Breakfast at Tiffany's
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Breakfast at Tiffany's is a novella by Truman Capote, published in 1958. The story portrays the life of a young woman, Holly Golightly, a transplant to Manhattan with an unknown past, who is trying to find her place in the world when she meets an unemployed writer (who is without a name in the book, but christened "Paul Varjak" in the film). In 1961, Breakfast at Tiffany's was adapted as a film that follows some aspects of Capote's original story quite closely.
The book
Breakfast at Tiffany's is set in Manhattan's Upper East Side during the final years of World War II. The novella follows a young writer's affections for his charming and strange neighbor, Holly Golightly.Adaptations
The film
A number of changes had to be made (to the author’s great displeasure) to make the storyline acceptable to a film audience and fans of Audrey Hepburn, and to adapt the story to fit the medium of cinema. Capote's novel included language that was toned down for the film. The character of 2E (Patricia Neal) does not appear in the novel and was invented for the movie; her presence is part of the story involving Paul's status as gigolo or kept man, something the writer character in the book is clearly not. Finally the film eschews the book's somewhat unresolved, open ending, in favor of a more conventional romantic happy ending.
Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly and may have written the original story with her in mind, but producers selected Hepburn instead.
It has been rumored that the film's on-location opening sequence, in which Holly gazes into a Tiffany’s display window, was extremely difficult for director Blake Edwards to film. Although it was simple in concept, crowd control, Hepburn's dislike for pastries, and an accident that nearly resulted in the electrocution of a crew member are all said to have made capturing the scene a challenge. However, Edwards, in an interview given for the 45th anniversary DVD, said that the sequence was captured rather quickly due to the good fortune of an unexpected traffic lull despite the location in the heart of Manhattan.
Audrey Hepburn introduced the film's signature song, "Moon River", by Henry Mancini, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Sung by Hepburn herself, it was written to her singing range as she was not an experienced singer (although she had performed vocal solos in 1957's Funny Face). However, her definitive version of the song was not released on an album until after her death. Instead, "Moon River" became a major hit for Andy Williams, who made it his theme song. (Jerry Butler (singer) also got into the charts with it, and before Andy.) According to Mancini and Edwards, a studio executive hated the song and demanded it be cut from the film; Hepburn, who was present when this proclamation was made, responded to the suggestion with "over my dead body".
Wisp-thin Audrey Hepburn as Holly, carrying a cigarette holder, is considered one of the iconic images of 20th century American cinema, and the film marked a major comeback for the actress after several years of unsuccessful films. The film also rejuvenated the career of 1930s movie song-and-dance man Buddy Ebsen, who had a small but effective role in this film as Doc Golightly, Holly's ex-husband. His success here led directly to him being cast in his best-known role as Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies.
Some critics consider the film's sole blunder to be Mickey Rooney's racially stereotyped performance as Holly's Japanese neighbor. In the 45th anniversary edition DVD release, producer Richard Shepherd repeatedly apologizes for this; Edwards does not. Edwards does, however, indicate that he would not have cast George Peppard in the lead male role of the film if he were to do it over again.
Academy Awards
Award wins
- Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album or Recording or Score – (John Addison)
- WGA for Best Written American Drama – (George Axelrod)
Award nominations
Cast
- Audrey Hepburn: Holly Golightly
- George Peppard: Paul "Fred" Varjak
- Patricia Neal: 2E
- Buddy Ebsen: Doc Golightly
- Martin Balsam: O. J. Berman
- José Luis de Villalonga: José da Silva Pereira
- Mickey Rooney: Mr. Yunioshi
- John McGiver: Tiffany's salesman
- Alan Reed: Sally Tomato
- Dorothy Whitney: Mag Wildwood
- Stanley Adams: Rusty Trawler
- Claude Stroud: Sid Arbuck
- Orangey: Cat (trained by Frank Inn)
DVD availability
Breakfast at Tiffany's was one of the first Audrey Hepburn films to be released to the home video market in the early 1980s, and is also widely available on DVD. On February 7, 2006, Paramount released a 45th anniversary special edition DVD set in North America with featurettes not included on the prior DVD release. These include a widescreen-only restored print of the film, commentary track by producer Richard Shepherd, a tribute to Audrey Hepburn, a brief history of Tiffany & Co., and an accounting of Audrey Hepburn's letter to Tiffany & Co. on the occasion of the company's 150th anniversary in 1987. A featurette on the making of the film is also included, featuring interviews with Blake Edwards, Patricia Neal, the "laughing/crying" woman from the party scene, and Sean Ferrer (Hepburn's son).Musical play
In 1966 David Merrick produced a Broadway musical based upon the film version of Breakfast at Tiffany's. The title changed to "Holly Golightly" and back to "Breakfast At Tiffany's" again, as the troubled production was trying out. Abe Burrows was originally hired to write the book and direct the production, and Bob Merrill to write the music and lyrics. For the two leading roles, Merrick chose popular television stars with little or no stage experience, and no previous work in musical theatre: Mary Tyler Moore played Holly, and Richard Chamberlain played the fledgling novelist (christened Jeff Claypool in the musical version of the story).The show was clearly in trouble from the beginning. Mary Tyler Moore confided during interviews that she felt the producer and director were unhappy with her performance, and that they were planning to replace her after the first week, even though her name helped to sell the show. Moore and Chamberlain stayed with the show until the bitter end, but Merrick did hire Edward Albee, who had never written for the musical theatre, to see what he could do to improve Burrows' book. Albee created a stir when he announced to the press that Burrow's script was hopeless, and that he would need to start from scratch. Burrows, a highly-acclaimed writer in musical theatre, was so offended that he left the show entirely. Albee wrote a new book, dropping many of Merrill's songs (requiring him to write new ones while the show was in previews).
While Burrows' book closely followed the storyline of the film, Albee took the story in an entirely new direction. He made Holly into a fictional character created in Jeff's imagination. When Jeff wasn't happy with the way his story was going, he would tear the page out of his typewriter and start over, with the other actors on stage quickly shifting to fit the new version. While many felt the approach was interesting, most found it confusing; in the end it made any kind of real connection between Holly and Jeff impossible. Even though the show had the largest advance ticket sales of any new show of the season, Merrick decided to close the show, rather than open it on Broadway. He even took out a legendary ad in the New York Times announcing to the world that he was closing the show because it was too boring to watch.
Just before the production closed, a live recording was made of the musical numbers. Excerpts of this recording were later released on LP, which many assumed was an official cast album. In 2001 Original Cast Records released a studio cast recording of the score. The recording preserves all of the songs written for various versions of the show, with notes as to which songs were used with each book, and their proper sequence. For the recording, Faith Prince played Holly, John Schneider played Jeff, and Sally Kellerman played Mag -the role she created in the original production thirty-five years before. Sadly, composer Bob Merrill did not live to see the commercial release (and critical success) of his score; he committed suicide in February of 1998.
Tributes
In 1995, the band Deep Blue Something had a hit with a song called "Breakfast at Tiffany's". The song is about a crumbling relationship between two people with nothing in common except that they "both kinda liked" the film Breakfast at Tiffany's.The band Jets to Brazil takes their name from the poster seen in Holly's apartment.
Trivia
- Tiffany & Co., the famous New York jewelry store where Holly eats breakfast in the scene under the opening titles, is located at 727 Fifth Avenue at 57th Street in New York City. [link]
- In the original novella Mag Wildwood, a model with a stuttering problem, moves into Holly's apartment after Holly falls-out with the novelist upstairs. The true nature of the relationship is not detailed in the book although both characters are described as heterosexual and both engage in subsequent heterosexual relationships later in the story. Wildwood still appears briefly in the film, a guest at the party at Holly's, with her stutter intact.
- In a letter to his aunt, Mary Ida Faulk Carter, Truman Capote wrote that Marilyn Monroe would play Holly Golightly in the film version of his tale - a role that producers instead gave to Audrey Hepburn.
- Steve McQueen was offered the role of Paul Varjak but was unable to appear due to his contract.
- George Peppard was a student of Method acting, a style Hepburn found difficult to work with. Nonetheless, the two actors remained close friends until her death.
- The plated telephone dialer Peppard considers buying for Hepburn from Tiffany's, being the only thing in there he can afford, is actually available in the real store. Apparently Tiffany's will also engrave crackerjack rings as shown in the movie.
External links
- [GradeSaver study guide on Breakfast at Tiffany's]
- [Breakfast at Tiffany's on LitWiki]
- [Breakfast At Tiffany's On The Cast Album Database]
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