Sunday, March 14, 2010

Bel: We're after the same rainbow's end



Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)



Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) lives in a brownstone on Manhattan's swank East Side. Totally madcap, she has a partially furnished apartment, owns a cat with no name, gets rid of the "mean reds" by visiting Tiffany's, and is forever misplacing her door key, much to the dismay of her upstairs neighbour. One day Paul Varjak (George Peppard), a young writer who is supported by an older woman nicknamed "2E," comes into Holly's life. After a day on the town together, Paul realizes that he is in love with Holly and proposes to her; but she is determined to marry José, a South American millionaire.


Early on a fall morning, a lone taxicab deposits Holly Golightly at Tiffany's jewellery store on 5th Avenue in New York City. Holly eats a pastry and drinks coffee while admiring the window displays, then strolls away home.

Editor's Comments: Although not visible on camera, hundreds of onlookers watched Audrey 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. 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. The famous black dress worn by Audrey 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.

Tiffany & Co Store, 727 5th Avenue, Manhattan.

Tiffany & Co

Tiffany's flagship store (since 1940) is located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City. The former Tiffany and Company Building on 38th Street is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The polished granite exterior is well known for its tiny window displays. The store has been the location for a number of films including Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sweet Home Alabama and Sleepless In Seattle.

Official Website: www.tiffany.com

At her brownstone apartment building, Holly successfully fends off her date from the night before, who has been waiting in his car outside her residence all night and is angry that she disappeared during the course of their evening together.

Holly then meets Paul Varjak, a new tenant. Outside the brownstone, Mrs. Failenson arrives and is introduced as Paul's decorator.

Holly Golightly Apartment, 167 East 71st Street and Lexington Avenue, Manhattan.

Editor's Comments: There are several sources that report the location for Holly Golightly apartment incorrectly. Some say it is number 171, others say it is 169. In fact, the correct number is 167 clearly seen in the screen shot.

Editor's Comments: John Frankenheimer was hired to shoot the film with Marilyn Monroe. When the producers suddenly moved to Switzerland and Audrey Hepburn replaced Monroe, she said she had never heard of Frankenheimer and insisted that he be paid off and another director be hired. Most of the exteriors were filmed in New York City, except the fire escape scenes and the alley scene at the end in the rain where Holly puts Cat out of the cab and then Paul and Holly look for Cat. All of the interiors, except for portions of the scene inside Tiffany & Company, were filmed on the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood.

East 71st Street and Lexington Avenue, Manhattan.

Conservatory Water, Central Park (from 72nd to 75th Street) Manhattan.

Bandshell, Central Park (from 66th to 72nd Street) Manhattan.

New York Public Library, 5th Avenue (between 40th and 42nd Street) Manhattan.

New York Public Library

The New York Public Library (NYPL) is one of the leading public libraries of the world and is one of the United States's most significant research libraries. It is composed of a very large circulating public library system combined with a very large non-lending research library system. It is simultaneously one of the largest public library systems in the United States and one of the largest research library systems in the world. It is a privately managed, nonprofit corporation with a public mission, operating with both private and public financing.

The NYPL has frequently appeared in feature films. It serves as the backdrop for a central plot development in the 2002 film Spider-Man and a major location in the 2004 apocalyptic science fiction film The Day After Tomorrow. In the 1978 film, The Wiz, Dorothy and Toto stumble across the Library and one of the Library Lions comes alive and joins them on their journey out of Oz. It is also featured prominently in the 1984 film Ghostbusters with three of the titular protagonists encounter the ghost of a librarian named Eleanor Twitty, who becomes violent when approached. Her origins and the Library's prominent standing are explored in the video game sequel, Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Other films in which the library appears include 42nd Street (1933), Portrait of Jennie (1948), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), You're a Big Boy Now (1966), Chapter Two (1979), Escape from New York (1981), Regarding Henry (1991), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), The Time Machine (2002), and Sex and the City (2008).

Park Avenue and East 52nd Street, Manhattan.


No comments:

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

My Playlist


MusicPlaylist