Today would have been the 95rd birthday of one of my favorite actresses, the wonderful Audrey Hepburn!
We’re all Audrey Hepburn fans here at the Shattered Lens. How could we not be? Long before she made her film debut, Audrey Hepburn literally risked her life as a part of the Dutch Resistance during World War II. After she retired from regularly appearing in the movies, she devoted herself to humanitarian causes and brought attention to the plight of refugees the world over. She was one of the greats and, for that reason, today’s scene that I love comes from one of her best films, 1967’s Two For The Road.
In this scene, Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn play a married couple who discuss their troubled but loving marriage while on the road. This film features one Audrey’s best performances.
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Today would have been the 93rd birthday of one of my favorite actresses, the wonderful Audrey Hepburn!
We’re all Audrey Hepburn fans here at the Shattered Lens. How could we not be? Long before she made her film debut, Audrey Hepburn literally risked her life as a part of the Dutch Resistance during World War II. After she retired for regularly appearing in the movies, she devoted herself to humanitarian causes and served as a UNICEF ambassador. She was one of the greats and, for that reason, we honor Audrey Hepburn today with….
4 Shots From 4 Audrey Hepburn Films
Roman Holiday (1953, dir by William Wyler, DP: Henri Alaken and Franz Planer)
Sabrina (1954, dir by Billy Wilder, DP: Charles Lang)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, dir by Blake Edwards, DP: Franz Planer)
Two For The Road (1967, dir by Stanley Donen, DP: Christopher Challis)
Wow. I am really running behind! I nearly let this day come to an end without paying tribute to the amazing Audrey Hepburn. Hepburn was born 91 years ago, on May 4th, 1921 in Belgium. She went on to become one of history’s best actresses, as well as a role model for us all. It’s not every actress who could say that she was also an active member of the anti-Nazi Dutch resistance during World War II. After she became famous and could have very easily gotten away with turning her back on the world, Hepburn continued to make a name for herself as a humanitarian, working as Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.
In honor of her birthday, here’s a wonderfully acted scene from 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Given how much I love the 1953 film, Roman Holiday, I’ve probably shared this scene before but that’s okay. It’s an incredibly charming scene and hey, it’s Gregory Peck’s birthday!
(“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” airs tonight, 6/12/17 at 8:00 EST on TCM as part of their month-long salute to Audrey Hepburn.)
“You mustn’t give your heart to a wild thing. The more you do, the stronger they get, until they’re strong enough to run into the woods or fly into a tree. And then to a higher tree and then to the sky” – Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S.
From it’s hauntingly romantic theme “Moon River” to it’s sophisticated screenplay by George Axelrod, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S is a near-perfect movie. The bittersweet comedy-drama stars Audrey Hepburn in an Oscar nominated performance as Holly Golightly, a New York “party girl” who winds up falling for struggling writer George Peppard. That Hepburn didn’t get the Oscar (Sophia Loren took it home that year for TWO WOMEN) is one of the Academy’s greatest crimes. The film has a very personal connection with…
The 1953 film Roman Holiday is one that I’ve watched quite a few times. If you know anything about the film and/or me, you won’t be surprised by that. I love Audrey Hepburn. I love Rome. I love romance. And I love bittersweet endings. And Roman Holiday has all four of those!
That is Audrey Hepburn, the morning after she won the Best Actress Oscar for Roman Holiday. Roman Holiday was Audrey Hepburn’s motion picture debut and it continues to hold up as one of the greatest film debuts of all time. Watching how easily she controls and dominates the screen in Roman Holiday, you would think that she had made over a 100 films previously.
The film tells a simple story, really. Audrey plays Ann, the crown princess of an unnamed country. Princess Ann is touring the world. The press is following her every move. Her royal handlers are carefully choreographing every event. Her ever-present bodyguards are always present to make sure that no one gets too close to her. In public, Ann is the epitome of royal discretion, smiling politely and always being careful to say exactly the right thing. But, in private, Ann is restless. Ann knows that she has never been allowed to see the real world and yearns to escape, if just for one night, and live a normal life. So far, her handlers have managed to keep her under control but then she arrives in Rome and…
…well, who can resist Rome?
Despite having been given a sedative earlier, Ann stays awake long enough to sneak out of her hotel room and see the enchanting Rome night life. Of course, the sedative does eventually kick in and she ends up falling asleep on a bench. It’s there that she’s discovered by an American, a cynical reporter named Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck). Not realizing who she is and, instead, assuming she’s just a tourist who has been overwhelmed by Rome, Joe allows her to spend the night at his apartment.
The next morning, Joe finds out who Ann actually is. Realizing that getting an exclusive interview with Ann could be his ticket to the big time, Joe and his photographer, Irving (Eddie Albert), rush back to Joe’s apartment. Joe doesn’t tell her that he’s a reporter. He just offers to take her on a tour of Rome. Ann, however, wants to experience Rome on her own.
What follows is a wonderful and romantic travelogue of the glory of Rome. Though Ann does explore on her own for a while, she eventually does meet back up with Joe and Irving. Whenever I watch Roman Holiday, I always try to put myself in the shoes of someone in 1953, sitting in the audience during the film’s first week of release. For many of them, this film may have been their first chance to ever see Rome. (The opening credits of Roman Holiday proudly announce that the entire film was shot on location, properly acknowledging the Rome is as much a star of this film as Hepburn, Peck, and Albert.) If you’re not already in love with Rome (and I fell in love with the city — and really, the entire country of Italy — the summer after I graduated high school), you will be after watching Roman Holiday.
(If you truly want to have a wonderful double feature, follow-up Roman Holiday with La Dolce Vita.)
The film’s most famous scene occurs at the Mouth of Truth and… well, just watch…
This scene was improvised, on the spot, by Gregory Peck. Audrey Hepburn’s scream was very much real as Peck didn’t tell her what he was planning on doing. As great as this scene is, it’s even better after you’ve actually been to Rome and put your own hand in the Mouth of Truth.
It’s a very sweet movie, one that stands as both a tribute to romance but also proof of what pure movie star charisma can accomplish. It’s not just that Audrey Hepburn gives a great performance as Princess Ann. It’s that Gregory Peck gives one of his most natural and surprisingly playful performance as well. It’s that Peck and Hepburn have an amazing chemistry. By the end of the film, you know that they deserve Rome and Rome deserves them.
And then there’s that ending, that bittersweet ending that always brings tears my mismatched eyes. It’s a sad (though not depressing) little ending but somehow, it’s also the only ending that would work.
Roman Holiday was nominated for best picture but it lost to From Here To Eternity.
That’s right — Roman Holiday and From Here To Eternity were released one after another.
Since it’s Oscar Sunday, I figured that I would go ahead and share something with you. Below is my favorite Oscar picture of all time. It’s from 1954 and it features Audrey Hepburn, surrounded by telegrams congratulating her for winning Best Actress for her performance in Roman Holiday. Also appearing in the picture is Oscar himself.
Audrey certainly does look happy!
(In this picture, Audrey is in wardrobe for Billy Wilder’s Sabrina.)
Through the Shattered Lens 