Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writers:

Truman Capote (novel)
George Axelrod (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 October 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Audrey Hepburn plays that daring, darling Holly Golightly to a new high in entertainment delight!

Plot:

A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Writer | Neighbor | Party | Jewelry Store

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 19

12:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Audrey Hepburn	...	Holly Golightly
George Peppard	...	Paul 'Fred' Varjak
Patricia Neal	...	2-E (Mrs. Failenson)
Buddy Ebsen	...	Doc Golightly
Martin Balsam	...	O. J. Berman
José Luis de Villalonga	...	José da Silva Pereira (as VilAllongA)
John McGiver	...	Tiffany's salesman
Alan Reed	...	Sally Tomato
Dorothy Whitney	...	Mag Wildwood
Beverly Powers	...	Nightclub Stripper (as Miss Beverly Hills)
Stanley Adams	...	Rusty Trawler
Claude Stroud	...	Sid Arbuck
Elvia Allman	...	Librarian
Mickey Rooney	...	Mr. Yunioshi
Orangey	...	Cat
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alfred Avallone	...	Spieler at Stripjoint (uncredited)
Janet Banzet	...	Woman (uncredited)
Henry Barnard	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Henry Beckman	...	Narcotics Detective Cronberger (uncredited)
Nicky Blair	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Mel Blanc	...	Holly's Drunk Visitor (voice) (uncredited)
Bill Bradley	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Florine Carlan	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Sue Casey	...	Party Guest in blue & green dress (uncredited)
Roydon Clark	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Marian Collier	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Christine Corbin	...	Sing Sing Prison Visitor (uncredited)
Dick Crockett	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Tom Curtis	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Tommy Farrell	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
James Field	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
George Fields	...	Harmonica player (uncredited)
Joe Gray	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Joseph J. Greene	...	Mr. O'Shaunessy (uncredited)
Barbara Kelley	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Kip King	...	Delivery boy (uncredited)
Frank Kreig	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Gil Lamb	...	Gil (party guest with Harriet) (uncredited)
Hanna Landy	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
James Lanphier	...	The Cousin (uncredited)
Mary LeBow	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Paul Lees	...	Floorwalker (uncredited)
Leatrice Leigh	...	Telephone Operator (uncredited)
Mel Leonard	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Mike Mahoney	...	Police Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Frank Marth	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Fay McKenzie	...	Party Guest laughing in mirror (uncredited)
Joyce Meadows	...	Party Guest shaking derrier - white dress (uncredited)
Hollis Morrison	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Kate Murtagh	...	Policewoman (uncredited)
Bill Neff	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Miriam Nelson	...	Harriet (party guest in gold dress) (uncredited)
Chuck Niles	...	Sing Sing Prison Guard (uncredited)
Peggy Patten	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Robert Patten	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
John Perri	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Michael Quinlivan	...	Party Guest with eyepatch (uncredited)
William Benegal Rau	...	Hindu at party (uncredited)
Joe Scott	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock	...	Reporter at Policed HQ (uncredited)
Annabella Soong	...	Chinese Party Guest (uncredited)
Helen Spring	...	Party Guest with hat on fire (uncredited)
Joan Staley	...	Blonde - low-cut cream dress (uncredited)
Nino Tempo	...	Customer (uncredited)
Towyna Thomas	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Glen Vernon	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Linda Wong	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Wilson Wood	...	Party guest with cat on shoulder (uncredited)
Richard Wyler	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Michael Zaslow	...	Party guest (uncredited)

Directed by
Blake Edwards

Writing credits
Truman Capote		(novel)
George Axelrod		(screenplay)

Produced by
Martin Jurow	....	producer
Richard Shepherd	....	producer

Original Music by
Henry Mancini

Cinematography by
Franz Planer		(director of photography) (as Franz F. Planer)
Philip H. Lathrop		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Howard A. Smith		(as Howard Smith)

Casting by
Marvin Paige		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Roland Anderson
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Ray Moyer

Makeup Department
Nellie Manley	....	hair styles supervisor
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William McGarry	....	assistant director

Art Department
Gene Lauritzen	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Hugo Grenzbach	....	sound recordist
John Wilkinson	....	sound recordist
Richard Gramaglia	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Jesse Wayne	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Jesse Wayne	....	stunt double: Mickey Rooney (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hubert de Givenchy	....	gowns: Miss Hepburn
Edith Head	....	costume supervisor
Pauline Trigere	....	gowns: Miss Neal

Music Department
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)
Jack Sheldon	....	musician: trumpet (uncredited)

Other crew
Frank Inn	....	trainer: Cat
Richard Mueller	....	technicolor color consultant

Production Companies

• Jurow-Shepherd

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1961) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1966) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Paramount Home Video (1979) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Seven Films (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (reissue)
• CIC-Taft Home Video (19??) (Australia) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (19??) (UK) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2006) (Canada) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Post Logic Studios  digital film mastering (uncredited)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Portuguese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Hungary:14 | Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | South Korea:12 | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:AL | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

171 East 71st Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Jurow-Shepherd

Trivia:

2-E (Patricia Neal's character) references Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), in which Mickey Rooney played the title role.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Towards the end of the movie when Holly and Paul are in the cab, you can see that the taxi driver isn't really holding the steering wheel and that it's turning itself.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sid Arbuck: [seeing Holly enter her building] Hey!
[he chases her inside]
Sid Arbuck: Hey, baby, what's going on here?
Holly Golightly: Oh, hi!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Factory Girl (2006)

Soundtrack:

Moon River

Audrey Hepburn - The "It" Girl of the 60s

I've loved "Breakfast at Tiffany's" since I was nine. Even before I completely understood about Holly's "profession", I was captivated by the grace and magic that was Audrey Hepburn.

George Peppard plays Paul Varjak, a writer who has to earn his living through a wealthy socialite, Patricia Neal, as her "kept" man. Audrey, who plays Holly Golightly, is a gold-digging call girl, who is looking for the right rich man to marry. Though you would think these two would be unflattering characters, they are both very charming and put on phony personas (especially in Holly's case) in order to survive.

You have to marvel at how a woman like Audrey could look so good in anything she wore. At the beginning of the movie when she first meets Peppard, she's only wearing a simple white shirt that she wears as a nightgown or at the party scene when she first comes out and greets her friend O.J. Berman wearing nothing but a sheet made up to look like a dress! Gorgeous!

It's a marvelous piece of acting when Holly first meets Paul in her apartment, and she's talking about how she has to get ready to meet one of her "clients" in jail, Sally Tomato, and she's talking about her profession, looking at herself in the mirror, getting dressed, asking Paul to find one of her shoes, etc., and then, voila! the famous basic black dress and hat with the wide brim. Very stylish - and in the scene she is given much to work with, the way she has to juggle the dialogue and the action of what she is doing all at once. Very natural and sophisticated at the same time.

Audrey is very believable as Holly because her character is someone who is pretending to be sophisticated, hanging around with phony people, but really comes from humble beginnings. Once in a while you will hear in her voice the "country-girl" drawl, and you will see through the facade of Holly Golightly who she really is. George Peppard is also very handsome and believable as the "starving" writer who also has to sell himself out in order to earn a living.

Many complaints have been made about Mickey Rooney and the "stereotypical" portrayal of the landlord Mr. Yunioshi. Yes, it is stereotyped, but nonetheless, I still thought it was funny. The party scene is one of the best in the movie - hilarious! Wonderful score by Henry Mancini. Of course it's a classic scene when Holly pulls up in front of Tiffany's in the New York taxi, drinking coffee and eating a danish in front of the window. New York City itself is like a vibrant, interesting character in the movie. I could go on and on.

And to top it all off, it's a very romantic love story about two people who find happiness in the crazy, mixed-up world we live in. A classic. Recommended to anyone who loves old Hollywood cinema.