Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

Directed by Blake Edwards. Starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Martin Balsam, Patricia Neal, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Ebsen, José Luis de Vilallonga, John McGiver, Alan Reed.

Adaptation of Truman Capote’s novella about café society girl, Holly Golightly, and her burgeoning relationship with her new neighbor, Paul, a kept man. Nicely photographed Technicolor romantic-comic froth is neither delicious nor acetic; it simply does not add up to much. Predictably, director Edwards surrenders to his broad slapstick/caricature fallbacks at times, which are especially incongruous here (the sight gags at the party and the Japanese neighbor belong in completely different movies). Despite being one of her best known roles, Hepburn is miscast as Golightly, unable to capture the appreciable tone for the difficult character; she’s a tangle of eccentricities, anxieties, contradictions, insecurities, but Hepburn only captures the frailties that are supposed to be subtextual to the bold playgirl image on the surface, a brazen act that is repeatedly floundered. Today, the character is best remembered for the faux-chic wardrobe choices and that preposterously long cigarette holder, not anything to do with the personality traits or strength of performance. The film barely resembles the source material, and by altering the lead into a romanceable figure, she becomes exasperating, even unsympathetic. Meanwhile, Peppard’s bland and the less said (and remembered) about Rooney’s offensive racial stereotyping the better; only Balsam (idiosyncratic), Ebsen (subdued) and scene-stealer Orangey the cat (feline) score high marks. Contains the beloved Oscar-winning song “Moon River,” and I said, “Well, that’s the one thing it’s got.”

40/100