STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH - Sabrina (1954)

SABRINA

(1954)
With Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, Walter Hamden, John Williams
Produced, Co-Written and Directed by Billy Wilder
Black and White
Reviewed by JB

I cahn't marry you, Bogey. Your head's twice the size of mine. Sometimes I wish I could farm these reviews out. I know a lot of people adore this movie, but I can't place myself in that category. It stars Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, and is directed by Billy Wilder, so there should be some magic in there some place. But not for me. Maybe it's just movies where two guys fall in love with one woman who really doesn't do anything to make them fall in love with her. I understand it - guys are like that. I know, because I am a guy. We can fall in love over anything. It's the way we are wired. One day we look at someone and think "yeah, she's cute" and a day later she gets a new haircut or wears a new outfit and suddenly we see her in a different light and we're in love. I just don't buy it when I see it in movies, probably because it just reminds me of how stupid we guys can be in real life.

Then again, it is easy to accept that two guys would fall in love with Audrey Hepburn. What's hard to accept is that there once was a woman so beautiful, so charming, so sophisticated, and she's no longer with us. How much the entertainment world could use more Audrey Hepburns and fewer, shall we say, Amy Winehouses or Lindsay Lohans. Watching Audrey reminds me of a time when Hollywood generated stars who were worthy of that luminous description. It also reminds me of a time when lighting men could do wonders on a film set. Highlight Bela Lugosi's eyes with a pair of pin lights, and he's the epitome of evil. Highlight Audrey Hepburn's eyes and she's the most beautiful woman God ever created. Hollywood literally was the land where dreams were made. What do they make today? Comic book movies.

Bogey and Bill Holden play the objects of Audrey Heburn's affections, but neither one of them is as impressive as they could have been. Like Hepburn, both could generate star power just by standing there and letting the camera look at them, and there is one terrific scene between Bogey and Audrey on a late night in his office, where you don't even need dialogue - you can just look at their eyes (two of the most memorable sets of eyes in movie history) and know what is going on. But Holden's turn as a young playboy won't make you forget his brilliant performances for Wilder in other films, and Bogey, who was reportedly surly and annoyed through the whole shoot, manages to put on a good show on only half his usual energy.

Anyway, It may not be a shining moment for Holden, Bogart or Billy Wilder, but it's Hepburn's picture all the way anyway, so that's worth something. - JB

ADD ANOTHER QUOTE AND AND MAKE IT A GALLON

"Democracy can be a wickedly unfair thing, Sabrina. Nobody poor was ever called democratic for marrying somebody rich "

REMAKE

Sabrina (1995 With Julia Ormond, Harrison Ford and Greg Kinner in the Hepburn/Bogey/Holden roles.)