If you've been following my CINEMA COFFEE posts for a while, "Hello! How are you?" (see what I did there?) If you're new or have only been introduced through my Marlon Brando Series, "Welcome!" Feel free to look around.
Since last I've visited the coffee house, outside my "Brando Corner" (THE WILD ONE, THE TEASHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON, ONE-EYED JACKS, and MORITURI blog pieces most recently), I left you with FILM THERAPY: COPING THROUGH CINEMA and an update on THE UNINVITED (1944), earlier this month.
Today's coffee chat really comes spontaneously, as I had no intention of writing it whatsoever, and yet, I can't say it hasn't played in the back of my mind since I bought it as a birthday gift to myself last year. A film I couldn't believe I didn't already have in my library, and one I can never stop watching once I've started, no matter where I come in on the story if it airs on the tele ... SABRIANA (1954). |
Sabrina! Sabrina!
Now, if this is your first time at the rodeo, and you came here for a plot breakdown, behind the scenes play-by-play, or the gossip girl handbook with voiceover included, I won't be of much help to you. As I've found most blog pieces already supply that for you. Giving you the complete summary, almost down to the ending, spoilers, and essays, which are all fun and fine, I enjoy reading them myself. But here, I'm offering what makes us connect to cinema. To the people we enjoy watching with and the connection, the memories, we create with them. Where we were, who we were with. This is a "coffee house" not a course in the class.
There's so much to be said for SABRINA (1954). And not only from a personal stand point, becoming, for me, a first choice pick-me-up watch over all other pick-me-up watches of the past in the more recent months. This isn't just a film, it's a dream. A realization. A moment any girl, of any age, of any race, can see a reflection of. That moment when we think we "grow up," grow out of life, to become wiser, smarter, adult. Only to be faced with the other Hepburn moment in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940) "I'm such an unholy mess of a girl," and you realize you may be a bit wiser with age, a bit smarter with time, a bit more of an adult in years, but we still have that inner adolescent girl inside of us that shows her face even in the most sophisticated clothes, haircut, and schooling, reminding us of the girl we once were, and maybe still are, just a bit more ... polished. And though we may not like it (I don't), and resent her from showing her face in the most trivial point in life; after time has passed and you sit and write it down at a moment like this, or reflect on it with a cup of coffee whilst all is quiet and you're alone with your thoughts, you think, maybe it's not so bad she showed up. Maybe it's not just a hate relationship. Maybe it's a love/hate relationship. Maybe I needed her, maybe I still do, always will, as a reminder to learn more about myself and how to deal ... with myself, people, love ... life.
Sorry. Didn't mean to get into a "Dear Diary" moment. But isn't that what SABRINA is, what it reminds you of? Not only a "Cinderella" story, but a "Dear Diary" moment in a girl's life? Your life. Whether it's Paris, cooking classes, David Larrabee, or being a chauffer's daughter, almost all of us can relate to some part of SABRINA's story. Even if it's from Linus' POV. The sharp businessman.
And a moment of truth, that is sure to lose my friends. I can't say I grew up an Audrey Hepburn fan. And yet, SABRINA was always there. She'd always show up, falling in love with the film more and more every watch. Yes, I've seen WAR AND PEACE (1956), grew up on ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) (The Peck, I'm lookin' at you), BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961), FUNNY FACE (1957) (on one of those 3AM sleepless nights, turn on the tele, and you've been captured into the fashion world you live in, but not quite in such a fantasy way), WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967) (introduced to me by my Mom and became a "Mom and I" watch whenever it came on after she and I watched it together as one of our "Movie of the Week" weekly films), and I'm here all day, every day, for Audrey and Peter O'Toole in HOW TO STEAL A MILLION (1966) ... "You mean a burglary. What's the score, baby?" But it was through SABRINA, many watches over the course of time later, I was able to enjoy Audrey Hepburn in any film she was in, as any Audrey Hepburn fan would.
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After losing my Mom, I watched films, not necessarily because of my lifelong love affair with them, but just to pass the time. If you've lost a part of you, you know this process. The blur. When nothing is able to connect with you or you with it. Not even the things you loved doing. It's now only there to pass the time. Like staring at a blank screen. Every film, your favorite films, are all white noise. And only on occasion, a scene or a quote may transport you out of that blur, and you're able to actually see what you're watching. SABRINA was one of those films for me during that time.
I can still feel that moment, and I think, for myself, personally, I will always associate SABRINA with that moment, that memory. Which is okay by me, as it was yet again in my youth, through my Mom, watching the remake of SABRINA (1995) on the tele one day, trying to explain to me that what we were seeing was a remake to an Audrey Hepburn film.
I can still feel that moment, and I think, for myself, personally, I will always associate SABRINA with that moment, that memory. Which is okay by me, as it was yet again in my youth, through my Mom, watching the remake of SABRINA (1995) on the tele one day, trying to explain to me that what we were seeing was a remake to an Audrey Hepburn film.
Now, I don't know if this would be considered a spoiler or not (you guys know my policy on spoilers), as SABRINA is such a film, I'm always quite certain everyone has seen, no matter the age group. However, assumption, as my debate teacher taught us in high school, is something you never do. You know the motto, when you "assume" you make an "a**" out of "u" and "me" … ass-u-me. With that in mind, if you've not seen SABRINA, I'll direct you to the next part in our chat and you can skip this part of the coffee talk with a trip, in scene, with The Holden.
POSSIBLE SPOILER:
No matter how many times I watch SABRINA, I'm always sad at the end when Holden doesn't get Hepburn. Nothing against Bogie, he's my fella. I didn't start my "Because it's Wednesday … Humphrey Bogart" just for the sake of it being Hump Day.
This is Humphrey Bogart! No matter the role. No matter the film. No matter the genre. But I've always wanted Sabrina to end up with David. At least in the 1954 adapt. And it has nothing to do with the off screen romance that was happening in real life between Hepburn and Holden. But just how we've all had that daydream crush on the one who doesn't even know we exist, and once, just once, we wish that it actually did play out in real life the way we do in our dreams. Don't give me your "this is the real world," "things don't work that way," realistic "Dugan, m'boy, you're dreamin'," stick-to-the-facts outlook, when for a moment "I don't want realism, I want magic" -- BLANCHE?! How did she get in here?! ... ahem ... What I'm trying to say is, I would've loved for it to have been written where David's character did see past his playboy lifestyle to see Sabrina not as an ideal, but as a partner, the love of his life, truly there "right under his nose," and his eyes truly open to see it.
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Instead, the revelation doesn't occur in the playboy Holden. Something I didn't realize doesn't occur until many watches later. Up to that point, I always saw it written, played out, where David does fall in love with Sabrina, not just for the moment, but in actuality. Then, I began to hear that word over and over again in my "x" amount of times watching. That word that comes in the form of "Butte, Montana" ... again. Hmm? Didn't she say earlier (even though referring to the party), "I don't mind David, as long as you're there"? Weren't you listening? *in my "Nanny Fine" voice* ... At all?
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While I still would've liked to have seen Holden and Hepburn together (I can always watch PARIS WHEN IT SIZZLES (1964) for that, I suppose. An underrated film, I personally enjoy), a friend of mine brought up a POV I could see from, and consider sound, when I mentioned in my very vocal, unhiding stance on how I'd have rather Sabrina end up with David, that she didn't mind Sabrina and Linus together because for her "Holden’s character seemed...flighty. Bogie’s character was steady, and ready for a new brighter life, whether he realized/wanted it or not." And thinking of it from that perspective, whenever I watch it now, I'm more at ease with the way things turned out. Though I feel sorry for what "Who's Sabrina?!" Martha Hyer's "Elizabeth" is going to have to go through for the rest of her life with David. (How did "I certainly don't want to spend my first eighteen hours of my honeymoon on a plane ... sitting up." make it pass censors, I'd like to know! Even my adult ears perk straight up every time like, did I hear that right?! Well ...
YOU MAY NOW COME BACK NOW!
Audrey, off her "claim to fame" in ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) with The Peck, took on the role, played on Broadway by Margaret Sullavan at the National Theatre, November 11, 1953 - August 21, 1954, opposite Ol' Joe Cotton (Joseph) and John Cromwell, portrayed in the film by Bogart and The Holden, after 318 performances.
As with ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (my CINEMA COFFEE piece here), the film could not be released until the Broadway production, titled SABRINA FAIR, closed. And whether it's true Audrey had read the play prior to Paramount's purchase of the film, asking it to be bought for her, or if director Billy Wilder "discovered" the play and made the suggestion for the film and role to star Hepburn (off of her Oscar win for ROMAN HOLIDAY, her US film debut) to the studio, doesn't matter. We still get SABRINA!
actual SPOILERS! Play vs. Film adapt:
To start ... Yes, the film is different from the play. Aaaand ... I kind of liked the play just as much as the film.
Including additional characters that I wish had made the transition to screen, yet I completely understand why they didn't, it would've made it a different film altogether. One being Julia, Linus and David's mother Maude's BFF. As a matter of fact, The Larrabees (the mother and father) are a lot more youthful and described as being sophisticatedly chic and attractive couple. As if youth never really left them. And ... I kept seeing Ilka Chase as Julia!
Including additional characters that I wish had made the transition to screen, yet I completely understand why they didn't, it would've made it a different film altogether. One being Julia, Linus and David's mother Maude's BFF. As a matter of fact, The Larrabees (the mother and father) are a lot more youthful and described as being sophisticatedly chic and attractive couple. As if youth never really left them. And ... I kept seeing Ilka Chase as Julia!
Julia is a wonder!! The word "charm" was defined by Julia. She really is charming. She's the reason you start the read smiling. You can really see her character in your mind. And you can tell from the beginning she is well liked for a reason. She's supposed to be resting at the Larrabee Estate from an operation (that Linus paid for because here, he's that kind of character, making sure those he loves are taken care of, and yet ... well, more on him later), and the way Linus and David throw the word "Aunt" around, you'd think she really is, and she even tells them they don't have to do that, in which they reply she's stuck with it and them because she's part of the family (she and Maude went to college together and still remain friends). **Almost** an Auntie Mame-esque ... *Sort of*. In short, she's the aunt you wish you had (or even big sister).
Linus. Linus. Linus ... I love Bogie, and I can *totally* see why people preferred Sabrina choosing Linus over David (you've already read my thoughts on this in the film) in the 1954 film adapt ... But in the play ... It makes sense. I want Linus, too! (le sigh). He's ... hmm? ... does "ladies' man" sound corny?? If so ... I can't help it. Here, he's a lady killer (through the conversation between Maude, Julia, Linus (and a phone call), we find out he's even going out with David's ex-wife, unbeknownst then to David, when we first meet Linus (who only let's on he's getting ready for a date, but doesn't say who with) ... Before she shows up to the house (while David is there) for their sailing date!! Ta-ta, everyone ...) Linus is kinda ... kinda ... crusher, blush material, like, "are-those-butterflies-when-you-two-are-in-the-same-room?" sorta way. And for me, in the play, it makes more sense in why Linus interferes with David and Sabrina because in the play you get to see it a bit more, this is what Linus does, he sort of plays/interferes with people ... for sport.
David here, is different from both the 1954 adaptation or the 1995 adaptation, although The Holden comes close to the physical description with the dyed hair (I still see Jude Law's Dickie as David, not in characteristics, but in rich playboy looks). Though in the play, he's not quite the playboy we get in either of the other two adapts, and not as "flighty". He's actually had more of a romance to his character.
In the play, Sabrina and David are both 30-ish, and Sabrina isn't as unsure and "child-like" (for lack of a better term), as she is in the 1954 film. Here, in the play, she's more stable minded, pretty confident in herself, and doesn't necessarily want to be married at all (a decision she wonders if even for her) and goes off on David when he takes for granted she's going to marry him!! Hahaha!
True, when she comes back from Paris, she's trying to sort out her feelings for David, but not in a lovesick or a torch song way, more of "what does Sabrina want" sort of way (does that make sense?) And MAJOR SPOILER ALERT, Sabrina does meet someone in Paris ... And it ain't no 70-something Baron ... IT'S A YOUNG FRENCHMAN (Alain Delon??) who comes here (the the States) to ask Sabrina to marry HIM!!!! With this extra helping on her plate, she decides it's Linus she'd rather be with.
Whew!
(For my CINEMA COFFEE video chat on my YouTube Channel, watch here: CINEMA COFFEE: SABRINA FAIR)
Linus. Linus. Linus ... I love Bogie, and I can *totally* see why people preferred Sabrina choosing Linus over David (you've already read my thoughts on this in the film) in the 1954 film adapt ... But in the play ... It makes sense. I want Linus, too! (le sigh). He's ... hmm? ... does "ladies' man" sound corny?? If so ... I can't help it. Here, he's a lady killer (through the conversation between Maude, Julia, Linus (and a phone call), we find out he's even going out with David's ex-wife, unbeknownst then to David, when we first meet Linus (who only let's on he's getting ready for a date, but doesn't say who with) ... Before she shows up to the house (while David is there) for their sailing date!! Ta-ta, everyone ...) Linus is kinda ... kinda ... crusher, blush material, like, "are-those-butterflies-when-you-two-are-in-the-same-room?" sorta way. And for me, in the play, it makes more sense in why Linus interferes with David and Sabrina because in the play you get to see it a bit more, this is what Linus does, he sort of plays/interferes with people ... for sport.
David here, is different from both the 1954 adaptation or the 1995 adaptation, although The Holden comes close to the physical description with the dyed hair (I still see Jude Law's Dickie as David, not in characteristics, but in rich playboy looks). Though in the play, he's not quite the playboy we get in either of the other two adapts, and not as "flighty". He's actually had more of a romance to his character.
In the play, Sabrina and David are both 30-ish, and Sabrina isn't as unsure and "child-like" (for lack of a better term), as she is in the 1954 film. Here, in the play, she's more stable minded, pretty confident in herself, and doesn't necessarily want to be married at all (a decision she wonders if even for her) and goes off on David when he takes for granted she's going to marry him!! Hahaha!
True, when she comes back from Paris, she's trying to sort out her feelings for David, but not in a lovesick or a torch song way, more of "what does Sabrina want" sort of way (does that make sense?) And MAJOR SPOILER ALERT, Sabrina does meet someone in Paris ... And it ain't no 70-something Baron ... IT'S A YOUNG FRENCHMAN (Alain Delon??) who comes here (the the States) to ask Sabrina to marry HIM!!!! With this extra helping on her plate, she decides it's Linus she'd rather be with.
Whew!
(For my CINEMA COFFEE video chat on my YouTube Channel, watch here: CINEMA COFFEE: SABRINA FAIR)
end spoilers ... for now. carry on ...
As I said, there's much to be said for SABRINA, the cast and casting: Audrey Hepburn in her second US film, "The Golden Boy" William Holden, discovered by a Paramount talent scout Milton Lewis, at the age of 19, at The Pasadena Workshop Theatre on opening night in 1938, was the first cast in his role of "David Larrabee," opposite Audrey, in his third of three films working with Billy Wilder (his Oscar nominated role in SUNSET BLVD (1950), originally written for Montgomery Clift who didn't want the role, his Best Actor Oscar win in STALAG 17 (1953)), and Humphrey Bogart, who needs no introduction, in a role Cary Grant was set to play, dropping from the picture only a week before filming was to begin shooting; the sets, shooting between NY for the exterior scenes (using the Long Island mansion of then Paramount President Barney Balaban (though stated in the 2008 documentary SABRINA'S WORLD, no one actually knows which houses were used for what, everyone claiming the bill at the time, and even more recently said to be the George Lewis Mansion in Bel Air, Los Angeles, CA) and the swimming pool of CBS Founder William Samuel Paley), moving to the Paramount lot in Hollywood for the shooting of the rest of the film.
The character actors, featuring, but not limited to:
- John Williams II as Thomas Fairchild, Sabrina's father (DIAL "M" FOR MURDER (1954), TO CATCH A THEIF (1955), WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957), see my sit down with TCM's Robert Osborne as a Guest Programmer on Turner Classic Movies on Tyrone Power's last completed film)
- Walter Hampden as Oliver Larrabee, Linus and David's father (ALL THIS, AND HEAVEN TOO (1940), THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON (1941), ALL ABOUT EVE (1950))
- Nella Walker as Maude Larrabee, Linus and David's mother (BACK STREET (1941), THE CLOCK (1945), THE LOCKET (1946))
- Martha Hyer as Elizabeth Tyson, David's fiancée (HOUSEBOAT (1958), SOME CAME RUNNING (1958), THE CHASE (1966))
- Marcel Dalio as Baron St. Fontanel (THE RULES OF THE GAME (1939), CASABLANCA (1942), THE HAPPY TIME (1952))
- Marcel Hillaire as The Professor, Sabrina's culinary instructor (IT HAPPENED TO JANE (1959, SEVEN THIEVES (1960), countless tele shows including "Adventures in Paradise")
- Francis X. Bushman as Mr. Tyson, Elizabeth's father (ROMEO AND JUILET (1916), BEN-HUR: A TALE OF CHRIST (1925), DICK TRACY (1937))
- Ellen Corby as Miss McCardle, Linus' secretary (I REMEMBER MAMA (1948), MADAME BOVARY (1949), THE MATING SEASON (1951), most known in the tele series "The Waltons")
- Nancy Kulp as Jenny, the maid (uncredited) (THE MODEL AND THE MARRIAGE BROKER (1951), though most known for "The Beverly Hillbillies")
The wardrobe, with an Oscar win for Paramount Studio's head costume designer Miss Edith Head and the beginning of what would be fashions most elaborate collaboration between designer and actress … GIVENCHY, Hubert de Givenchy (1927-2018). In a role, though there have been so many variations of just which pieces did Givenchy create vs. that of Edith Head and what actually happened in between, designer Isaac Mizrahi states, "You know, it's very hard to know exactly what happened between Givenchy and Hepburn, and Hepburn and Edith Head, because she worked with both of them. I think that there was a lot to do with ... Givenchy. Because if you look at the proportions, and you look at the way the clothes are made, you know, it's like, you can see the hand of the French couture in there." (AUDREY HEPBURN: FASHION ICON)
The script changes, which began shooting without a completed script (as Billy Wilder put it, "I don't write. I re-write") with the plays original author Samuel Taylor, brought in by Wilder, only to be replaced by Ernest Lehman … Whew! It's non-stop.
And I love it. I'm here for it. Every second of the 1 hour and 53 minutes of it. And hope you guys are too, this SUNDAY, August 18, 2019, 7PM CT, on #TCM as part of Audrey Hepburn's day in #SummerUnderTheStars!
UPDATE:
For my blog piece on another Audrey Hepburn book/story-to-film picture, read my write-up on VENUS RISING ... aka ... HOW TO STEAL A MILLION (1966).
And I love it. I'm here for it. Every second of the 1 hour and 53 minutes of it. And hope you guys are too, this SUNDAY, August 18, 2019, 7PM CT, on #TCM as part of Audrey Hepburn's day in #SummerUnderTheStars!
UPDATE:
For my blog piece on another Audrey Hepburn book/story-to-film picture, read my write-up on VENUS RISING ... aka ... HOW TO STEAL A MILLION (1966).
Bring your coffee mug, Guys 'n Dolls *muah* … #ForMyMom
For my other CINEMA COFFEE blog pieces:
#ForMyMom Cinema Coffee ... | COFFEE CINEMA: Talking Streetcar | CINEMA COFFEE: "Et tu, Brute?" | CINEMA COFFEE: "La Chocolaterie" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Milk? I loathe milk!" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Elderberry Wine ..." | CINEMA COFFEE: "The choice I never had ..." | CINEMA COFFEE: "The smell of Mimosa" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Mighty like a Rose" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Don't cry on the rolls" | CINEMA COFFEE: "You're the first Kansas I ever met" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Everybody calls me Gracie" | CINEMA COFFEE: "What the devil are Belinskis?!" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Hello friends and enemies." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Stop remindin' me of heaven." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Even Gatsby could happen" | CINEMA COFFEE: "I made a wish" | CINEMA COFFEE: Audie Murphy | CINEMA COFFEE: Put The Blame on Mame | CINEMA COFFEE: "Just Singleton." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Where I Come From, Nobody Knows" | Film Therapy: Coping through Cinema | CINEMA COFFEE: Socks fall down | CINEMA COFFEE: "The moon's reaching for me" | CINEMA COFFEE: The Horne: Luso World Cinema Blogathon | CINEMA COFFEE: Aunt Bettye Lightsy | CINEMA COFFEE: I never lose | CINEMA COFFEE: "I have a mother!" | CINEMA COFFEE: THE SIGN OF GEMINI | CINEMA COFFEE: Venus Rising | CINEMA COFFEE: Stan vs Geek | CINEMA COFFEE: "Positively the same dame"
#ForMyMom Cinema Coffee ... | COFFEE CINEMA: Talking Streetcar | CINEMA COFFEE: "Et tu, Brute?" | CINEMA COFFEE: "La Chocolaterie" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Milk? I loathe milk!" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Elderberry Wine ..." | CINEMA COFFEE: "The choice I never had ..." | CINEMA COFFEE: "The smell of Mimosa" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Mighty like a Rose" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Don't cry on the rolls" | CINEMA COFFEE: "You're the first Kansas I ever met" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Everybody calls me Gracie" | CINEMA COFFEE: "What the devil are Belinskis?!" | CINEMA COFFEE: "Hello friends and enemies." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Stop remindin' me of heaven." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Even Gatsby could happen" | CINEMA COFFEE: "I made a wish" | CINEMA COFFEE: Audie Murphy | CINEMA COFFEE: Put The Blame on Mame | CINEMA COFFEE: "Just Singleton." | CINEMA COFFEE: "Where I Come From, Nobody Knows" | Film Therapy: Coping through Cinema | CINEMA COFFEE: Socks fall down | CINEMA COFFEE: "The moon's reaching for me" | CINEMA COFFEE: The Horne: Luso World Cinema Blogathon | CINEMA COFFEE: Aunt Bettye Lightsy | CINEMA COFFEE: I never lose | CINEMA COFFEE: "I have a mother!" | CINEMA COFFEE: THE SIGN OF GEMINI | CINEMA COFFEE: Venus Rising | CINEMA COFFEE: Stan vs Geek | CINEMA COFFEE: "Positively the same dame"