Breakfast at Tiffany's [DVD] [1961]

When I was sixteen (in 1962) I spent my hard-earned pocket money taking an attractive girl of similar age to see the then newly-released Dr. No, the first James Bond movie starring Sean Connery. With the benefit of hindsight that was a mistake. Being an immature, ignorant and testosterone - driven youth at the time I wrongly assumed that the James Bond method of seduction was the way forward, with the result that what promised to be a meaningful and potentially long relationship ended quite abruptly when the girl decided I really was the sort of boy all good mothers warn their daughters against. I should have taken the girl to see Breakfast at Tiffany's instead and learned from the example of Paul (played by George Peppard) how really to woo the object of one's affection. One of the most endearing scenes in Breakfast at Tiffany's is where Holly asks Paul if she can join him in his bed because she regards him as her friend. She quickly falls asleep in his arms and unlike James Bond and his ilk Paul demonstrates he is a man to be trusted with the honour of the opposite sex.

It took many years before I came to appreciate what a great film Breakfast at Tiffany's is. The film, of course, is nearly 50 years old and a modern audience must judge the film's weaknesses - and there are a few - within the context of its time. Nowadays mothers would be warning their sons, rather than their daughters, about the dangers of falling for a seemingly hopeless and self-seeking girl like Ms Golightly. Psychologists no doubt will say that Paul was suffering from a rescuer complex and was on a hiding to nothing. Well, in the real world, perhaps. But Breakfast at Tiffany's is about love conquering all, which it does in the end, and in my view the film is an admirable antidote to the harsh realities of the present with its cynical values. Every modern young man or aspiring lothario should be made to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's before being allowed anywhere near the opposite sex. Audrey Hepburn gives a great and convincing performance and George Peppard is the quintessential Mr nice guy. But for a real tearjerker, the cat steals the show. In my opinion it's among the best romantic films of all time.

JC

The lovely and quirky Holly Golightly (played by Audrey Hepburn) has an oddly refreshing, and sometimes naive, outlook on life. Independent as her cat, "Cat," she lives for tomorrow, always on the prowl for her "millionaire." Befriended by her neighbor, played by George Peppard, the two share the ups and downs of what life has to offer these two ever-searching misfits. A wonderful film to be enjoyed on a cold winter's day with a warm, fuzzy blanket (or a warm, fuzzy friend!).

Audrey Hepburn had a lot of memorable, glamorous roles as highly individual, sensitive young women.

But her most iconic turn was as Holly Golightly, a frivolous young woman with a highly sensitive core. Hepburn is a ball of shimmering charm here, whether she's setting hats on fire or chasing nameless cats through the rain, and she's able to shine brightly enough to obscure a few flaws (such as Mickey Rooney). The other actors do serviceable jobs, but she's undeniablythe star.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is a daily ritual for Holly Golightly (Hepburn), a social butterfly who hosts parties, entertains drunken men for their fifty-dollartips, and dreams of owning a horse farm in Mexico with her brother. When kept-man Paul Varjak (George Peppard) moves into a neighboring apartment -- courtesy of his rich patroness -- he is instantly enchanted by the ditzy, sweet-natured Holly.

But for all Holly's fun, Paul starts to realize that all is not well with her. She's desperate to marry a spectacularly wealthy man, parties with wild crowds, visits a notorious gangster in jail, and hides that she was an illiterate teen bride to a hick doctor. As Holly's life starts to deteriorate, Paul sets out to show her what her life will be like without real love.

Reportedly Truman Capote wasn't happy with the movie version of "Breakfast At Tiffany's" -- they changed the ending from his short story's, and he didn't like Hepburn as Holly Golightley. But this is one case where the movie's quality is not reflected by what the author thought of it -- taken on its own merits, it's a fine chocolate with a bittersweet center.

Much of the movie is devoted to the friendship (and unspoken attraction) between Holly and Paul, and how it disrupts their comfortable shallow lives. Paul spends the whole movie unravelling the unhappy tale of Holly's life as she starts spinning out of control. Things climax nastily with Holly's already-questionable reputation being sullied, but the finale is an exquisite mix of brutal honesty, true love and a very unglamorous rainstorm.

That said, it's a pretty hilarious movie -- witty dialogue ("... if you like dark, handsome, rich-looking men with passionate natures and too many teeth") and plenty of kooky humour ("TIMBER!" Holly yells as a drunken model keels over, followed by the crowd parting like the Red Sea). And there are plenty of charming, warm'n'fuzzy moments, like the cute day trip through New York.

One thing that will make viewers cringe: Mickey Rooney's caricatured Japanese landlord who objects to Holly's parties. Not. Funny.

Though she was no party girl, Audrey Hepburn is pitch-perfect as Holly -- she can be flaky and adorable ("I'm CRAAAZY about Tiffany's?"), chattery and glamorous, with a cat she refuses to name because they're just a pair of "poor slobs who don't belong to anybody." But she can just as easily flip the switch to show the wounded, almost childlike side.

George Peppard is just as good -- albeit less winsome -- as a writer-turned-kept-man-turned-writer-again, whose protective affection for Holly grows as the movie goes on, but who has to get through her ironclad defenses. And Patricia Neal rounds out the cast nicely as the icy, cynical woman whom Paul gives his non-literary services to.

The Centennial Edition of this movie is, like all the others, a two-disc affair. There's a boatload of extras here -- a producer commentary, the original trailer, featurettes about the "making of" and about Audrey herself, such as "Brilliance in a Blue Box" and "Audrey's Letter to Tiffany." And there's also insights into Henry Mancini's score, Asian perspectives on Mr. Yunioshi, and the "Golightly Gathering." And so on, and so forth.

Hepburn is the flawed diamond at the heart of "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and her charm and acting ability elevate this beyond just another adorable romantic comedy.