Sabrina (1954 film)

Not to be confused with Sabrina (1995 film).

Sabrina
Theatrical re-release poster
Directed by	Billy Wilder
Produced by	Billy Wilder
Screenplay by	Billy Wilder Ernest Lehman
Based on	Sabrina Fair  by Samuel A. Taylor
Starring	Humphrey Bogart Audrey Hepburn William Holden
Music by	Frederick Hollander
Cinematography	Charles Lang
Editing by	Arthur P. Schmidt
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	September 9, 1954 (1954-09-09) (London premiere) September 22, 1954 (1954-09-22) (NY premiere) October 15, 1954 (1954-10-15)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2,238,813
Box office	$4 million (US)

Sabrina (Sabrina Fair in the United Kingdom) is a 1954 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, adapted for the screen by Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, and Ernest Lehman from Taylor's play Sabrina Fair. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden. This was Wilder's last film released by Paramount Pictures, ending a 12-year business relationship with Wilder and the company. The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2002.

Plot

Sabrina Fairchild is the young daughter of the Larrabee family's chauffeur, Thomas, and has been in love with David Larrabee all her life. David is an oft-married, idle playboy, crazy for women, who has never noticed Sabrina, much to her and the staff's dismay. Sabrina then attends culinary school in Paris and returns as an attractive and sophisticated woman.

David, after initially not recognizing her, is quickly drawn to her. David's workaholic older brother, Linus, sees this and fears that David's imminent wedding with a very wealthy woman, Elizabeth Tyson, may be endangered. If the wedding were to be canceled, so would a great corporate deal with the bride's family. So Linus tries to redirect Sabrina's affections, and in the process falls in love with her.

At the end Sabrina sets off for Paris on a ship, after Linus has told her to leave and never come back. The next day Linus has second thoughts and decides to call off his brother's wedding with Elizabeth and send David off on the ship to Paris with Sabrina. He calls a board meeting to announce his decision, but when it turns out that David has not boarded the ship, but instead intends to go through with the marriage, Linus realizes that he is in love with Sabrina. He manages to get on the ship, and the couple sails away together for Paris.

Cast

• Humphrey Bogart as Linus Larrabee
• Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina Fairchild
• William Holden as David Larrabee
• John Williams as Thomas Fairchild, Sabrina's father
• Walter Hampden as Oliver Larrabee, Linus and David's father
• Nella Walker as Maude Larrabee, Linus and David's mother
• Martha Hyer as Elizabeth Tyson, David's fiancée
• Marcel Dalio as Baron St. Fontanel
• Marcel Hillaire as The Professor
• Ellen Corby as Miss McCardle, Linus' secretary
• Francis X. Bushman as Mr. Tyson, Elizabeth's father
• Joan Vohs as Gretchen Van Horn
• Nancy Kulp (uncredited) as one of the house servants

Production

Cary Grant initially was considered for the role of Linus, but declined, and the role was taken by Bogart.

During production of the film Hepburn and Holden entered into a brief, but passionate and much-publicized love affair. Bogart, meanwhile, complained that Hepburn required too many takes to get her dialogue right and pointed out her inexperience. His behavior towards Hepburn, however, was better than his behavior towards other members of the cast and crew.^{[citation needed]}

Bogart was very unhappy during the filming, convinced that he was totally wrong for this kind of film, mad at not being Wilder's first choice, and not liking Holden or Wilder. But Wilder's offbeat casting produced one of his best, and most celebrated, performances. Bogart later apologized to Wilder for his behavior on-set, citing problems in his personal life.^{[citation needed]}

Although Edith Head won an Oscar for Best Costumes, most of Hepburn's outfits are rumored to have been created by Hubert de Givenchy and chosen personally by the star. Head, as the film's official costume designer, was given credit for the costumes, although the Academy's votes were obviously for Hepburn's attire. Edith Head did not refuse the Oscar. In a 1974 interview, Head stated that she was responsible for creating the dresses, with inspiration from some Givenchy designs that Hepburn liked, but that she made important changes, and the dresses were not by Givenchy. After Head's death, Givenchy stated that Sabrina's iconic black cocktail dress was produced at Paramount under Head's supervision, but claimed it was his design.

The film began a lifelong association between Givenchy and Hepburn (it has been reported that when Hepburn called on Givenchy for the first time in Paris, he assumed that it was Katharine Hepburn in his salon.)

La vie en rose

Hepburn sings "La vie en rose" (French for "Life in Pink" - a reference to seeing the world through rose-colored glasses), the signature song of French singer Édith Piaf—which had been highly popular in the English-speaking world as well as in France, since Piaf came out with it in 1946. The occasion for Hepburn to sing it is at the episode of Sabrina's return from Paris, when she is far more assertive than before setting out, and her life does turn rosier.

Awards

Wins

• Academy Award for Best Costume Design - Edith Head

Nominations

• Academy Award for Best Director - Billy Wilder
• Academy Award for Best Actress - Audrey Hepburn
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Black-and-White) - (Art Direction) Hal Pereira and Walter Tyler; (Set Decoration) Sam Comer and Ray Moyer
• Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Charles Lang, Jr.
• Best Story and Screenplay - Billy Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor and Ernest Lehman

Remakes

In 1995, a remake of Sabrina was produced, starring Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, and Greg Kinnear in the roles originally played by Bogart, Hepburn, and Holden respectively.

It also served as the inspiration for the 1994 Hindi film Yeh Dillagi, starring Akshay Kumar, Kajol and Saif Ali Khan. While there are changes to the plot, it was a considerable success at the box office. It also boosted the careers of Akshay Kumar and Kajol, both of whom got best actor nominations at the Filmfare Awards for their performances.

References

Further reading

• Shaw, Mark; Juliet Cuming, David Taylor (2009-04-14). Charmed by Audrey: Life on the Set of Sabrina. San Rafael, CA: Insight Editions. ISBN 978-1-933784-87-8.  (Candid photographs of Audrey, on and off the set, taken by Mark Shaw for LIFE magazine during production of the film.)
• Shaw, Mark (photographer) (1953-12-07). "Audrey Hepburn, Many-sided Charmer". LIFE (Time, Inc.) 35 (23): 127–135.  (LIFE article on Audrey including some of the photos from the Sabrina set.)

External links

• Sabrina at the Internet Movie Database
• Sabrina at AllRovi
• Sabrina at Metacritic
• Reel Classics page includes a Sabrina poster and Hepburn's photo from the film