Customer Reviews

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and The Dawn of the Modern Woman (P.S.)

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1 star:		(8)

 

 

Sam Wasson's just-released and delightful book on the making of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is so chock-full of great anecdotes that you're sorry when it's over. For awhile, you are there - a privileged insider-witness to a marvelous bygone moment in moviemaking history - and it's with a feeling of bittersweet regret that you step from its closing pages back into a realm of noisy 3D sequels and superfluous comic book franchises. Everything you'd want to know and more is delivered in the book, from the reader's coverage producer Marty Jurow was first handed, re: adapting Capote's book for the screen ("In any event this is more of a character sketch than a story. NOT RECOMMENDED") to the guest list for the post-premiere party (including such unlikely elbow-rubbers as Dennis Hopper, Buster Keaton, Charles Laughton, and Jane Mansfield).

A delicious through-line in the book is how close the movie came to not coming out so well as it did, with such jaw-droppers as everyone's resistance to having Henry Mancini write a song for the thing (eventual collaborator Johnny Mercer's original lyric, we learn, one of three eventually presented to Mancini, was called "Blue River"). An intimate exploration of the myriad personalities in conflict and collusion when a casual classic is being created, the book is cannily adept at detailing the logic of the so many minute decisions that lead to what we now accept as inevitable. Of course Audrey Hepburn played Holly Golightly, you think, until you hear how hard Capote lobbied for Marilyn Monroe.

Wasson is a formidable researcher. He doesn't so much know where the bodies are buried as he knows where the hearts and minds are hidden. The book is written like a good novel, taking you inside the consciousness of its characters with an impressive, insight-laden believability ("Fifth Avenue"'s only recent movie-book rival in this regard is Mark Harris' fascinating "Pictures at a Revolution"). And Wasson's notes on how he arrived at, and can justify, his leaps of imagination and empathy are almost as interesting as the text itself.

Of course the book has its thesis and theories as well, positing "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and Hepburn's stylish, fresh, era-defining performance as a watershed moment in cultural history. If you're a fan of Audrey Hepburn, the book is a must-have, because Wasson's astute take on what she was about, what she was up against, and how she delivered the goods strikes me as definitive. Her spritely, near-angelic spirit comes alive in the pages of this eminently devour-able book, which is kind of an awesome dividend.

When Paramount was gearing up to release "Breakfast at Tiffany's," a film that would go on to usher in an entirely new and more authentic depiction of women on screen (even if it had still had a long way to go), they had to be careful. Audrey Hepburn, the darling of such films as "Roman Holiday" (which won her an Oscar) and "Sabrina," was very conscious of her public image. Unlike other stars who carefully constructed their images, Audrey was essentially the kind woman she was perceived by the public to be. Hepburn, who could sometimes be found knitting on set, didn't want that reputation tarnished. So, unsurprisingly, Hepburn nearly turned the role of the free spirited good time girl Holly Golightly, the film she is most remembered for today.

And therein lies the crux of Sam Wasson's masterful book on the making Breakfast at "Tiffany's" and its cultural significance. At this time in film history it wasn't okay to play this type of character. On screen good girls were good and bad girls were bad. There was no gray area. But "Tiffany's" would change all that, and show the world that not only did this gray area indeed exist, but it was a hell of a lot of fun to be single and sexually liberated woman--even if you were just playing one.

Golightly, as it turns out, was an amalgam of so many of the society ladies that Truman Capote (the author of the original novella on which the film is based on) knew and socialized with, but it was Babe Paley and Capote's own mother, Nina, who most pervaded the character of Holly.

This slim volume (coming in at just over 200 pages) is also a history of Hollywood during the mid 1950s and through the filming of "Tiffany's." Not having read Capote's original novel, I was unaware that the Paul Varjak character in the film was actually Holly's gay friend in the novel. The social mores of the day dictated that the character be turned into a love interest.

I think Sam Wasson's book is clever and unique and witty in its telling of the story behind the story of how "Breakfast at Tiffany's" paved the way for a new brand of filmmaking and depiction of women on screen. Often irreverent, always engaging, Wasson's book does not disappoint.

After all the critical praise I've read, I have to admit, I had high expectations for Fifth Avenue, 5 AM, but this gem of a book actually managed to exceed them. (When does that ever happen?)

I think that's due, in part, to the way Wasson deftly weaves together the full story of the making of the movie, a social history of the era, Audrey, Capote, Edith Head, Paramount, et al. The end result is a sparkling tapestry of considerable heft -- substance and FUN. Peter Bogdanovich (famed director of Paper Moon & The Last Picture Show) asserted "it reads like a compulsively page-turning novel" and I couldn't agree more. I devoured it. But I also picked up quite a bit of new info along the way--about Audrey, about the film, the era, fashion, and the genesis of the now prevalent `single girl' phenomenon. Wasson's prose is delightful--rich and alive. This book belongs at your bedside table, in your beach bag and maybe even selected as next month's read for your book club.

Really, I thought it was fantastic.

"Breakfast at Tiffanys" was one of many 60s-era movies that added to my own zeal to move to New York immediately after art school, and begin living the Big City Life. Inspired by the details of movies like "Tiffany", "Sweet Smell of Success", "The Apartment", etc I could not wait to be part of the population, hailing Checker cabs, sitting on my fire escape reading the voluminous Sunday Times, taking in Broadway shows, and going to coffee houses in The Village. All of this was possible in 1967, even on an Art Trainee's salary; and one could easily find "a roomate, a job, and an apartment" in a day. At least, that is what I remember.

I would like to propose that the real star of "Tiffanys" is.....alas, Manhattan. Thanks to Wasson's book, I note that actual film work in the City was limited -- and then the whole party shifted to the back lots of Hollywood (WHY had I not expected that, all along?).....but, the viewer is left feeling that Holly and her band of kooks has given them a sneak preview of the most marvelous place in the world. And we all wanted to come, asap. At least, I did, and have never regretted the decision, even 43 years later.

So, although I am a fan of Audrey's, and Blake's, and Truman's, I came away from this fun book, realizing that New York City was the social game-changer -- not "Breakfast at Tiffanys". Afterall, the City gave us "newcomers right off the bus" a place to shape-shift, reinvent, become our most creative selves, play-act and try on different roles (graphic artist? fashion illustrator?

window dresser?) -- while providing the perfect "movie set" backdrop of teeming Times Square, towering sky scrapers, ethnic neighborhoods, brownstones/townhouses/studios, and the most fascinating population EVER.

Wasson has given us a juicy summer read, and I would describe it as an expanded-version of one of those ultra-juicy articles-with-photos in Vanity Fair magazine. But, to double your pleasure, I highly recommend ordering a used copy of Gene Moore's "My Time at Tiffanys" to read, immediately after "Fifth Avenue, 5 am". Moore gives a marvelous, engaging behind-the-velvet-curtain tour of

Tiffanys and the backstory of their culture-defining Windows.....plus he throws in a lot of New York City legend and lore (happily covering the timeframe when I first arrived, complete with water shortages and labor strikes). Not a fictional character like Holly, Moore was a real creative innovator, leaving his mark, while living an alternative lifestyle; and his talents enriched New York City and added to its status as the most stylish metropolis ever.

I have to confess I have always loved Audrey Hepburn, but have never been quite sure what my favorite Audrey Hepburn movie should be. They all showcase that certain gamine ethereal quality which defined her during the great heyday of her career in the 1950s-the early 1960s. Sam Wasson's book, Fifth Avenue 5 A.M makes the case that everyone's favorite movie should be "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

When Stanley Kubrick made his film version of "Lolita," the ad campaign focused on how impossible it was under the prevailing motion picture code (illustrating what a dead letter that institution was that audiences would conspire to undermine it). The original work that the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was based upon posed just as many problems. It was the story of a prostitute (Holly Golightly) and her gay friend who talked and acted like Truman Capote. Capote even insisted that he was the only person capable of playing the male lead in any film version of his work. Holly Golightly could only be played by one person, Audrey Hepburn's polar opposite, Marilyn Monroe. One wonders what sort of movie would have been made had that bit of casting been attempted,. Marilyn discretely turning tricks while Capote dished the dirt with the upstairs neighbor, a Japanese photographer.

Movie making is collaborative venture and this book demonstrates that premise perfectly. Capote created the character of Holly Golightly based in part on his own wild playgirl of a mother. While she was not above depositing Truman with relatives in Alabama (where he met Harper Lee, but this is another story entirely) while she ran around Manhattan in the thrities, she probably was not the high class call girl that Holly was in the book. In fact any number of women including Gloria Vanderbilt, Carol Marcus (later to marry Walter Matthau) and Babe Paley contributed features to the development of Holly Golightly. Sometimes writing involves collaboration from a variety of sources.

Once the film rights were sold, several other individuals step into the story, each with their own agendas, but all seeking some sort of redemption. First there was Audrey Hepburn herself who had originally refused the part by saying, "I just can't play a hooker." There was the writer, George Axelrod, the writer, who sought to break away from doing movies with well endowed heroines (Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe) who seduce ordinary joes, a genre termed boobs and boobs films. Then there was the director, Blake Edwards, who despite a successful career as the director behind the successful Peter Gunn TV series wanted to movie into a higher tier of professional respect. Sam Wasson demonstrates how all of these three individuals achieved greater professional success than they might of expected from the outset.

Really the only thing that was left from the original novel was its title and the name of the heroine. Functioning more as a character study, there was little in the way of plot and dramatic tension. George Axelrod, turned the traditional formula for a late fifties sex comedy (which never involved sex unless both partners were married) on its head by making both his hero (no heterosexual) and heroine fully sexual beings who were presumably being kept by others and who needed to break free of the need for financial security to find love and commitment with each other. As for Holly herself, what she did for the $50.00 for the powder room was kept somewhat hush hush, Hepburn had recently been nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of a nun in the Belgian Congo for crying out loud. Holly had been changed from a call girl to a happy go lucky kook in the best traditions of Hollywood.

In most creative endeavors there is usually one person who annoys all others with his oversized ego. Oddly enough with so many talented people involved, that person for this movie was George Peppard. Of all of the participants that were interviewed for the book, absolutely no one had anything good to say about him. An inflated sense of one's own self worth though commonplace in Hollywood and even Washington is not an odd thing, but completely unsuspected if one has the scintilla of talent at the command of George Peppard. The tales of his antics make me long to read an account of one of my favorite trash classics, "The Carpetbaggers," which really is more his style anyway.

It is no surprise to realize that the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was a success. Audrey Hepburn achieved new successes and a greater sense of her abilities as an actress. George Axelrod went on to become one of the producers of "The Manchurian Candidate" (another great movie from this period, would love to read a book on the making of that movie) and Blake Edwards acquired the kind of fame and respect that led to the establishment of the wildly funny Pink Panther series of movies.

Truman Capote was predictably bitter. It was one thing to buy the film rights to his book and then trash most of the plot, but it was another thing to succeed wildly in doing so. Had "Breakfast at Tiffany's" failed (which it probably would have had it starred Marilyn Monroe and Truman in the leads), there would have been some consolation. This particular movie became the source of many extended rants from Capote in the later years who was appalled that his character, Holly Golightly, who was a high class call girl in his original novel had been turned into a lady by Hollywood.

Sam Wasson's work on the making of this classic of Hollywood alchemy is really an fun read as well as being a bit of a guilty pleasure. From the beginning of the story to the end, he weaves a tale of ego, genius and professional redemption in an entertaining and at times moving way. Well worth the read.

I read rave reviews on this book in several magazines so I bought it. Though I think Breakfast at Tiffany's was a great movie, and adore Audrey Hepburn (who doesn't?), I wouldn't call myself a rabid fan of either. Hence my perspective is not one of a die-hard fan.

For the good points, the author seems to be in the know about the inner workings of Hollywood and the making of movies. There are some interesting stories and factoids in the book, and the story really did explain some of the basis for Audrey Hepburn's star appeal. The author also made a fairly compelling case for the role of Hepburn and the movie in changing the portrayal of women in movies--and this perhaps was the strongest part of the book.

However, many of the tantalizing tidbits advertised were sort of exaggerated by the book's description. For example, some of the press about the book included remarks like "can you imagine Breakfast at Tiffany's without 'Moon River'? This leads the reader to think that there will be an in-depth story about controversy related to the song, but there really wasn't. There were about two pages at most about a non-event related to the song.

Another annoyance with the book was the way it was structured. It is almost written as a series of very short articles with chapter headings that look like scene headings from scripts. Some might find this technique charming but it seemed to be a convenient way to avoid making transitions in the story and sort of disrupted the flow. I found it distracting.

I give this book a definite recommend for Hepburn and Tiffany's diehards, and a lukewarm recommend for the average reader.

This book is as fun and elegant as a perfect little black dress, but unlike my little black dress, I just wish it had been longer! When I finished it, I ordered 10 more to give as gifts as I'm sure just about all of my friends will love it too. Just like Audrey Hepburn and Tiffany's, I think this book will become a classic that is always in style.

This book is an entertaining look at the making of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" that has you feeling like you're on the scene. However, there are a couple of minor problems, which is why I gave it four stars instead of five. First, the photographs included are, in my opinion, poor choices. In particular, the photo of Patricia Neal shows barely half of a side view of her; she's almost not in the photo at all. Second, it would have been very helpful to have an appendix that told what happened to the people since making this film. In any event, if this is one of your favoite movies, you should enjoy this book immensely.

This is an very well-written work of film history...luckily for us readers, many of the personalities involved in the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's are still alive, so Wasson had the opportunity to conduct first person interviews as well as relying on historical accounts.

It really shows how times have changed....! If you are interested in film history, Audrey Hepburn or 20th century women's history, costume design, Givenchy...oh you get my drift, many people will enjoy this delightful book!

Bravo to Sam Wasson!

I was smitten from the start by the concept of this book from Sam Wasson. To prep for reading it, I first sought out and consumed Truman Capote's original novel (Breakfast at Tiffany's: And Three Stories). Next, I watched the 1961 film adaptation by the great Blake Edwards. Then, on to Wasson's book to draw the lines between the two pieces of art!

I was not disappointed. Who better to write the tale of "Tiffany's" road to the screen than Sam Wasson, writer of A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Edwards (Wesleyan Film)? Wasson answers the big questions: How did Capote's vaguely gay, nameless narrator become Paul Varjak, Holly's wannabe paramour? (hello, review board and censors) Why the dramatically different ending? (hello, Hollywood) How could someone possibly think that Mickey Rooney was right to play Mr. Yunioshi? (hello, Blake Edwards) What did Capote think of the adaptation? (hated it...then again: hated everything and everybody and - by the end of his life - the feeling was mutual).

Audrey Hepburn fans should be warned: this isn't a book strictly about her; she's one piece of the puzzle albeit a big one. Edwards man Wasson makes sure the director gets his just dues here, but the author also splurges some really good ink on talented screenwriter George Alexrod, producer Richard Shepard, co-star George Peppard (who gets a thorough shellacking for his prickly presence), designer Edith Head, couture provider Hubert de Givenchy (to whom Hepburn played muse for most of her life), Mel Ferrer (aka, Mr. Audrey Hepburn; see above re. shellacking), composer Henry Mancini, lyricist Johnny Mercer and many others.

That Good Girl Audrey could play [obliquely] bad girl Holly and still win the hearts and mind of viewers represented a sea change from the chaste Doris Day-like product that filled the 50s. Here at the cusp of the 60s we have a protagonist with a sketchy personal life, wearing the anti-hero's black no less, that we're pulling for to win. Wasson compelling puts forward a theme and premise that this is the movie that changed film and the depiction of the American Woman like no other.