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Breakfast at Tiffany's

Director: Blake Edwards
Writer: George Axelrod, Trumana Capote (novel)
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, Jose Luis de Villalonga, Alan Reed
Photography by: Franz Planer, Philip H. Lathrop
Music by: Henry Mancini
Runtime: 115 min.
Year: 1961

About: Struggling writer Paul Varjak moves into a New York apartment building and becomes intrigued by his pretty, quirky neighbor Holly Golightly. Holly's lifestyle confuses and fascinates Paul; in public she flits through parties with a sexy, sophisticated air, but when they're alone she changes into a sweetly vulnerable bundle of neuroses.

Trivia:
¤ John Frankenheimer was hired to shoot the film with Marilyn Monroe. When the producers suddenly moved to Switzerland and Audrey replaced Monroe, she said she had never heard of Frankenheimer and insisted that he be paid off and another director be hired.
¤ Tiffany's opened its doors on a Sunday for the first time since the 19th century so that filming could take place inside the store.
¤ Author Truman Capote envisioned Marilyn Monroe in the part of Holly. Monroe was originally cast as Holly Golightly but her drama coach, Lee Strasberg, told her that playing a call-girl was not good for her image.
¤ Audrey Hepburn hated Danish pastries, making filming the famous opening scene a bit of a chore for her.
¤ Although not visible on camera, hundreds of onlookers watched Hepburn's window-shopping scene at the start of the film. This made her nervous and she kept making mistakes. It wasn't until a crew member nearly got electrocuted behind the camera that she pulled herself together and finished the scene.
¤ Hepburn said the scene where she throws Cat into the rainy street was the most distasteful thing she ever had to do on film.
¤ Elements of Holly's character in the original novel, such as her flirtation with bisexuality, were omitted to make the part more suitable for Hepburn.
¤ The movie was shot only three months after the birth of Audrey's first son.
¤ Peppard was a student of Method acting, a style Hepburn found difficult to work with. Nonetheless, the two actors remained close friends until her death.
¤ Holly's couch is really an old-fashioned bathtub split in half. In some scenes, you can still see the gold handles at one end and the legs on the bottom.
¤ Audrey felt that she was miscast as Holly Golightly in this film, although it was one of her most popular roles.
¤ The song "Moon River" was written especially for Audrey Hepburn, since she had no training as a singer. The vocals were written to be sung in only one octave.
¤ At a post-production meeting following a screening of the film, a studio executive, in reference to "Moon River," said, "Well, I think the first thing we can do is get rid of that stupid song." Audrey Hepburn stood up at the table and said, "Over my dead body!" The song stayed in the picture.
¤ Capote maintained that he based Holly Golightly on Carol Grace (the future wife of Walter Matthau), who had been a friend of his while living in New York.
¤ Steve McQueen was offered the co-starring role. However, he was still under contract for the show "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958), which prevented him from appearing.
¤ Hepburn's salary for the film was $750,000, making her the second highest paid actress (behind Elizabeth Taylor) per film at the time.
¤ Kim Novak told Larry King that she was offered the part of Holly Golightly before Hepburn.
¤ The story which Paul received the $50 check for is called "Roman Caper", a reference to Audrey Hepburn's first starring role, "Roman Holiday" (1953).
¤ About nine cats were used throughout the film as the role of Cat.
¤ The movie's poster was as #18 of "The 25 Best Movie Posters Ever" by Premiere.
¤ The famous black dress worn by Hepburn in the opening scenes of this movie was sold for $807,000 on December 4, 2006 at Christie's Auction House in London. Making it the second most expensive piece of movie memorabilia ever sold. The first is the Best Picture Oscar for "Gone with the Wind".
¤ Mickey Rooney had a smole part in the movie.

Awards:
Oscars: Best Music - Original Song, Best Music - Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture; nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role (Audrey Hepburn), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - Color, Best Writing - Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Golden Globes: nominations: Best Motion Picture - Comedy, Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy (Audrey Hepburn)
Grammy: Best Soundtrack Album or Recording or Score from Motion Picture or Television
Laurel Awards: Top Song; nominations: Top Comedy, Top Female Comedy Performance (Audrey Hepburn - 3rd place), Top Musical Score

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