Flashback Friday- Sabrina (1954 and 1995)

Audrey Hepburn is an icon. Her movies, her perfect fashion sense, have lived on 21 years after her passing.

One of her earliest movies, Sabrina, happens to be one my favorite classic Hollywood movies and the subject of this Flashback Friday post.

Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) is the daughter of the Larabee family chauffeur. She is mousy, quiet and watching from the sidelines. She has a crush on David (William Holden), the younger Larabee  son who does not know that she exists.  After receiving an opportunity to live in Paris, Sabrina returns home, fashionable and elegant.

David quickly takes notice of her. But the problem is that David is engaged and breaking his engagement could potentially ruin a business deal with his future father in law.  David’s older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) starts to spend time with Sabrina to try to sway her attention away from his brother. But Linus will soon find that he too is falling for her.

This movie is classic Hollywood at it’s best. Despite the age different between Hepburn and Bogart, their chemistry is perfect. What I love about this movie is the Cinderella-esque journey that happens to Sabrina. Her transformation from a gawky, unsure young girl to an elegant woman who thinks that she has finally gained the attention and affection of the man who she has secretly loved is magical.

In  1995, a lackluster remake of Sabrina premiered. Taking over from Hepburn, Holden and Bogart was Julia Ormond, Greg Kinnear and Harrison Ford. While the movie tries to be what was then a modern update, there is something not quite right about.

I recommend first the 1954 original movie. And then if you like that movie, try the 1995 remake.

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Happy Birthday, Audrey Hepburn

Today is Audrey Hepburn‘s Birthday. If cancer had not taken her from us in 1993, she would have been 85 today. As a performer and a humanitarian, she will always been remembered not only for her immortal on screen performances, but for her humanitarian work.  Hepburn was a child during World War II and remembered vividly the experiences during the war. In her later years, she worked with Unicef on behalf of children who suffered the same malnutrition and hunger she she suffered.

My favorite Audrey Hepburn film is Sabrina. Co-starring William Holden (David Larabee) and Humphrey Bogart (Linus Larabee), Hepburn plays the title role. Sabrina Fairchild is the awkward, ungainly chauffeur’s daughter who has a crush on David.   She has the opportunity to live in Paris and when she returns home, is elegant and fashionable. Despite the fact that David is engaged, he still pursues her. His older brother, Linus starts to pursue Sabrina. His reasons are more related to the family business, if his brother should break the engagement, they would loose a very important business deal with David’s soon to be father in law. I won’t give the rest of the movie away if you haven’t seen it, but I recommend that you see it if you haven’t.

Hepburn is a fashion icon. In Breakfast At Tiffany’s she wore a Little Black Dress. Every woman since then has had at least one in her closet.  In an era when many of her female colleagues were curvy, Hepburn’s boyish frame stood out.

Wherever you are, Audrey, I raise my glass to you. RIP.