasts of the film, there isn’t anything ground-shaking discussed here that isn’t covered in the featurettes.
A Golightly Gathering: (20:22) This is one of the new features, a really fun sort of featurette that has all the remaining cast members who were present in the infamous cocktail scene--along with authors, the film crew and the like--at a cocktail party themselves as they talk about the scene. Mention is made about how the party was "the spirit of Holly Golightly" before they talk about their memories of the shooting of the film. We get a lot of fun little anecdotes about the filming of the scene and all the improvisational work that went into the scene. There’s also some discussion of the history of the cocktail party and how it came about. It's easy to see how much fun they clearly had making the film and the stories from the cast members are enjoyable to listen to. It's not the most historically informative piece, but it's probably the most fun to watch.
Henry Mancini: More Than Music: (21:52) Another new feature, this featurette focuses the great Henry Mancini, who produced the iconic and Oscar-winning score (and, of course, "Moon River") for the film and had a legacy among others. Family members talk about Mancini from his childhood in Cleveland and his early introduction to music and film scores. They move on to his time in the Glenn Miller Orchestra where he met his wife Ginny, who does most of the talking about his life. His children do some talking as well, particularly about their parents' personal and professional partnership. It moves on to talk about his career and eventual partnership with Blake Edwards. Of course, the focus is on Tiffany's and Ginny tells a story about how "Moon River" almost got cut from the movie due to the length issues, only to be saved by Hepburn. It's interspersed with occasional home movies from the Mancini family as the children talk about him in ways that portray the man in a very nice way.
Mr. Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective: (17:28) The third of the new shorts features Guy Aoki, the founding president of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, and others talking about the cultural impact of the film and the portrayal of Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi. This is, understandably, a largely critical piece that talks about the negative cartoonish portrayal of the Japanese caricature that Yunioshi represented. They discuss the lack of reaction at the time due to the Japanese culture of ignoring such issues at the time. They cover the phenomenon of "yellow face" and the problems with such, briefly touching on other portrayals such as Lon Chaney in Shadows and Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon. The issue of Asians playing villains more commonly then heroes is discussed in depth, and they move into The World of Suzie Wong, which created the stereotype of Asian women as prostitutes for Hollywood to set upon and the problems it created while being very balanced in its own right. It isn't entirely negative, as some apologism is done to give the attitude that at the time, Hollywood didn't realize it was creating stereotypes when presented in the context of the "Yellow Scare" of the era and it does touch on positive portrayals such as George Takei in Star Trek. It's certainly not the kind of featurette that you would expect to see on a celebratory DVD set, and Paramount deserves some praise for addressing this one issue with the film quite candidly and in a balanced way.
The Making of a Classic: (16:12) This featurette is, as the title suggests, the behind the scenes "making of" story. Producer Richard Shepherd, director Blake Edwards and others talk about the film's origins as a Truman Capote novel, through its unlikely casting of the sweet Hepburn as an escort. They discuss how Capote had originally envisioned Marilyn Monroe in the part and how different that performance would have been to Hepburn's. The early talk is entirely on Hepburn, as would be expected, and how iconic her performance is. Amongst all the fluff talk there's some interesting bits, such as the seemingly perfect timing for filming the first shot of the movie. They move on to George Peppard, who gets a good amount of props from Edwards, who admits he wasn't his first choice for casting but praises his performance, and then moves on to talk about Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen and Mickey Rooney. Shepherd and Edwards talk quite candidly about how they'd have recast Rooney with a Japanese actor while still praising his performance. This is far from the congratulatory fluff piece, as they discuss some of the issues they had with the film, and there are a lot of informative portions of this quite enjoyable piece.
It's so Audrey: A Style Icon: (8:11) Authors, designers and others talk about Hepburn and her impact on the world of fashion in this short. They focus largely on how Hepburn was very much not the standard of Hollywood beauty, being boyish and not curvy like the golden age sex symbols, yet managed to redefine the fashion industry and cultural ideas of beauty. It then moves into her first encounter with Hubert de Givenchy, the designer who would go on to form a lifelong business partnership. This is actually a great and informative featurette for fans of the fashion industry or just Hollywood's history.
Behind the Gates: The Tour: (4:31) This is the last of the new features, and has a Paramount employee giving a tour guide-esque talk about the history and current state of Paramount Pictures accompanied by stills, historical footage and current shots. There's a little bit of nice information if you've never taken a tour, but otherwise is an entirely promotional fluff piece which is quite extraneous and skippable unless you want to see a happy-go-lucky spin on the studio.
Brilliance in a Blue Box: (6:01) This is a featurette about Tiffany's itself, featuring the company's design director John Loring, jewelry historian Janet Zapata and others talking briefly about the company. They cover the 1873 discovery of the canary diamond worn by Hepburn and the distinctiveness of the Tiffany's ring setting. While this is, expectedly, a largely promotional piece that talks up the company there's some interesting information for those not familiar with the company, including the interesting facts that the company designs all the great sports trophies and that James Whitehouse, a Tiffany's employee, was the man who redesigned the Seal of the United States in the late nineteenth century. For its length, it's worthwhile to check out for some fun facts.
Audrey's Litter to Tiffany: (2:27) This short featurette features Loring talking about his interactions with Audrey Hepburn and how he asked her to write a preface piece for the 150th Anniversary Book in 1987, to which she said yes. He reads the letter itself, which is quite eloquent and nicely written. There isn't too much else to this short piece, but it makes a nice short addition to this set.
Original Theatrical Trailer: (2:37) This is pretty self-explanatory; it's the trailer for the movie. These are always fun to watch, particularly for older films so we can compare how movies are marketed now as opposed to then. As older trailers go, this is a pretty good one.
Galleries: The Galleries section contains three separate galleries of still photos. There are production stills which show some behind the scenes shots, a gallery for still frames from the movie itself, and publicity stills which largely (and unsurprisingly) focus on Hepburn in glamour poses.
Special Features Rating: 8.5
The 411: Audrey Hepburn is the primary reason to see Breakfast at Tiffany's, bar none. Her light-hearted performance as Holly Golightly lifts the film from what would have been an entirely average experience into something great. Director Blake Edwards keeps things moving along fancifully, aided by am exceptional Henry Mancini score, and it rises above script problems and the cringingly-bad presence of Mickey Rooney in yellowface as Mr. Yunioshi to rank as one of the better romance movies of Hollywood's earlier era. A great vido and exceptional audio transfer combines with a good amount of new special features (and some lifted from the earlier set) to make this one to buy for Hepburn or romance fans.
