Films of the 50's Part 7: Audrey Hepburn

I admit it. I’m prone to crushes. Or, as Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn put it, in the sublime voices of Chet Baker and Frank Sinatra, I fall in love too easily. Just today, in watching the recent film When in Rome, I gained another crush, this time on comedienne / actress Kate Micucci. Sigh. And yet somehow, every crush I’ve harbored, every girl I’ve fallen for, each female I’ve shared a relationship with, has had one thing in common, an element of Audrey. I don’t know if I realized it until now. It’s only in hindsight that I’ve been able to piece together that Audrey Hepburn has been the Rosetta Stone for my love life. So, it was with great awe and reverence that my journey through the films of the 50’s found the movies of the exquisite Ms. Hepburn.

Roman Holiday (1953, William Wyler)

Is it coincidence to go from the aforementioned When in Rome to Roman Holiday? Honestly, it is coincidence. While When in Rome did film a small bit of footage in Rome, Roman Holiday was filmed completely in that magical city. Rome itself becomes a character. But, this film is truly owned by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, two giants of the silver screen. Hepburn and Peck still had to wait a few years, until the early 60’s, to portray the roles that would define them (in my opinion, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and To Kill a Mockingbird, respectively), but it was easy to see just how magnetic these two were together in Roman Holiday. Peck was already a veteran of Hollywood. Hepburn had done a few small films, but Roman Holiday was, for all intents and purposes, her big screen debut.

Hepburn plays Ann, or Anya as she reveals herself to Joe, played by Peck, the princess of a country that is never named, on tour throughout the major cities of Europe. In Rome, she has a kind of breakdown, escaping the confines of her quarters and her handlers. She meets Joe Bradley, a reporter, who finds her asleep on a bench. Though Joe soon figures out her true identity, he can’t help but fall in love with her. They spend time together having as ‘normal’ a life as this princess has ever had. And though Ann eventually returns to her life of royalty, we are left with coded messages between the two that will tug at the tautest of heartstrings.

It’s no wonder that I, along with many others, fell for Audrey. She is at once elegant, aloof, charming, silly, radiant and unbelievably beautiful. Roman Holiday introduced to the world a stunning vision and incredible talent, and it’s a damn fine movie, too. To top it off, Hepburn won the BAFTA, the Golden Globe, and the Oscar for her role as Ann. Special mention also has to be given to Eddie Albert, brilliant comic relief in this highly romantic film.

Sabrina (1954, Billy Wilder)

There’s a bit of a leap in logic viewers have to take at the beginning of Sabrina. As Hepburn, playing the title role, sits in the crook of a tree, crushing on William Holden’s David Larrabee, we are to believe that she is awkward and unattractive. It’s a bill of sale given to us by Hollywood time and again. Except this time, we didn’t even get the courtesy of the glasses and overalls, such as in She’s All That. Instead, Hepburn is unintentionally dreamy from the first second she appears on screen, a creature so enchanting that no man, no matter how rich or experienced, could possibly resist her.

Regardless, according to the story, Sabrina is sent off to culinary school in Paris, learning about the ways of cultured life. She comes back, and is somehow unrecognizable to David. But, David is engaged to a very rich heiress, and older brother Linus feels the need to intervene in a possible fledgling relationship. In the process, Linus, played by Humphrey Bogart, himself falls for Sabrina.

Though the age difference was substantial, it’s hard to deny the sparks between Bogart and Hepburn. (The same could be said without the age difference for Bogart and another Hepburn in the earlier film, The African Queen). Each part is expertly cast, with Holden playing the role of the selfish playboy exceedingly well. Billy Wilder had yet another magnificent film on his hands with Sabrina, and Audrey Hepburn further cemented her status as the thinking man’s fantasy girl.

Funny Face (1957, Stanley Donen)

I’m not normally a fan of musicals. Very few films of the genre have done much to change my mind (though I have not yet written about Singin’ in the Rain). The biggest problem I have with musicals is the idea of characters breaking into song in the midst of ordinary situations, a problem that Singin’ in the Rain handles with ease. While this movie doesn't quite avoid that trope, Stanley Donen proves once again he is a master of the genre. Funny Face is a virtual feast for the eyes and ears. Images by Richard Avedon, vivid colors, and classic tunes by George and Ira Gershwin all combine to make a film that would be remembered, even if not for the inclusion of Audrey Hepburn. But, she took it to another level.

First of all, we are again given the same unbelievable pablum that Hepburn can somehow be made to appear unattractive. But, as a literature loving bookstore clerk, Hepburn had me falling all the harder. In fact, I found her more appealing and attractive in these clothes than her eventual fashion plate makeover duds. In another similarity to Sabrina, the story pairs Hepburn with an older man, in this case Fred Astaire, thirty years her senior. Astaire plays Dick Avery, a photographer, who plucks Jo Stockton (Hepburn) from her beatnik-like lifestyle and introduces her to the sophisticated world of fashion. They, of course, fall headlong for each other.

With Astaire in tow, you know there are going to be some beguiling dance scenes, and in that realm, Funny Face does not disappoint. His “umbrella and cape” dance routine to “Let’s Kiss and Make Up” is riveting, while his duet with Kay Thompson (yes, the later author of the Eloise children’s books) is a bit silly but highly entertaining. Never have I seen, outside of Happy Days, the beatnik scene so cartoonishly portrayed. But the true centerpiece of Funny Face is the Bohemian, black bodysuit dance by Hepburn in a Paris nightclub. The scene was later put to AC/DC and put in a Gap ad, showing the power of Hepburn’s appeal. My favorite Hepburn movies were filmed in the 60’s, but I could watch her early work in the 50’s repeatedly, most likely falling in love too easily, all over again.