VISUAL ARTS

Directed by Blake Edwards. With Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal
US 1961, 35mm, color, 114 min
Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s is primarily a character study of Holly Golightly, a charmingly daffy gentleman’s escort in wartime Manhattan. Paramount transformed the novella into a present-day romantic comedy that has Holly cross paths with her counterpart, a handsome blond gigolo. The wisecracking couple on the make from Hands Across the Table thus becomes an endearing pair of young people adrift. That the film has become a classic of sorts, despite a horrific “yellowface” performance by Mickey Rooney, is testament to the enduring charm of star Audrey Hepburn, the powerfully winsome melancholy of Henry Mancini’s score and Blake Edwards’ skill at creating a sustained atmosphere of bittersweet romance.