Sabrina (1954)

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Samuel A. Taylor (play)
Billy Wilder (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

October 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

. . . the chauffeur's daughter who learned her stuff in Paris!

Plot:

A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur. But it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.

Plot Keywords:

Garage | Brother Brother Relationship | New York City | Convertible | Rolls Royce

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Linus Larrabee
Audrey Hepburn	...	Sabrina Fairchild
William Holden	...	David Larrabee
Walter Hampden	...	Oliver Larrabee
John Williams	...	Thomas Fairchild
Martha Hyer	...	Elizabeth Tyson
Joan Vohs	...	Gretchen Van Horn
Marcel Dalio	...	Baron St. Fontanel
Marcel Hillaire	...	The Professor
Nella Walker	...	Maude Larrabee
Francis X. Bushman	...	Mr. Tyson
Ellen Corby	...	Miss McCardle

Also Known As:

Sabrina Fair (UK)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Spain:13 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #16882, General Audience) | West Germany:12 (bw) | Australia:PG (cable rating)

Filming Locations:

Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Like Sunset Blvd. (1950), this film started production without a finished script. Ernest Lehman worked himself to exhaustion working on the script with Billy Wilder during production. One day, when Lehman did not have an extra copy of a scene rewrite to give to Humphrey Bogart, Bogart exploded. Wilder told his crew they would not film another foot of film until Bogart apologized to Lehman. Bogart invited Lehman to his dressing room and shooting eventually continued.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Toward the end of the movie, after Linus enters his office and says how the coffee is the worst ever, he refers to his secretary, Miss McCardle as Miss "McCarthy".

Quotes:

Sabrina Fairchild: All night long I've had the most terrible impulse to do something.
Linus Larrabee: Oh never resist an impulse, Sabrina. Especially if it's terrible.
Sabrina Fairchild: I'm going to do it!
[she reaches out and turns down the brim of Linus' Homburg]
Sabrina Fairchild: There!
Linus Larrabee: What was that for?
Sabrina Fairchild: We can't have you walking up the Champs Elysses looking like a tourist undertaker! And another thing, never a briefcase in Paris and never an umbrella. There's a law.

Movie Connections:

References Casablanca (1942)

Soundtrack:

I Don't Want to Walk Without You

Audrey Hepburn is simply charming

Sabrina is a movie that was made for Audrey Hepburn. She is simply charming as the title character. The story is Cinderella like in that Sabrina, a chauffeur's daughter with a crush on the playboy son of her father's employer, goes to Paris and returns as a mature sophisticated lady who charms everyone she meets.

The picture is enhanced by the direction of Billy Wilder and the casting of Humphrey Bogart and William Holden (Why did they make him blond?)as the Larabee brothers who vie for Miss Hepburn's affections.

But the film is clearly Miss Hepburn's and one can see why she was one of the most beloved actresses of her time. Watch Sabrina and you too will fall in love with her. A marvelous film.