Breakfast At Tiffany's at the Durham Library Thursday

Durham Library will show Breakfast At Tiffany's on Thursday, June 5th, at 1:30pm as part of its Classic Movie Matinees series. Admission and snacks are free.

Breakfast At Tiffany’s 

            Movie Notes by Don Bourret  (donb41@comcast.net)

 Truman Capote soundly disliked this charming romantic 1961 comedy derived from his bestselling novel about Holly Golightly, a backwoods girl who goes mod in New York City. He had wanted his friend Marilyn Monroe to play the part, but she declined after friends convinced her that playing a loose party girl would hurt her image. Capote never got over it. Reportedly, this made Audrey Hepburn uneasy, afraid that maybe she wasn’t right for the part. History, of course, has given the lie to this in spades.

 Audrey Hepburn hated Danish pastries, which made shooting the famous opening scene over and over again particularly grueling.

 Henry Mancini composed “Moon River” especially for Hepburn’s limited but very pleasant vocal range. Of course it was a huge and enduring hit and won Mancini his first Oscar.

 Buddy Epsen was essentially in retirement when director Blake Edwards convinced him to play Holly’s estranged hillbilly husband. Reportedly, this led to his landing the role of Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies and opened a whole new career for him that lasted for decades.

 Mickey Rooney had one of his funniest roles ever as Holly’s neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi. But it also was his most controversial for being a Caucasian playing an Asian and as such a broad caricature. Rooney always maintained that his portrayal was at Blake Edwards’s direction, and that he himself never heard anything but compliments for his comedic touches.

 Coco Chanel designed Holly’s iconic “little black dress” at Hepburn’s request and specifications. It became one of the most influential fashion choices in cinema history and has been widely copied ever since. Christies auctioned off the original dress in 2006 for $923,000, the most money paid for any film “prop.” The money went to support a school for the poor in Calcutta.

 Incidentally, while Hepburn was generally regarded as a fashion icon (she began her career as a model), she spent most of her down time lounging in jeans and sweatshirts.

Next Week: A Fistful Of Dollars