Sabrina Fair [VHS]

A Long Island Chauffeurs daughter is desperately in love with the youngest son of the family her father works for. Sent away to Paris for two years (partly to learn how to cook, and partly to cure her infatuation), she returns with a sophisticated new look, and finds that he is now infatuated with her.

As is clear from the above outline, and from the very beginning of the film which starts with the line "Once upon a time there was a little girl...." this film is basically a fairy tale in which Hepburn's Cinderella gets to choose between the two sons of the fabulously wealthy Larrabee family. It features a wonderful cast - William Holden excels as the charming playboy David Larrabee (the original object of Sabrina's affections), and Bogart, somewhat cast against type as a romantic lead, shows a deft touch for comedy as older brother Linus, who attempts to disentangle his brother from Sabrina only to find himself falling for her too.

This is a tale which could easily become mawkish, but is kept from doing so by witty dialogue and wonderful physical comedy (Linus manipulating his brother into sitting down on a champagne glass, and then providing him with a hammock with a strategic hole cut out is my favourite, but there are many such moments). But this is Hepburn's film, and she is magnificent. Her transformation from gawky teenager to sophisticated young woman is entirely convincing, and she never looked lovelier.

Forget Pretty Woman, forget Maid in Manhatten, this film did it first and it did it better. Get a big bar of chocolate, unplug the phone, and sit back and enjoy the most beautiful face ever captured on film.

A heartwarming visual feast of the upstairs/downstairs variety! A wonderful film that keeps you gripped and runs the gamut of human emotions: Sabrina's virtures contrasted with the snobbery of her own Father; Linus's commitment to work set against Brother David's frivolity; all taking place within a setting that allows for love to be ruled by society and parental ambition. Sabrina shines through with the class that Audrey Hepburn alone can bring, and, in the end you might just warm to Humphrey Bogart!

Everybody loves a good Cinderella story, especially if it has a dash of realism and a sense of humour. And unbaked souffles.

And methinks it also helps the case if you have Audrey Hepburn as the modern Cinderella-with-a-wit, which is the strongest point in the charming little romance called "Sabrina." While the chemistry between Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart is never entirely believable, the movie is as buoyant and whimsical as a summer daydream, but with way better dialogue ("Bounce please, ladies").

Sabrina Fairchild (Hepburn) is the daughter of the chauffeur at the palatial Larabee estate. She's also in love with the ne'er-do-well second son, David (William Holden) -- and even attempts suicide after seeing him with one of his many girlfriends, although she's rescued by David's stiff older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart). The next day Sabrina is sent away to Paris to attend a cooking school, where she meets a kindly old count who teaches her sophistication, ambition and confidence... as well as the ability to make a souffle properly ("A woman happily in love, she burns the souffle. A woman unhappily in love, she forgets to turn on the oven!").

When she returns to the Larabees' estate, the lovelorn little chauffeur's daughter has become a clever sophisticated Parisian beauty (and a pretty good cook). David is instantly smitten. But even if marrying a chauffeur's daughter were okay with his family, Linus has arranged a business marriage for David for the family's newest innovation, which requires large amounts of sugar. And to make sure David doesn't run off with Sabrina, Linus begins wooing her too... and falling in love for real.

"Sabrina" is one of those shimmering romantic comedies that Hollywood once succeeded in whipping together every now and then, and which they now desperately try to imitate with cutesy scripts and arch performances. No such artificiality is present in this movie, though -- it's just a relaxed little romance that ambles through a predictable little plot, and is content to let itself to be illuminated by Hepburn's presence. No gimmicks, no cutesiness.

Part of "Sabrina's" charm is the way Billy Wilder handles the comedy aspect of it -- rather than playing everything for laughs, he simply lets the laughs fall like a shower of petals. There are some laugh-out-loud moments (David sitting on a pair of champagne flutes, and having to lie in a hammock with a cut-out for his injured bottom) but most of the humour is gentle and mildly mocking, such as Mr. Larabee standing in his son's closet so he can have a smoke. And the dialogue adapted from Samuel A. Taylor's play is no less adorable ("You make it sound so vulgar, David, as if the son of hot dog dynasty were being offered in marriage to the daughter of the mustard king").

And perhaps what makes "Sabrina" a really heartwarming experience is the sunny, hopeful attitude. Despite starting with an attempted suicide (which is thwarted in a very tongue-in-cheek manner), the movie soon decides to "throw open the windows and letting in... letting in la vie en rose." It's all about having dreams come true by refusing to run away from love or life, and being open to the suddenly curve balls that they throw you.

But even so, the movie would only be a sweet featherlight curiosity if it weren't for Audrey Hepburn, who was only in her second major movie. She's absolutely transcendent in her role -- bursting with sweetness, enthusiasm, confidence and an almost gleeful joie de vivre. And while she's never entirely convincing as a plain teenager, she is magnificent as a confident, stylish young lady who sweeps into a moneyed party in a black-and-white ball gown. And steals the show, of course.

And the cast supporting her is pretty brilliant -- William Holden is full of sprightly charm as David, Walter Hampden is hilarious as the brittle henpecked Larabee patriarch, and John Williams is quietly solid as Sabrina's long-suffering dad. Humphrey Bogart's gruff, slightly angular Linus is a nice foil for the exuberant Sabrina, but there's pretty much zero chemistry between the two leads. Perhaps it's because Bogart didn't like Hepburn in real life, or maybe their styles just didn't click.

"Sabrina" is a frothy, romantic little tale about reaching for the moon, filled with sparkling dialogue and still-fresh comedy. But its crowning gem is Hepburn, whose early performances showed what a brilliant actress she was.