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Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

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225 comments in total

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80 out of 125 people found the following comment useful :-
Audrey Hepburn - The "It" Girl of the 60s, 12 April 2004

Author: misslv80

I've loved "Breakfast at Tiffany's" since I was nine. Even before I completely understood about Holly's "profession", I was captivated by the grace and magic that was Audrey Hepburn.

George Peppard plays Paul Varjak, a writer who has to earn his living through a wealthy socialite, Patricia Neal, as her "kept" man. Audrey, who plays Holly Golightly, is a gold-digging call girl, who is looking for the right rich man to marry. Though you would think these two would be unflattering characters, they are both very charming and put on phony personas (especially in Holly's case) in order to survive.

You have to marvel at how a woman like Audrey could look so good in anything she wore. At the beginning of the movie when she first meets Peppard, she's only wearing a simple white shirt that she wears as a nightgown or at the party scene when she first comes out and greets her friend O.J. Berman wearing nothing but a sheet made up to look like a dress! Gorgeous!

It's a marvelous piece of acting when Holly first meets Paul in her apartment, and she's talking about how she has to get ready to meet one of her "clients" in jail, Sally Tomato, and she's talking about her profession, looking at herself in the mirror, getting dressed, asking Paul to find one of her shoes, etc., and then, voila! the famous basic black dress and hat with the wide brim. Very stylish - and in the scene she is given much to work with, the way she has to juggle the dialogue and the action of what she is doing all at once. Very natural and sophisticated at the same time.

Audrey is very believable as Holly because her character is someone who is pretending to be sophisticated, hanging around with phony people, but really comes from humble beginnings. Once in a while you will hear in her voice the "country-girl" drawl, and you will see through the facade of Holly Golightly who she really is. George Peppard is also very handsome and believable as the "starving" writer who also has to sell himself out in order to earn a living.

Many complaints have been made about Mickey Rooney and the "stereotypical" portrayal of the landlord Mr. Yunioshi. Yes, it is stereotyped, but nonetheless, I still thought it was funny. The party scene is one of the best in the movie - hilarious! Wonderful score by Henry Mancini. Of course it's a classic scene when Holly pulls up in front of Tiffany's in the New York taxi, drinking coffee and eating a danish in front of the window. New York City itself is like a vibrant, interesting character in the movie. I could go on and on.

And to top it all off, it's a very romantic love story about two people who find happiness in the crazy, mixed-up world we live in. A classic. Recommended to anyone who loves old Hollywood cinema.

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69 out of 109 people found the following comment useful :-
Fluffy, if a bit empty, but delicious breakfast., 24 June 2004
Author: Poseidon-3 from Cincinnati, OH

An army of fans consider this Hepburn's signature role and in many ways it is, even if she overcame miscasting to portray it. Based on a rather biting novella by Truman Capote, he (somewhat surprisingly) wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the role. The casting of Hepburn couldn't be more different, yet she made it her own and in the process created an icon that is every bit as lasting as Marilyn's skirt-over-the-subway-grate or Bette Davis's off-the-shoulder, chain-smoking Margo Channing. She plays an offbeat, effortlessly sophisticated party girl in New York City who subsists on the favors of various rich men. Though her livelihood couldn't be more tasteless, somehow Hepburn's presence adds a sheen of innocence and sweetness to it. When blocked writer Peppard moves in upstairs ("kept" by married socialite Neal), the two find themselves developing a friendship which eventually begins to turn into love. But since they are both people who use their bodies to earn their keep and are heavily dependent on others, the chances of their relationship lasting are slim at best. To read the above synopsis, one would expect a gritty, vulgar film. However, in director Blake Edwards' hands and with Hepburn floating around in exquisite Givenchy gowns, the movie is a candy box of color, style, humor and romance.

Even when she's hungover or just getting home from an all-nighter (as in the famous opening scene), Hepburn strikes a graceful and glamorous figure. In fact, it's when she's trying to act disoriented or disheveled that her performance is at it's weakest. It's as if she was so inherently stylish that she had to try (too) hard to present anything else! She does a very fine job with the role, even if the character's past is nothing short of preposterous. Peppard comes off as blandly attractive, but wooden. His arrogance regarding his role (fiercely protecting the traditional leading man image) not only undercut his own performance, but also slighted that of Neal's who was diminished as a result. However, sentimental filmgoers probably prefer his more heroic approach and Neal would certainly recoup her losses, earning an Oscar a short time later for "Hud". The most controversial aspect of the film is Rooney's portrayal of an Asian man who lives above Hepburn and who is awakened at all hours by her lifestyle. Whether or not one is offended by the over-the-top stereotype of the buck teeth and slant eyes, the role is not funny anyway! It's all way too forced and obvious, with his pratfalls in sight long before they occur. (A lamp exists RIGHT over his bed for the express purpose of giving him something to hit his head on continuously. Move it, already!) There are many memorable moments in the film including a sequence of Hepburn and Peppard doing things they've never done before, Hepburn sitting on the fire escape plaintively singing the Oscar-winning song "Moon River" (which is used throughout the film by master composer Henry Mancini) and wacky party scene (a prelude to Edwards' "The Party"?) in which all sorts of outre things take place including the cry "Timber!" when a tipsy guest begins to collapse. There's a surprising frankness, for the time, regarding Peppard and Neal's relationship. It seems to be one of the earliest Hollywood films in which the leading man is implied to be nude under the covers in his bed. The film is not without its flaws. Some of the dialogue is annoyingly indulgent and the storyline is fairly patchy (with a tacked on ending.) Still, with the sparkling presence of Hepburn (in some mind-blowing hats and costumes) and the slick work of Edwards, it is easy entertainment.

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49 out of 77 people found the following comment useful :-
Audrey's a Delight, 15 March 2001

Author: gbheron from Washington, DC

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" preserves an idyllic time and place in the American psyche, New York City between WWII and The Great Society. A time when being hip and urbane were accessible (and desirable) to the middle-class.

The film's" the two romantic protagonists are Holly Golightly, played wonderfully by Audrey Hepburn, and Paul Varjak, played by George Peppard in an understated performance that well complements Hepburn's. Holly is an aspiring socialite and party-girl looking for a wealthy sugar daddy. Paul is an aspiring writer and kept-man of a wealthy older woman. Neither is happy, but both go through the motions in a swirl of Manhattan parties and parings.

Everything falls nicely into place in this romantic-comedy; directing, musical score, acting, and screenplay. Filmed on location in New York this is a beautiful, captivating movie, that has not only aged well, but is a time machine to a wonderful place that probably really never existed except in our imagination.

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36 out of 55 people found the following comment useful :-
My favorite movie, 3 March 2006

Author: kearls-1 from United States

What can you say about Truman Capote's masterpiece? It is brilliant!! Hepburn is wonderful as a young woman who is on the verge of insanity, but unknowingly to most around her. She is confused and lost in the world, and she meets Paul, both having sex with the wrong people, both confused about who they are and where they are in the world... they are"two drifters." Holly is a character that remains classic, and Hepburn played her brilliantly!! I love this movie, it will make you believe in love, and what girl doesn't truly love Tiffany's? Moon River is also a truly beautiful song that expresses the mood throughout the movie. It also has a few surprises, and is witty and charming.

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13 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
More than just a romantic-comedy, "Breakfast" is a real love story, 21 July 2004
Author: Damian_ from Corvallis, Oregon

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The main reason I like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" so much is because I think it is one of those rare romantic comedies that actually transcends the genre and becomes a genuine love story. I have a theory that most love stories that get made aren't really about love. They're either about romance or lust. I don't think that many people in Hollywood (or society in general today) even know what real deep, meaningful love really is. "Breakfast at Tiffany's," on the other hand, is one of the most beautiful real love stories ever told.

*SPOILERS*

"Tiffany's" is basically about a woman who is incapable of loving. She considers herself a "free spirit" a "wild thing," an independent, adventurous woman who lives for the moment. She is also a bit of a social outcast because her "profession" is essentially that of a call girl. Whether or not she actually sleeps with all of these men (or just some of them) who pay her is unclear, but she definitely uses them. She is not a woman of high moral character and despite her constant "up" attitude and optimistic outlook, she is really quite lonely. It's all a reflection of how she really feels about herself I think. It's almost as if she needs to keep trying new things and distracting herself from the truth, because if she were to actually take a moment to stop and look at herself, she would be confronted with how unimpressive and ordinary she really is. She would also have to face the fact that she is not really that stylish. She is an actor playing a part. "Holly Golightly" isn't even her real name. As I said, she is incapable of loving others because she doesn't really even love herself. She feels she is unlovable. Her self-perception is really quite low and that's why she concocts these huge, elaborate fantasies about being elegant, classy and witty. When I first saw the film, I was so impressed by the charm and beauty of Audrey Hepburn that I instantly fell in love with her. The more I watch the movie, the more I realize how utterly sad and pathetic (yet still likable) her character really is. As Marty Balsam says in the film: "She's a phony, but she's a real phony."

Paul Varjak, the character played by George Peppard (pre A-TEAM days of course) is in a similar situation. He is also playing a role and has a lousy self-image. He wants to write but has had such a hard time at it that he has resigned himself to taking money from a married, rich woman, who considers him to be her "good time" on the side, for his living. Paul and Holly start out as simple neighbors, later become friends and eventually fall in love which ends up scaring the pepper out of Holly. She's okay flirting with someone but as soon as she crosses that line over into falling for someone, she becomes afraid and runs away. She sees love as a "cage," something that stifles people and sucks the life out of them. She needs help. She needs someone to love her and she needs to be able to love them back. This man is the perfect one for her because he needs her just as much as she needs him. They can help each other. They can lift each other up. By themselves they are nothing but together they are complete. They are two miserable people who can find happiness in one another.

I like movies about redemption. Stories about otherwise lowly people who are raised to the heights of happiness through love (without it seeming forced or sentimental) are exceptionally rare but when they do show up they tend to appeal to me (that's the reason why I like the story to "Sabrina" so much too). I will never EVER forget that last scene in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" where Holly is finally confronted with the painful truth that despite all her attempts to deny herself, to hide from her own "ordinariness," nothing about her has really changed. As Paul says "No matter where you go, you just keep running into yourself." She admits that she is lonely and unhappy. She goes back for the cat that she set free moments earlier upon realizing that she was coming dangerously close to "owning" him. In going back for the cat she is really going back for herself. She sees herself as the cat and, in fact, there is frequent imagery throughout the film that connects them (Holly wearing the cat mask that she steals from the shop, "Nine Lives" being the name of the book that Paul wrote, etc.). She didn't want to give him a name because she didn't want him to belong to her, she would consider that "caging" the animal. So she called him simply "cat," but over time "Cat" ended up becoming his actual name. In reclaiming the cat she is sort of reclaiming her own life. For a few moments it looks like "Cat" may be gone forever, but when she hears the soft "meow" and pulls him out of a cardboard box, she is elated. She is the happiest woman on earth. Like the cat, she was lost but now is found. She embraces the cat and kisses her love, Paul, as they stand in the rain. The music swells (Gotta love that "Moon River" song) and the screen fades to black. It is, in my opinion, one of the greatest endings of any movie ever.

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13 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
One of Audrey Hepburn's premiere films..., 4 September 2005

Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

"Breakfast At Tiffany's", from Truman Capote's acerbic novella, is so lushly produced and plushly designed it seems to take place in a New York City dream-world. Audrey Hepburn plays party-girl Holly Golightly with flaky flair, yet she never has to force herself to be a groovy extrovert--she encompasses all of Holly's faults and dizzy highs with just one of the deep little laughs that seem to well up from her chest. I didn't mind Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi (I forgot it was him) and since the movie's edge softens a bit as the film goes on, it needs Yunioshi for some of that low-down comedy inherent in the film's first hour. George Peppard as neighbor Paul is perhaps too smooth and a ready-match for Holly (he only bristles a bit early on), but Peppard as an actor is suitable for Hepburn, he allows her room to sparkle while keeping the film grounded. His frequent bemused looks are charming, and I thought his scenes with Patricia Neal were very good (the filmmakers are a little tough on Neal: she's made to seem decadent and lascivious, and when Peppard calls her on it, I'm not sure if we're supposed to feel sympathy for her, though I did). The opening moments with Hepburn standing in front of Tiffany & Co. are as miraculous as any scene from any movie of this era, and the rest of the film effortlessly emulates that early magic.

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13 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Good, too compromised to be great, 15 January 2005
Author: (dj_bassett) from Philadelphia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Much beloved movie, mainly because it's the iconic Audrey Hepburn role. And as an image she's fabulous, the definition of early-Sixties glamor. The opening sequence, which shows Hepburn eating pastry and staring through the window at Tiffany's as the melancholy strings of "Moon River" wash over everything, is one of the classic intros in movies and a personal favorite.

Considered as a movie it's flawed, though, full of off-key notes and wrong turns. Rooney's Asian caricature is pretty offensive, but a worse problem I think is the dialog throughout, which is very arch and mannered and "writerly" sounding, as well as the nods to Hollywood convention (the party, the gamboling about NYC , the silly paternal Mafioso -- one can imagine somebody insisting that there better be some fun, dammit, in this movie). Most importantly there's a general restraint throughout the picture: the real story here is sad and dark, and it's aching to get through, but instead it's stamped down with a lot of overly-cute Hollywood bits.

Yet that dark story is powerful. Both Peppard and Hepburn are badly damaged people, the fact that they get together (albeit awkwardly) is a tribute to the magic of movies, but their relationship, full of quiet suffering and little hurts, seems very real to me. Peppard is effective as a nice guy who's falling for the wrong woman; Hepburn has some pretty awful dialog, but her performance as a woman who's self-deluding as a way to defend herself from despair (as Martin Balsam says, she's a "real fake") is very strong. This is what I liked best about the movie.

Well, that and Audrey Hepburn herself -- one of those performers for whom movies were invented, she is just amazing to watch. You've heard the cliché "the camera loves her"? Never was that more true than with Audrey Hepburn.

Good, too compromised to be great.

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34 out of 62 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent romantic comedy-drama, 9 September 2003

Author: perfectbond

In a way Breakfast at Tiffany's is like getting two movies. The first half or so is a light-hearted comedy and the second half is a romantic drama. The entire package is thoroughly engaging. I'm not usually a fan of this genre but I was entertained throughout. What can be said about Ms. Hepburn in this role that hasn't already been said? She is perfect. Except for the odd A-Team rerun, I hadn't seen any of Mr. Peppard's work. In this film, he is the perfect foil for our heroine. The rest of the cast (including Cat) is more than up to par as well, especially Mick Rooney's politically incorrect but hilarious turn as Ms. Golightly's long suffering neighbor. Great film, 8/10.

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9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
A lot of fun, Audrey was a true beauty and actress of her time, 27 June 2007

Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois

Breakfast At Tiffany's is a pretty famous movie, it's recommended in my movie books and is usually on a top film critic's list as a classic. Before Roman Holiday, I had never seen an Audrey Hepburn film, and I have to say that I am becoming more and more of a fan of her's. She was so beautiful and very talented, not to mention she seemed like a very classy and elegant lady. But the film itself was a pretty good one, this was the movie that made romantic comedy clichés, so that's why I let it go so easily. It seemed like this film had what a lot of romantic comedy films steal now a days.

Holly is a huge socialite in her grand world, she finds happiness and joy in the jewelery store, Tiffany's. She is also being paid 100 dollars to visit a drug Mafia leader in prison to make his day. But things begin to change when a very handsome man moves in down stairs from her, Paul, but she calls him Fred since he looks like her brother. He's also in a similar situation where his "Decorator" is paying him for a good time. But together they find themselves helping one another and realizing they may need each other.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is an elegant classic that I would rate up with Seven Year Itch starring Marilyn Monroe. It has great humor and sizzling romance that anyone could fall in love with. Audrey Hepburn took on a role which the character could have been neuritic and annoying, but she made Holly into someone every woman would like to be. Her and George were great together, I would highly recommend Breakfast at Tiffany's, it's a great classic.

8/10

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Another poor adaptation though Hepburn shines, 17 April 2007

Author: brii-1 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I was amazed at what a terrible adaptation of the book, by Capote, the movie was. While Audrey Hepburn does give a wonderful performance the Breakfast at Tiffany's the movie is not the same story as the book- not at all. The main difference is that the book is not a love story but a story about this marvelous character Holly Golightly. The movie is turned into a love story for cheap Hollywood thrills and probably because Axelrod wasn't creative enough to write a believable character such as Fred who does not fall in love with the leading lady. Heavens to Betsy the audience might think Fred is gay if he doesn't fall for Holly! What a typical bungling of an adaptation of an incredible piece of literature. Oh and my favorite line in the movie is the final scene in the cab where Holly goes, "Golly gee damn!" Also, Mickey Rooney's character was completely overdone and not in the spirit of Capote's book which is not a comedy but a brilliant exercise in character development of Holly's character. Don't bother with the movie except for Hepburn's on screen charisma. Read the book instead.

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