Mancini was thrilled to be chosen to write the score and when he wrote the music for 'Moon River' there was only one lyricist that he wanted and that was Johnny Mercer. And the collaboration worked excellently although at one time the song could have been called 'Blue River' - would it have made the same impact I wonder with that title? Sam Wasson does an excellent job in bringing together all the strands of the story, beginning with plenty of background on Truman Capote's life followed by details of Audrey Hepburn's career to the point of being chosen for the role and of her romantic involvements, which saw her lose her first love to the pressure of the movie industry and then marry Mel Ferrer, who it seems was intensely jealous of her later success.
He relates interesting tit-bits about Mickey Rooney in his role as the Japanese gentleman I. And he points out that, although Edith Head was acknowledged as the major domo of the costumes, it was actually Hubert de Givenchy who was directly responsible for Audrey's wardrobe and particularly for that Little black dress, which in the beginning of the film is cited as one of the most iconic items of clothing in the history of the 20th century and is, arguably, the most famous little black dress of all time.
And after it was all pulled together, 'in the can' and previewed, the reviews were enthusiastic with the New York Times stating, 'wholly captivating', Variety writing, 'surprisingly moving' and Brendan Gill in the New Yorker saying, 'Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of those odd works that if it were any better would be a lot worse [?
Millions of people are going to be enchanted with this picture. I must watch the film again. I will certainly see it in a different light, armed with all the interesting and entertaining background. Jun 02, James Murphy rated it liked it. We're eager to know more about the cultural milestones of our times and why they continue to influence and intrigue us.
The film Breakfast at Tiffany's is such an event steeped in legend. Its beginnings as a Truman Capote novel are legendary itself because Capote worked hard at creating just the right amount of mysterious aura with which to cloak himself and his work. He thought his little novel about a Manhattan cafe society girl struck the perfect moral tone for the Legend fascinates us. He thought his little novel about a Manhattan cafe society girl struck the perfect moral tone for the times and the film.
Excerpt: 'Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.'
Realistically, though, the Hollywood at the turn of the s had to step carefully to avoid being too sexually suggestive. The movie and how it came to be made has become the legend surrounding the Holly Golightly story. The cultural impact can be felt today in feminine freedom and dress as well as every version of "Moon River" you've every heard on the radio, in an elevator, or sung absent-mindedly by someone you know. That's the subject of Wasson's book. I was intrigued by the subtitle " Wasson wastes no time in explaining how Audrey Hepburn's gamine-like charm coupled with a romantic comedy screenplay toying with a new broadmindedness toward sexual freedom suggested a bad girl could also be a winner and an openly sexual life an acceptable goal.
Hepburn gave the movie-going public a way women could live for and by their own code of interests. At the time there were two poles of womens' behavior: Hepburn offered a little bit of both and made it possible for women to emulate her and fit themselves in that middle road. For the first time, women were shown that if they were imperfect they wouldn't be punished for it.
Holly Golightly became the role model many women felt they needed. Hepburn's influence was also felt in fashion.
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman
She favored the clothes of Hubert de Givenchy, the Paris designer. She'd worn his designs in an earlier film, Sabrina, for which she'd selected a rather plain black cocktail dress suiting her build and de-emphasizing what she felt were imperfections. For Breakfast at Tiffany's he outfitted her in the same look, nowhere better displayed than the iconic image of Holly enjoying her danish and coffee in front of Tiffany's window.
Quickly becoming known as the little black dress, it inspired the fashion of the 60s and continues to do so today. As always, a story such as this is informed by the many personalities making it up. The most grounded may have been Henry Mancini. At a time when movie music was being transformed from the lush and orchestral, Mancini clearly saw the tack he needed to take and sailed in that direction. The score he created with such confidence has become a classic. Some others--Capote, Edith Head, the costume designer--come off less well.
But no one's assassinated. It's not that kind of book. Wasson's aim is to detail how this wonderful film came to us and how it's changed our lives. It's warmly told because he shares our affection for it. Reading his book will make you want to see Breakfast at Tiffany's again.
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Jan 01, Mind the Book rated it liked it Shelves: They sent me a few movie stills to work with and I said, 'Sure, why not? They wanted a couple embracing with the skyline in the background, which they wanted to contrast with the elegance in the main figure of Audrey. But the main thing was the cat.
They really wanted that cat in there. Sep 07, Susan rated it liked it. I am not sure why the author felt he had to legitimize this film study by connecting the movie to a sociological study, because the book succeeds best as a consideration of the difficulties in modifying a complicated novel into a seminal film. While the author's conclusions are mildly amusing, it is clear that his real love is in tracing the making of this movie by delineating the characters and lives of the major players and intertwining them with the actual real time making of the movie.
The re I am not sure why the author felt he had to legitimize this film study by connecting the movie to a sociological study, because the book succeeds best as a consideration of the difficulties in modifying a complicated novel into a seminal film. The reviews of this book were almost universally raves, with many of them starred reviews. Wasson has a real passion for film and a flair for descriptive writing that can take small moments and string them together into a vivid character study. Occasionally, however, I found the wriing a little too inclined to celeb-mag gushing.
Review: Fifth Avenue 5am: Audrey Hepburn and Breakfast at Tiffany's by Sam Wasson - theranchhands.com
Wasson's passion for film and the cinematic process is very evident in this book, particularly with regard to Capote author of the novel and director Blake Edwards. He has in fact written a book about Edwards' films, A Splurch in the Kisser, It is fascinating to read that Marilyn Monroe was Capote's choice for Holly Golightly, and that Hepburn really didn't think this was her kind of film. Moon River, that iconic wanderer's ballad, almost didn't make it into the film, and Capote never liked the film. While I found that the sociological premise alluded to in the title added little to the pleasures of the book, Wasson's admiration for both writer, director and the process of taking a difficult story from book to film makes this a pleasure to read for any film deviotee.
Readers who aren't into film may not appreciate the finer points of this book. Nov 17, Offbalance rated it really liked it. Oh, what joy can be found in minutiae! While I'm not sure that the author accomplished all that he set out to find in this work which reads like a spunky term paper at least in terms of pointing Hepburn's performance of Holly Golightly as causing the dawn of the "modern woman" whatever that means , but this is a fun collection of anecdotes of what led to the making of the film version of Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Behind-the-scenes of film stories are a particular favorite of mine, and while Was Oh, what joy can be found in minutiae! Behind-the-scenes of film stories are a particular favorite of mine, and while Wasson took a few liberties in the method storytelling, at the end of the book, he was able to show the fact base for all of these ideas, which I appreciated.
It made for a lively read that I actually found myself wishing to be a bit longer.
- Excerpt: 'Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.' : NPR.
- Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. - Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and The Dawn of the Modern Woman!
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This book is a must for any serious fans of the film. Sep 19, Alison rated it liked it. Who can forget Audrey's little black dress? Once an actress was assigned to a persona, she was not to cross to the other side, or, heaven-forbid, skirt along the line between. Breakfast at Tiffany's changed all of that. America's sweetheart, Audrey Hepburn, was about to shatter her mould and make her mark on American cinema history. I watched all the old movies with my parents - Breakfast at Tiffany Who can forget Audrey's little black dress?
I'm sure my dad wanted me to see as much of of Doris Day as I did Madonna growing up, hoping it would balance my image of women. There is something safe about watching a movie from the s with your kids - the "fade to black" certainly helps. Funny, what seemed racy in was downright tame by s standards. Breakfast at Tiffany's was at the start the silver screen revolution. There were parts of the book that were a bit slow, and the author was sometimes overly casual with the names of the players, I often had to refer to the "opening credits" at the front of the book to be sure to whom he was referring.
It also helps if the reader has a basic knowledge of Audrey's biography to fully appreciate some of the references made. As a girl that grew up watching Audrey Hepburn movies, I was glued to this book. Actresses like Audrey Hepburn, Liz Taylor, and Katherine Hepburn made me fall in love with the movies and the glamour that surrounds them. To get an inside look into one of the most iconic movies of all time was a treat.
The only thing I wish I could do was add more pictures There were some pictures in the book, but I had to go and watch the movie again instead. May 30, Beth Ann rated it it was ok. Sam Wasson writes in a gushy style about an obviously beloved movie. At times his prose is reminiscent of a chick lit novel, and that may be apropos since Breakfast at Tiffany's, the movie, could be considered a precursor of that genre. The original novella was more bitter and cynical. It didn't sell New York City and its more modern lifestyle to the masses.
It spoke to those who felt like outsiders. Wasson shows how the movie was crafted to appeal by watering down the more shocking or distastefu Sam Wasson writes in a gushy style about an obviously beloved movie. Wasson shows how the movie was crafted to appeal by watering down the more shocking or distasteful elements of the literary work while offering a hint of rebellion.
A similar sanitization would occur decades later with Candace Bushell's Sex and the City columns when it made the jump from the written page to the television screen. Stories that read jaded and sad were rewritten as fun post-feminist frolics, and its characters mores were made to match middle America's.
Its characters were naughty just enough to seem inspirational just like the cinematic Holly Golightly. Wasson leaves his readers to make their own contemporary comparisons. He's only interested in what immediately led to the film and its aftermath for key players.
I've enjoyed the movie, and I've read the novella, but I wasn't aware of what went on to get this film made. Wassons gives a good overview, but he's limned the story down to the most pertinent information. He doesn't show the love of obsessive and bitchy detail that Sam Staggs displays.
Wasson mixes straight history with scenes novelistic in style.
If you do not want to read what Audrey Hepburn allegedly was thinking or feeling, then this is not the book for you. If you do not mind such scenes mixed with straight quotes lifted from other sources, then you won't be bothered. All in all the book was a pleasant diversion just like the movie. If you love the film or the movies in general, then consider this book fitting for a beach read or a plane ride. It's that fast and light. Jul 09, Erin rated it liked it Recommended to Erin by: My Amazon copy won't get here in time for book club, so Michele shamed me into downloading.
I am a sucker. I LOVE books about movies and the entertainment industry, so this book was my type of thing. However, I wasn't crazy about Wasson's choppy paragraphs and sections, and he seemed to gloss over what, to me, would have been the most interesting parts - Audrey remains mainly a cipher, George P My Amazon copy won't get here in time for book club, so Michele shamed me into downloading. However, I wasn't crazy about Wasson's choppy paragraphs and sections, and he seemed to gloss over what, to me, would have been the most interesting parts - Audrey remains mainly a cipher, George Peppard was hated, but I would like more details and I could and would read a whole BOOK on what the always entertaining Truman Capote had to say about the movie and all its stars.
So, it was entertaining, as far as it went, but it was a trifle. And the "dawn of the modern woman" part? There is a lot about how nobody wanted to play a "call girl" and two paragraphs about the founding of MS. Jan 12, westernway rated it liked it Shelves: This is one of the fastest reads I have done in a long time and I found it very interesting.
I was glad to see that having read the novel I was not wrong in my assumptions of about the real activities of the central characters. I find it amusing that people still do not realise the true nature of Holly Golightlys profession as it is quite clear if you read the book.
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As a fan of the film I found the story of how it came to be made interesting and cannot honestly think that the original castin This is one of the fastest reads I have done in a long time and I found it very interesting. As a fan of the film I found the story of how it came to be made interesting and cannot honestly think that the original casting choices would have been any good in the roles. I found the information on the hollywood machinations over the making of the film really interesting. And it was not until I read this book that I realised just why the 'little black dress' was such a daring choice for Holly to wear.
Gradually the handoffs began to hurt Truman less -- either that, or he grew more accustomed to the pain -- and in time, his knack for adaptation turned into something like genius. He was able to fit in anywhere.
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After his parents' divorce, five-year-old Truman was sent to his aunt's house in Monroeville, Alabama. Now was Lillie Mae's chance to quit that jerkwater town and hightail it to a big city. Only there could she become the rich and adored society woman she knew she was destined to be, and probably would have been, if it weren't for Truman, the son she never wanted to begin with. When she was pregnant, Lillie Mae -- Nina, as she introduced herself in New York -- had tried to abort him. Perhaps if she had gone away and stayed away, young Truman would have suffered less.
But Nina never stayed away from Monroeville for long. In a whirl of fancy fabrics, she would turn up unannounced, tickle Truman's chin, offer up an assortment of apologies, and disappear. And then, as if it had never happened before, it would happen all over again. Inevitably, Nina's latest beau would reject her for being the peasant girl she tried so hard not to be, and down the service elevator she would go, running all the way back to Truman with enormous tears ballooning from her eyes. A day or so would pass; Nina would take stock of her Alabama surroundings and once again, vanish to Manhattan's highest penthouses.
Had he been older, Truman might have stolen his heart back from his mother the way he would learn to shield it from others, but in those days he was still too young to be anything but in love with her. She said she loved him, too, and at times, like when she brought him with her to a hotel, promising that now they'd really be together, it looked to him as though she finally meant it.
Imagine his surprise then when Nina locked him in the room and went next door to make money-minded love with some ritzy someone deep into the night. Truman, of course, heard everything. On one such occasion, he found a rogue vial of her perfume and with the desperation of a junkie, drank it all the way to the bottom.
It didn't bring her back, but for a few pungent swallows, it brought her closer. Most Read Most Shared Critics' choice: Book Reviews Read all about it: Entertainment Newsletter Going out? Your Christmas season streaming schedule sorted - what's new to Netflix in December Where are all the great Christmas songs? The true horrors of the festive season. Three-year-old Holly Sheridan got a surprise Meghan Markle's father, Thomas Markle, Sixth class students release charity cd for St.
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