Mansion where Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's sells for record $12million | Daily Mail Online Mansion where Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's sells for record $12million comments The house in New York where Truman Capote wrote some of his most famous works has been sold for around $12million. It is the most expensive house ever sold in Brooklyn - but the price is nonetheless disappointing for the realtors, who were hoping it would fetch closer to $18million. The appeal of the 11-bedroom mansion is strengthened by its status as the place where Capote hammered out his novella Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958. Celebrity status: This house in Brooklyn Heights has been brought by the Rockstar Games co-founder for $12.5million Colourful: The golden-yellow house has an extensive back garden, a rarity for New York That work became world-famous when it was adapted into a film starring Audrey Hepburn as the mysterious Holly Golightly. RELATED ARTICLES Share However, the house's attractions are not limited to its celebrity past.

It has been described as the best house in Brooklyn's best neighbourhood, Brooklyn Heights, and the agent handling the sale described it as 'like living in a country estate in the middle of New York City'. Pricey: The house is believed to be the most expensive ever sold in Brooklyn Celebrity: Author Truman Capote lived in part of the house for a decade, from 1955 to 1965 Inspiration: While living in the house Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's, later adapted into a film featuring Audrey Hepburn's iconic performance as the mysterious Holly Golightly As well as the huge number of bedrooms, the house - built in 1839 - has 11 fireplaces, parking for four cars and an extensive garden, and is decorated with crystal chandeliers. If it were located in a trendy Manhattan neighbourhood, it would be worth tens of millions of dollars. But after being listed by Sotheby's at $18million in May 2010, the luxurious home took nearly two years to be sold, and lost a third of its estimated value during that time. Now it has finally changed hands after being picked up for a relative bargain by an unidentified buyer.

Luxurious: This is just one of the 11 fireplaces installed in the house's 11 bedrooms Kitchen: Another impressive feature of the Brooklyn Heights house, which was built in 1839 Capote rented an apartment in the house from 1955 to 1965, after persuaded its owner, Broadway set designer Oliver Smith, to let him move in. The author held decadent parties there when Smith was out of town. 'You can imagine Capote running around with his slippers on,' Brooklynite screenwriter Peter Hedges told the Daily News. Bargain: The house was eventually sold to Dan Houser for just two thirds of the $18million asking price Haven: The garden will give Houser a refuge from the hustle and bustle of New York City Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends.

Error From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON TV ON DISC ALL A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building. Director: Truman Capote (based on the novel by), George Axelrod (screenplay) Stars: a list of 25 titles created 02 Jun 2013 a list of 40 titles created 25 Jul 2013 a list of 27 titles created 06 Oct 2013 a list of 42 titles created 30 Oct 2013 a list of 28 titles created 11 months ago Title: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) 7.7/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 12 nominations. See more awards » Videos A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.

Director: William Wyler A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her. Director: Billy Wilder An impromptu fashion shoot at a book store brings about a new fashion model discovery in the shop clerk. Director: Stanley Donen Romance and suspense ensue in Paris as a woman is pursued by several men who want a fortune her murdered husband had stolen. Who can she trust? Director: Stanley Donen Romantic comedy about a woman who must steal a statue from a Paris museum to help conceal her father's art forgeries, and the man who helps her. Director: William Wyler A couple in the south of France non-sequentially spin down the highways of infidelity in their troubled ten-year marriage. Director: Stanley Donen When two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in. Director: Billy Wilder The sprightly young assistant of a Hollywood screenwriter helps him over his writer's block by acting out his fantasies of possible plots. Director: Richard Quine A troublemaking student at a girls' school accuses two teachers of being lesbians.

Director: William Wyler Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought. Director: John Hughes In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications. Director: Michael Curtiz After leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II. Director: Fred Zinnemann Edit Storyline Holly Golightly is a flighty Manhattan party girl, who expects "money for the powder room as well as for cab fare" for her companionship. She has even gotten a lucrative once weekly job to visit notorious convict Sally Tomato in Sing Sing, she needing to report back to Sally's lawyer the weather report that Sally tells her as proof of her visits with him in return for payment. Her aspirations for glamor and wealth are epitomized by the comfort she feels at Tiffany's, the famous high end jewelry retailer where she believes nothing can ever go wrong. Her resolve for this wealth is strengthened, if not changed slightly in focus, upon news from home.

Into Holly's walk-up apartment building and thus her life is Paul Varjak, a writer who Holly states reminds her of her brother Fred, who she has not seen in years and who is currently enlisted in the army. The two quickly become friends in their want for something outside of their current lot. Paul's situation is closer to Holly's than he ... Written by Huggo See All (111) » Taglines: Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly. . .the most hilarious heroine who ever rumpled the pages of a best-seller. . .is serving wild oats and wonderful fun! See more » Genres: 5 October 1961 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Frühstück bei Tiffany See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia In the famous "it should take you exactly 4 seconds to cross from here to that door. I give you two" scene, it takes Paul exactly 4 seconds from when he starts walking to when he reaches the door. See more » Goofs Early in the movie, Paul cites a review from The New York Times Book Review of his book; he gives the date October 1, 1956.

The Times Book Review is a Sunday supplement and is dated for Sundays; October 1, 1956, was a Monday. See more » Quotes Sid Arbuck : [seeing Holly enter her building] Hey! [he chases her inside] Great Art or Guilty Pleasure? 6 February 2006 | by smc71 (United States) – See all my reviews I am never sure which Breakfast at Tiffany's is. I can certainly think of movies which more accurately portray the human condition, but of few that are more fun. Neither Holly nor Paul seem to represent real people. Their attraction, which is the focal point of the movie, is a character unto itself. Paul sees Holly as scared, vulnerable, and in need of rescue and enjoys his role as potential knight in shining armor to her damsel in distress. She is drawn to him because he sees beyond her facade of fabulousness to the scared little girl she is inside and which she tries (not that hard really at all) to hide. Adding to her attraction to him is the fact that he stands up to her when she treats him shoddily. This probably does not happen to her too often, and it intrigues her.

These are mostly the tricks a romance novelist uses to keep readers baited and rooting for a fictional, possibly doomed romance to work and do not reflect the real nature of love. There is, however, enough chemistry, genuine affection, and respect between the two characters to keep the story from seeming utterly implausible. Of course, a movie doesn't have to be realistic to realistically portray what is right and what is wrong with the world we live in. Breakfast at Tiffany's doesn't do a whole lot of that either, though. After watching I can never pinpoint one solid message from it. What it does have a lot of, as many others have pointed out, is stylish, witty, good fun. This is almost always the movie I choose on the rare occasions when my husband is working late, my son is asleep, I have energy to spare and good bottle of wine just begging to be uncorked. Believable or not, it is well-told and compelling, and remains one of the better movies a gal can lose herself in. 51 of 71 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something Songfacts Songfacts Lead singer Todd Pipes was inspired to write this song after seeing Audrey Hepburn in the film Roman Holiday, but he thought "Breakfast at Tiffany's" would be a better title. Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 movie based on a book by Truman Capote. It starred Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a high-priced escort looking for a rich man to marry. The movie made the song " Moon River " famous. The song is a humorous and optimistic look at a failing relationship. One partner focuses on how different the two people are and how they aren't going to last as a couple: You say that we've got nothing in common No common ground to start from And we're falling apart The other partner, however, focuses on one small detail they have in common which is that they both like the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's.

The speaker clings to this one detail and repeats it five times as the chorus in the song: And I said, "What about Breakfast at Tiffany's" She said, "I think I remember the film" and as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it And I said, "Well, that's one thing we got" >> Suggestion credit: Margot - Madison, NJ Deep Blue Something was formed by four college students from the University of North Texas. This was their only hit, and they did not release another album until Byzantium in 1998. Todd Pipes recalled to Q magazine November 2008 that promoting this song got to be pretty tiresome. He explained: "As the song had Breakfast in the title, radio stations thought it would be genius to have us on at breakfast time. We'd be up till 3 a.m. and they'd wonder why we were pissed off playing at 6am." Truman Capote (1924 - 1984) was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays and non-fiction are recognized literary classics. He was born in Louisiana and his early works, including The Glass Harp, are about the South.

He then moved to New York, where he wrote scripts for plays and films plus further novels including his 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's. In the early 1960s, Capote's career flagged until In Cold Blood (1965), his journalistic work about the murder of a Kansas farm family in their home, made Capote a celebrity. Capote was 5 feet 3 inches tall and openly homosexual. His distinctive, high-pitched voice and odd vocal mannerisms were bought to life in Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar-winning portrayal of him in the 2005 movie, Capote. Apart from this song, Capote has several other connections to rock music. They include: 1) In 1972 Capote was commissioned by Rolling Stone to cover the Rolling Stones' tour of North America. And though he set out on the tour and began taking copious notes, he quickly fell out with Mick Jagger and refused to write the article. "Mick Jagger is about as sexy as a pissing toad," he later cattily averred.

2) Capote posthumously appeared on the sleeve of The Smiths' 1985 single, The Boy with the Thorn in His Side . English fashion and portrait photographer Cecil Beaton took the picture in 1949. 3) Capote was name-checked along with a number of other famous people in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1991 track, " Mellowship Slinky In B Major ." 25 Things You May Not Know About 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' | Moviefone 25 Things You May Not Know About 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' by Gary Susman Everyone thinks they know 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' the classic, urbane romantic comedy released 50 years ago today, on October 5, 1961. The film that cemented Audrey Hepburn's reputation as an all-time fashion icon, set the bar for every New York fantasy/romantic comedy from 'Barefoot in the Park' to 'Sex and the City,' and gave birth to a thousand Manic Pixie Dream Girls (or at least 25 others).

Yet there's a lot you may not know about the movie -- who the real-life Holly Golightly was, how radically different the film might have been if 'Breakfast' author Truman Capote had gotten his way, why the Oscar-winning song 'Moon River' almost got cut from the film, which classic outfits Hepburn herself came up with, how many cartons of cigarettes the tobacco-loving characters smoked on-screen, and what Mickey Rooney has to say about his still-controversial performance. 1. Who was the real-life Holly Golightly? So many women have been named as possible inspirations to Truman Capote -- including Gloria Vanderbilt, Oona Chaplin, writer/actress Carol Grace (who became Walter Matthau's wife), writer Maeve Brennan and model Suzy Parker -- that Capote called the whole speculation "the Holly Golightly sweepstakes." He claimed there was a real Holly, a woman who lived downstairs from him when he was a writer who'd just moved to New York in the early 1940s (like the autobiographical narrator of Capote's tale), though he never identified her by name. A New Yorker named Bonnie Golightly filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against Capote claiming he'd based the character on her. 2.

As George Costanza learned during a memorable 'Seinfeld' episode where he watched the film instead of reading the book for his book club, there are a lot of major differences between Capote's 1958 novella and George Axelrod's screenplay to the 1961 movie. There's the setting (the 1940s, not the contemporary 1960s), the nameless narrator (called Paul in the film), Holly's age (she's still in her late teens in the story but played by 31-year-old Hepburn on-screen), Holly's fondness for marijuana (gone in the film). Holly's bisexuality (ditto), and the wistful, ambiguous ending (replaced in the film by a conventional romantic happy ending). Most of all, there's the sense many readers get that Holly is a professional escort, for taking money from wealthy men whom she sometimes sleeps with. In interviews , Capote described Holly not as a prostitute or golddigger but called her an American geisha girl. The film downplayed any suggestion of prostitution, with Paramount publicists issuing statements like , "The star is Audrey Hepburn, not Tawdry Hepburn." 3.

Capote envisioned his friend Marilyn Monroe in the part, but her acting coach, Paula Strasberg, talked her out of it, saying the role's call-girl-like nature was bad for her image. Others supposedly in line for the role included Jane Fonda, Shirley MacLaine and Kim Novak. Capote was a friend of Hepburn's but thought she was miscast. So did Hepburn herself, until director Blake Edwards persuaded her she could do it. 4. Blake Edwards pleaded on his knees with the producers not to hire George Peppard as the male lead. (Steve McQueen was considered but was unavailable.) Indeed, Peppard tried to play the role as a traditional matinee idol, not a vulnerable, flawed, naive young man. So said co-star Patricia Neal , who played Paul's sugar mama (known in the film as "2-E"). She and Peppard had been friends before the filming, but she wrote in her memoir that she was put off by his apparent desire "to be an old-time movie hunk." (Later, of course, Peppard would age into that more standard, macho kind of leading man, most memorably as the leader of TV's 'The A-Team.') 5.

How did Edwards manage to shoot the memorable opening scene, in which a taxi rolls down an empty 5th Avenue at dawn, Holly gets out in front of Tiffany's and she nibbles on a Danish while gazing longingly through the jeweler's window? There are two conflicting accounts. One said the scene was hampered by challenges -- a gaggle of gawkers longing for a glimpse of Hepburn, the star's dislike of Danishes, and an accident that nearly electrocuted a crew member. Yet Edwards said the shot was relatively easy, with the busy thoroughfare suddenly clearing up as if by divine intervention. "It was as if God said, ''I'm going to give you a break now, but for the rest of your career you're going to have to live off this one,'" he recalled. At a recent screening of the movie , Edwards' widow, Julie Andrews , said the director (whom she would marry nearly a decade after 'Breakfast') claimed he got the shot in one take. 6. For a movie so associated with Manhattan, very little of it was shot there.

There were only about 8 days of location shooting, including inside Tiffany's, which opened on a Sunday for the first time in decades to allow filming, though 40 armed guards and several Tiffany's sales clerks were on hand to prevent pilferage. 7. The party at Holly's apartment, like much of the film, was shot on a Paramount soundstage. A signature Edwards sequence -- he would go on to shoot memorable parties in the 'Pink Panther' movies, '10,' 'Victor/Victoria,' and of course, 'The Party' -- it took six days to film. The extras playing the guests were all friends and relations of the director, Andrews has said. According to studio notes, the revelers consumed plenty of real champagne, as well as 120 gallons of soft drinks, lots of party food (hot dogs, cold cuts, chips, dips, and sandwiches), and 60 cartons of cigarettes. Even that didn't generate enough smoke, so Edwards brought onto the set a smoker of the sort beekeepers use. 8. It's never explained why, at the party, Hepburn is wearing a gown made from a towel.

A scene that was cut from the final release has her taking a bath when the party breaks out, and she's forced to improvise a gown. 9. What's the movie's connection to 'The Flintstones'? It's Alan Reed , who played gangster Sally Tomato. He was also the voice of Fred Flintstone. 10. Buddy Ebsen had all but retired when he was persuaded to play Doc Golightly, Holly's estranged husband from down South. His brief performance is said to have landed him the role of Jed Clampett on 'The Beverly Hillbillies,' which made him more famous than ever and extended his career by decades. 11. Hepburn's husband, actor Mel Ferrer , seemed to exercise a near-Svengali-like control over his wife during the production. Neal recalled dining with the couple at their home, an evening that included a very light meal and ended practically before sunset; she remarked that now she knew how Hepburn stayed so thin. Ferrer also tried to influence his wife's performance, until Edwards took her aside and insisted that she treat him as the film's sole director.

After that, Ferrer behaved like wet blanket; upon seeing the finished film, his only compliment to his wife was, "I liked your hat." 12. Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer composed 'Moon River' with Hepburn's limited vocal range in mind, having heard her sing in 'Funny Face.' There was talk of having Marni Nixon dub her vocals (as she would do a couple years later in 'My Fair Lady'), but Edwards decided that Hepburn's own plain, unvarnished rendition of the song fit the character better. 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' - 'Moon River' 13. "Over my dead body!" That was the response to a Paramount executive who wanted to cut the song from the film. It's not clear who said it, however. One account says it was Hepburn, another says it was the producers. 14. Hepburn worked with designer Hubert de Givenchy to craft her costumes for the film. One result: Holly's iconic little black dress, one of the most influential fashion choices in cinema history and a must for nearly every woman's wardrobe ever since.

(Yes, it was Coco Chanel, not Givenchy, who invented the little black dress, but it was the version Hepburn wore that made the garment a fashion staple.) Christie's auctioned the original dress in 2006 and sold it for $923,000 (one of the highest prices ever paid for a piece of movie memorabilia), with the money going to support the construction of a school for the poor in Calcutta. 15. Despite her reputation for elegance, Hepburn enjoyed relaxing in a turtleneck and jeans. Which is what Holly wears while lounging on the fire escape and singing 'Moon River.' 16. You'd never know from Holly's willowy figure that Hepburn had given birth to son Sean just three months before shooting. As a hobby, the new mom took up knitting. 17. Hepburn caught a cold after spending four days in studio-made rain shooting the final sequence. 18. The one part of the film that makes audiences cringe today is Mickey Rooney's performance as Holly's neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi.

Aside from the insult of having a non-Asian performer play a Japanese man by wearing yellowface makeup, Coke-bottle glasses, and buck teeth, there's also the performance's consistent sense of caricature and stereotype. In a 2008 interview , Rooney said Edwards hired him as a veteran comic actor and directed him to play the character broadly, and that if anyone had taken offense at his portrayal -- like the Asian-American activists who got a free public screening of 'Breakfast' in Sacramento yanked in favor of the more anodyne 'Ratatouille' -- it was news to him. "Never in all the more than 40 years after we made it -- not one complaint," Rooney said. "Every place I've gone in the world people say, 'God, you were so funny.' Asians and Chinese come up to me and say, 'Mickey you were out of this world.'" He added that if he'd known the performance would offend people, "I wouldn't have done it." 19. The film reportedly cost $2.5 million to make.

(Some $750,000 of that reportedly went to Hepburn, making her one of the highest-paid actresses of the era.) It earned $4 million in the U.S. upon its initial release and $14 million over its lifetime. 20. Consumers responded almost immediately to the film. Besides the black cocktail dress, Holly's coat and purse became widely copied. Animal shelters reported a rise in demand for ginger tomcats like Holly's cat (whose name, of course, was "Cat"). The soundtrack album went to No. 1 and stayed on the Billboard chart for two years. 21. 'Breakfast' earned Oscar nominations for Hepburn's performance, Axelrod's adapted screenplay, and for art direction. It won two prizes, for Mancini's original score and for Original Song ('Moon River'). They were the first two Oscars of Mancini's career; he'd ultimately win four times out of 18 nominations, and he would compose music for Edwards on many more movies, notably, the 'Pink Panther' films and 'Victor/Victoria.' 22. In 1966, there was a Broadway musical version, starring Mary Tyler Moore and Richard Chamberlain .

It closed after just four performances, becoming one of those legendary flops that -- if as many people who claimed to have seen it actually did -- wouldn't have been a flop at all. 23. In 1969, ABC commissioned a pilot for a TV series, a sitcom called 'Holly Golightly' that starred Stephanie Powers and Jack Kruschen (as Joe the bartender, a character from Capote's novella that didn't make it into the movie). The network ultimately declined to pick up the pilot and make it into a series. 24. The property made it to the stage once more as a straight play in 2009, on London's West End. Anna Friel (the cult TV series 'Pushing Daises') played Holly. 25. In 1995, the band Deep Blue Something had a hit with a Hepburn-inspired song called 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' The lyrics actually had more references to 'Roman Holiday,' but songwriter Todd Pipes thought the reference to the more iconic tale of Holly Golightly would make a better song title. [Photo: Everett Collection] Book vs.

Movie: Kelly from Stacked on Breakfast at Tiffany's - The Readventurer The Readventurer Written by Truman Capote and published in 1956. Directed by Blake Edwards, screenplay by George Axelrod. Released in 1961. Today, we're happy to welcome brilliant librarian/blogger Kelly Jensen from Stacked for a Book vs. Movie comparison of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Take it away, Kelly... Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I can properly talk about how great it was to read Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote then follow it up with a screening of the film. The premise of Capote’s 1958 novella is exceedingly simple. The nameless narrator, a young male writer, receives a phone call from a former friend, and it’s through reconnecting with the former friend wherein the narrator realizes what a great story he has to tell about Holly Golightly, the girl who had been his neighbor just a few years prior. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a roughly 100-page character sketch about a girl who talks a big game but who is at her core exceptionally sad, lonely, and empty.

Golightly likes to spend her time around socialites, around money, and she throws parties with the best of them. Her apartment lacks furnishing, and the only thing she keeps close to her is her cat. Each time the narrator attempts to forge communication with her and tries to get to her to open up, he is thwarted. Which is not to say he’s a hero in the story - he’s not. He pushes her too hard and he cares far too much about a girl who does not wish for that sort of relationship. Nineteen-year-old Golightly is a complex character. She presents herself as anything by throwing these parties, by associating herself with wealth and luxury and fascination with little things. She does it even further through her job, which can best be described as a liaison among a bunch of men who are into drugs. Yes, there’s an air of intrigue about her, but she presents herself as simplistic because it is easiest. It’s the narrator who chips away at this facade though, as he continually pushes her to talk with him. To let him inside the cage she’s built for herself.

See, Golightly has built this world around her so she can distance herself not just from other people but so that she can distance herself from her worst enemy - herself. Her life. Where it looked like she was treating everyone around her as worthless, as artifice and throwaway, what the narrator learns about Golightly was that she was really treating herself as such. It was just easier to project upon those around her. This comes full circle with the story of the cat, Golightly’s one true possession. When she’s preparing to leave New York City, to leave the past she’s already ditched elsewhere, to leave the former marriage and children and responsibilities that show up to remind her that she is worth something to other people and to herself, Golightly dumps the cat in Spanish Harlem. Tells the cat it was a great run but no one belongs to anyone else and so now he has the chance to start fresh. Just like her. Capote’s novella is a character sketch, but it’s not just a character sketch of Golightly, but of the writer. The narrator is a writer, yet somehow Capote is able to take the narrator and make him a commentary on writing and on narration as craft, too.

Here’s a character writing about a pained, removed, relationship-avoiding girl and as much as he tries to crack her open, she is beyond his control. As much as he wants to have a relationship with her and allow her to see her value and worth and her autonomy and her ability to be cared for and treated with respect, he is only the writer. He can only do so much for her. He can sprinkle his depiction of her with pretty words and descriptions - and this is a huge strength of the novella - but ultimately, Golightly is a character who has to play out her story the way her story is meant to be played out. He can only direct her so far. The rest is up to her... and to the reader. In other words, Capote’s given us the writer’s experience with writing. With creating a character and a back story and a world. Then he lets it go. What’s masterful about how he does this is that he himself is never the actual narrator in the story -- he’s not the one writing Golightly’s story. He’s writing the story of the narrator who is then writing Golightly’s story. It’s meta!

In 1961, George Axelrod took a stab at taking Capote’s character sketch and turning it into a film starring Audrey Hepburn as a much-aged-past-19 Holly Golightly; blue-eyed George Peppard as the flawless and swoon-worthy narrator, now named Paul; Patricia Neal as the woman who is Peppard’s “keeper” (yeah I don’t know either); Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi; and most noteworthy Putney, who played the role of Cat. As is the case with the bulk of film adaptations, Axelrod made the story his own. He borrowed a bit from the source material, but he made this story his own. Which makes sense because Capote didn’t write a story -- he wrote a character writing a character. In this adaptation of the story, Paul (who Golightly calls Fred throughout because he reminds her of her “brother” Fred) meets Golightly near immediately. There’s not a passage of time, but rather, he runs into her as he moves into the apartment complex where she dwells.

Paul is a writer, but he’s not writing Golightly’s story in the film; rather, he’s writing “novels” and “other things.” He’s also a kept man. And boy, who wouldn’t want to keep a man like that? He’s dreamy. Whenever he bats his eyes, the angels sing and the world opens up and all women just flock to him. Neal is really lucky in her role as his keeper - she has him on a leash. He’s all hers. I want it noted right now that Hepburn and Neal are only three years apart in age but boy, did Axelrod play up an age difference. We can agree though that Hepburn is definitely not playing a 19-year-old in the movie. The film itself is not told through Paul’s point of view. We get a story about Paul. But really, that doesn’t matter; what does matter is that Golightly is the object of Paul’s affection. Because he’s so dreamy, he can just chase what it is he wants. Oh and does he try.

He attends Golightly’s parties - where she is certainly engaged in the crowd, enamored with the wealth and glory that rubbing elbows with socialites brings - and he tells her on more than one occasion just how much he loves her and cares about her. He doesn’t want her to have the autonomy to chase the money (err... men) she wishes to. He keeps reminding her that, you know, there’s a really attractive man living right beneath your nose you can have. Lucky for Paul, after enough pushing, Golightly changes her mind. She was wrong all along, silly girl. Maybe he was right for her and maybe he did know what was best for her. I jumped ahead, I know. We do get to know some of Golightly’s back story in the film. However, it’s secondary. It’s hardly even a blip on developing her character at all. It’s sort of shoved in the middle of the film that Golightly was a married woman who fled her family and that Paul’s meant to be the messenger about her much older husband being back to retrieve her and remind her that he loves her and that people back home depend upon her.

It’s also sort of shoved in there that she feels lost and lonely and like her life is meaningless. Actually, no it’s not at all. At the very beginning of the film, I felt like Hepburn was really channeling Capote’s character. There’s a genuine listlessness, and she plays it so well. But the minute Paul enters her life and starts to be the Man She Needs, suddenly Hepburn’s portrayal of the sad and lonely Golightly changes. (See what happens when the writer inserts himself in the character?) During the pivotal party scene, where her apartment is littered with rich people and things, Golightly engages with her fellow attendees, and she’s an active part of the festivities. The moment when Hepburn cuts ties with “brother” Fred and the life she left before moving to NYC, the emotions ring false. And while this is a clear moment of portraying just how phony she’s become (paging Holden Caulfield), the inconsistency with her character up to this point and the lack of development of this pretty important back story, Hepburn failed to advance her character.

We know she’s going to run to Paul, and it was impossible for me to not sigh after this scene because after Fred leaves, Golightly gets drunk and becomes Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG). She transforms! She’s free from her past! She’s attractive! Watch her sparkle! She never feeds her damn cat when he is hungry! DID SHE NOT HEAR HIM MEOWING? ALL HE WANTED WAS SOME FOOD! So after this transformation, when Golightly and Paul have their day - the one day that is the iconic piece of what people remember of the film and where she goes to Tiffany’s and lusts after finer things which isn’t really what Capote meant by the whole thing in the book - she’s not at all removed from the situation. She is fully invested in the story and in her life. Hepburn doesn’t portray her as playing along reluctantly; she’s not playing at all. She’s living and engaging. She’s playing the customers and management at the dime store where they steal the masks from. This girl isn’t sad or removed from herself or her life. She’s been shown the way by a pair of baby blue eyes. Thank god.

I could go on about the ending and about how it’s the happily ever after that gets a crowd going and leaves viewers with a sense of hope about love. But it was so disingenuous to not just Capote’s story, but to the characters, too. Golightly goes from being the kind of character Capote envisioned into what it is society thinks that a woman should be. Or maybe that’s not fair - she becomes the romanticized idealized MPDG to Paul. And that he gets her to bend to his will and succumb to the realization that yeah, he was the love of her life and that she needs him? Man I love a satisfying ending like that. Particularly when it’s so true, that indeed, Golightly IS a woman who can be caged and protected by someone like Paul. Wait, what? This is the total opposite of what Capote intended. TOTAL. OPPOSITE. His story ends by suggesting that no character can be colored by happily ever after, and yet, Axelrod has taken the story and done nothing but make it a happily ever after. He’s corralled the character who couldn’t be corralled.

Which -- if you’re a screenwriter making an adaptation of a film, you have total control over storylines and melding it to be your own vision. But to take a storyline and drop it entirely on its head? Why then have a source material at all? Let’s talk about a couple other minor quibbles I have: what about the amazing portrayal of the exotic in the film? It makes sense because Golightly is trying to be a socialite and an elite member of the NYC world that she would want to surround herself with Asians, with Brazilians, and she’d want to spend time at a dance club where she could then watch something foreign before her. But what the hell was this Mickey Rooney character? A racist. That’s what. This was incredibly uncomfortable to watch, and not just because it was sheerly racist. While the story took place in a time where that kind of portrayal might have been acceptable in society, the fact is, Mr. Yunioshi in the book is NOT the stereotypical Asian as he’s made to be in the film. In fact, he plays a bit of a bigger role in the book in that he tries, too, to engage with Golightly.

He isn’t some insensitive neighbor working to bust up her fun - he actually wants her to, you know, live. That he’s then just a throw away stereotype in the film is unfortunate. There’s terrible pacing in the movie, and there’s an odd jump in passage of time that happens near the end, where we don’t know what had happened to Paul nor what happened to Golightly. But we know that Golightly is happy and is going to get married and Paul won’t let that happen. Blah blah blah, then they are together. Time apart only made their feelings stronger, you know. Most importantly, I think what Axelrod’s film could have done with is much more Cat and much less Hep. Because did you see the acting by Cat? It was great! Not just the acting was impeccable, but the fact he was so horribly mistreated by Hepburn also merits some applause. That cat does not look happy. And that’s more authentic emotion right there than is shown throughout the rest of the film.

Then there is this moment in the film, and I let it speak for itself: Now that you’ve endured my lengthy critique of Axelrod’s adaptation of Capote’s work, I hope it’s obvious that these aren’t the same story, not even a little bit. Maybe Axelrod had hoped to take this character and give her a story and play around with the notion of the writer and the lives his characters can take when left to do so. But Axelrod didn’t do that. He told an entirely different story, and he kept a tight leash on his characters and how they were allowed to move and think and feel. And those things all fell into predictable and ugh-worthy tropes. Does that mean Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a bad movie? No. Does that mean Breakfast at Tiffany’s is not worth watching? No. Does that mean Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a horrific adaptation that has nothing to do with the book and in fact contradicts the entire point of the book? Yep. Even Capote thought the adaptation was pretty awful. According to Turner Classic Movies , this was his reaction: "Even though Breakfast at Tiffany's was a success and nominated for five Academy Awards, the one person who was not happy with the film was author Truman Capote.

He was outspoken in his disapproval of what had been done with his book. He was unhappy with everything: the tone, the casting, the director. He felt betrayed by Paramount. 'I had lots of offers for that book, from practically everybody,' he said, 'and I sold it to this group at Paramount because they promised things, they made a list of everything, and they didn't keep a single one.' Capote was unhappy with the casting. 'It was the most miscast film I've ever seen,' he said. 'Holly Golightly was real-a tough character, not an Audrey Hepburn type at all. The film became a mawkish valentine to New York City and Holly, and, as a result, was thin and pretty, whereas it should have been rich and ugly. It bore as much resemblance to my work as the Rockettes do to Ulanova.' After the release of the film version of Breakfast at Tiffany's, author Truman Capote was very vocal about his disdain for the film, and especially the casting of Audrey Hepburn as Holly, a role that he hoped would go to his friend, Marilyn Monroe.

Truman Capote later said that he considered actress Jodie Foster the perfect person to play Holly Golightly as he originally wrote her." Yeah, you know? Jodie Foster as Holly Golightly would have been THE RIGHT CHOICE. Not the light-on-her-feet, MPDG-playing Hepburn. And it’s not simply that she wasn’t the right choice for Golightly. It’s that her acting wasn’t even GOOD. It was inconsistent all over the place. Whether it’s her fault or Axelrod’s, she didn’t understand the character and that shines through in spades. Okay, so. If you want a fantastic character sketch that showcases the furthest thing from a MPDG as possible, pick up Capote’s novella. It is dark, complicated, and utterly satisfying to think about. If you want a love story, watch Axelrod’s film. Just do not connect the two. To round out this post, I’d like to remind you about this: I think this might be the faithful adaptation of Capote’s book. If it were set in the 90s, with bad hair, bad fashion, and way-too-catchy lyrics. Final Rating: "Barely tolerable, I dare say.

But not handsome enough to tempt me." (From Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen and directed by Joe Wright in 2005) We'd watch this, but only to make fun of it. Kelly would like it to be known that she wishes she could give it 1.5 stars but that she rounded up "for the cat's sake." Well, it certainly sounds like someone else felt the same way about this movie that I did. I'm of the opinion once is enough. And I'm so glad someone finally had the guts to give Putney the cat the kudos he so richly deserved. Including that song which shall not be named was really uncalled for though. But I suppose it couldn't be helped. What do you all think? Have you read the book? And what the heck was Mickey Rooney thinking with that? Thanks for visiting, Kelly! Don't forget to visit her at her usual blogspace, Stacked and on twitter .

Breakfast at Tiffanys essay topics, buy custom Breakfast at Tiffanys essay paper sample cheap, service Custom Breakfast at Tiffanys essay paper writing service Buy Breakfast at Tiffanys essay paper online In many cases the original idea of a novella is lost when the written story is adopted into a film. Truman Capote's masterful novel Breakfast at Tiffany's is a perfect example of a novel whose original idea was lost when its story was taken to the screen. This fact notwithstanding it is sobering to admit as early as now that both the movie and the novel are very interesting. One of their greatest points of departure is the point of view. In addition, aspects of art to realize theme, dialogue and characterization have become other significant sources of differences playing between the novel and the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. While Capote wrote this enthralling story from the first person point of view the movie diverges from this and adopts an objective third person's view. In addition, Edward Blake completely deconstructs the tone and mood Capote's novel. Capote's narration in the novel takes up the first person limited view where the story unfolds to the reader through the eyes of Fred who the readers take as an upcoming writer.

Fred tells how life was in the old New York through the use of the present time. He starts of by telling how he realizes that his long lost friend Holly Golightly, who was thought dead, is still alive. After learning Holly is alive, Fred ponders about his long past with Holly, who was then a self-sufficient late teenage woman, and the adventure they went through. Capote writes, "It never occurred to me in those days to write about, and probably it would not now except for a conversation I had with Joe Bell that set the whole memory of her all again,". The film and novel differ in terms of art. It is the quality of art that ultimately impacts on the themes of a novel or film. Capote's novel addressed themes of restlessness fear and determination while the movie's shots depict a contradictory approach to art. The film directors made a number of shots, like the first bedroom scene, which are very captivating in terms of composition and theme. These shots depict the disturbing divergence from capote's initial themes and art in the novel. While art has become a very fluid notion over the years, the mode of decoration adopted by the filmmakers was not the classical touch of art that Capote describes in the novel.

In reality, capote never intended to please film producers or audiences when writing the story but the excessive use of color and décor inherent in the film totally affected the themes of fear, determination and restlessness that Capote explores in the novel. In addition to the differences of theme, Edward Blake left out a few characters that were originally in the novel while taking and playing up others. In the movie, Holly Golightly and Paul Varjack are presented as self-motivated characters. While the movie philosophizes numerous aspects of Golightly's character, Capote only philosophized her own persona as is evident from words of Fred, the writer's mouth piece. Capote regards Golightly as a woman of great self will and able to fit any setting. However in the film Holly Golightly is painted as a woman who is generally drinking to parties and breaking numerous male hearts. The movie considers her as one without feelings and no past. While Capote painted her as one who could be married, as Fred say "I think she is married and quieted down and maybe still in this city," (Capote, 5), Blake creates her as one who can not belong to anybody or anything.

Surprisingly these philosophical musings have only been transcribed into only two scenes in Blake's rearrangements. Hepburn, Blake's cast for Holly Golightly, portrayed the hero as overtly naïve and eccentric woman unlike the self motivated and determined woman that Capote paints in the film, (Hepburn, 34). While Capote wrote to her in order to congratulate her for playing role well, this aspect adds to the differences that play between the film and the novel. Other case of characterization differences was the films blatant portrayal of racism as a major theme that Capote considered as a backdrop to the larger them of female sexual representation. While the film's casting of Mickey Rooney was seen as exotic and flavored by New York Times, later reviews have painted the novel as overly racist and based on stereotypes. Other reviews have termed the film portrayal of Mr. Yuniosh as a horrible and out place impersonation of an Asian citizen of the highest order played by a gibberish actor over done with makeup. There are other serious issues to rise in line with characterization between the film and the novel. In the book, the hero's sexual orientation remains and ambiguous topic and the language more straight forward compared to the movie.

When Holly tells Fred what she likes doing with 'mean reds' Capote writes. "What I've found does the most good is just to get in a taxi and go to Tiffany's. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in their nice suits, and that lovely smell of silver and alligator wallets. If I could find a real-life place that made me feel like Tiffany's, then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name, (Capote, 28)." This dialogue becomes one of the most altered parts of Capote's dialogues by Blake to fit into a more commercial taste of the movie. Blake was forced to change parts of the novels dialogues in order to please producers and film studios which ultimately culminated in the high sales of the movie. The starring Audrey Hepburn admits this claim by noting that the idea was to do the film in a 20th century touch that no other icon would have done it.

To this, the matter of costuming is replayed to reveal the need by producers of the film to depict the woman of this period who was seen as a symbol of beauty adorned with beautiful dresses around good music. Again the sentimentalization of prostitution in the film is a problem considering the mild sensation that Capote gave in the novel though many readers will agree that sexual liberation has become one of the recent intoxications of the modern New York and other major cities of the world. All in all both the film and the novel, Breakfast at Tiffany's, are packed with appealing action and drive the intended themes home. The film is packed with excellent dialogues and historic scenes that keep an audience glued to the end. The film does capture Capotes' vision created in writing when Holly is singing the song 'Moon River' during here fire escape: indeed, the filmmakers chose a perfect song that would agree with Hepburn's narrow vocal tract. The film and novel agree thematically in that while whether Holly and Paul make it together remains a matter of discourse, the main issue is whether the two can forgive each other and live happily.

Buy Breakfast at Tiffanys essay paper online Related essays Pixie Lott to star in theatrical version of Breakfast at Tiffany's | Stage | The Guardian Stage Pixie Lott to star in theatrical version of Breakfast at Tiffany's The pop star will return to the West End for the first time since childhood, in a touring production of Truman Capote’s classic novella Pixie Lott, announced to star as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Photograph: David M. Benett/Getty Images Close This article is 1 year old Pixie Lott will hope to avoid a case of the mean reds as she takes on the iconic role of Holly Golightly, in a new theatrical production of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Based on the Truman Capote novella whose film version made a global star of Audrey Hepburn, the new adaptation is by Richard Greenberg, the Tony-winning writer of baseball drama Take Me Out – his version first opened in New York in 2013, starring Emilia Clarke. Grant Odling, who wrote songs for One Man, Two Guvnors, has written new musical numbers that will sit alongside other songs from the play’s 1943 setting.

Discounting a childhood appearance in a Palladium production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it marks Lott’s debut in the West End, following a pop career that scored her three number one singles and countless magazine column inches. She called the role “a dream come true”, adding: “I absolutely love Holly’s style, and free spirit; she has always been an icon to me and I can’t wait to bring my own personality to the role.” My favourite film: Breakfast at Tiffany's Read more Breakfast at Tiffany’s focuses on Golightly, a country girl turned “American geisha” to use Capote’s phrase, who is courted by a series of wealthy New York suitors. Greenberg said of his adaptation: “The goal of this version is to return to the original setting of the novella, which is the New York of the Second World War, as well as to resume its tone – still stylish and romantic, yes, but rougher-edged and more candid than people generally remember.

Capote was a great writer and a natural maker of plots and Breakfast at Tiffany’s has a drive that makes it very alluring to dramatise.” The production is from Leicester’s Curve theatre, where it will open in March 2016 before heading to seven cities across the UK, and ending up at the Theatre Royal Haymarket for a 12 week run. It is the first season from the Curve’s new artistic director Nikolai Foster, who is also helming productions of Roald Dahl’s The Witches and Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. Another notable recent appearance of Golightly on stage was in 2009, with an adaptation from Samuel Adamson who, like Greenberg, returned to Capote’s novella for inspiration. Its star Anna Friel received praise for her performance as Golightly, though the production was generally poorly received . Breakfast at Tiffany s Essay - 801 Words “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Truman Capote Author Truman Capote (1924 New Orleans-1984 L.A.) was a story writer, novelist and playwright originated from poor background.

He loved to be surrounded by the famous and rich and it was often told that Holly Golightly resembles her creator. She shares Capote’s philosophies as well as his fears and anxieties. Setting Breakfast at Tiffany’s is set in Manhattan’s Upper East East Side during the final years of second World War. Plot summary of „Breakfast at Tiffany’s“ The heroine of the short novel Holly Golightly has become Capote’s best-known creation. It was published in 1958, however it’s 1943 in the book. While the novel focuses upon Holly, the story is told from the point of view of the unnamed narrator, a now very successful writer. He the, the first-person narrator, gets back to the place where he lived approximately ten years ago and had a friendship with his neighbour the devil-may-care playgirl. The frame story is that the writer recalls all Holly’s experiences. He tells how shortly after he moves in the upper East-side apartment house he notices Holly and is fascinated with her from the start, her late hours, partying, friends, the way she looks.

The nineteen year old is often in an admirer’s company They get to know each other when one evening she crawls through his window from the fire escape fleeing from a boyfriend. Thenceforward she calls him “Fred”, because he reminds her of her brother. He is delighted by her charm and despite the deceptions and secrets that seem to trouble Holly’s relationships with others, the two become close. He enjoys observing Holly, however neither he knows anything about her past nor she is going to tell him where she is from. She sustains her disguise, until Doc Golightly arrives and reveals that he is her husband. He tells the narrator he married Holly, originally Lulamae Barnes, in Tulip, Texas, when she was fourteen after she and her brother, Fred,... Essay on Breakfast at Tiffany s ...lyrics made famous by Frank Sinatra and many others say, “Two drifters off to see the world. There’s such a lot of world to see.” This song “Moon River” was played in the movie version of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and in my opinion sums up Holly Golightly.

In the original book version of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Truman Capote uses Holly Golightly, a “lost soul” searching for her place to belong as a symbol that all anyone really wants in... 1005 Words | 3 Pages Breakfast At Tiffany S Research Paper ...﻿Reem Badr Professor Motlagh Essay 1 26 February 2015 Breakfast at Tiffany’s and its Message of Moral Damnation In the process of adapting Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s into the iconic movie directed by Blake Edwards, a number of key changes have been made. Be them the alternate ending, the alteration to the sequence of... 1264 Words | 5 Pages Breakfast at Tiffanys Essay ...﻿Angel Carter Professor Woods English 152 2 April 2014 Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Movie vs. Novella Writer, Truman Capote, created a goldmine when he wrote the book (turned film) Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Both the book and film center around a 19 year old young woman named Holly Golightly who lives in New York City. Golightly has a high spirit and bright smile, but within she is lonely, and yearning for the love that she needs.

The film... 1322 Words | 5 Pages Summary Breakfast at Tiffany s Research Paper ...Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote As a passionate lover of Audrey Hepburn I decided to take this book for supplementary reading. It is not a secret that this book is more famous for its well known adaptation based on the Capote’s book Breakfast at Tiffany’s in which Hepburn was in the leading part. First of all I would like to say few words about the author of the book. Truman Capote was an American writer, born in 1925 in New... 695 Words | 2 Pages Breakfast at Tiffany s Review Paper ...(Capote, Truman. Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Vintage) Breakfast at Tiffany’s is an interesting novel because it is unlike anything I have ever read before. It starts off as a bit confusing and boring, but then casually goes to bring the main idea of the story. The book is non-fiction and more of a short story-type novel. It talks about a woman named Holly Golightly, living in an apartment in New York, and described her constant behavior.... 726 Words | 2 Pages Breakfast At Tiffanys Essay ...﻿Film vs.

Novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, both the film and novella, is a classic that deserves recognition even today. It is a story about a woman, Holly Golightly, who receives money from both from male escorts and a man in prison. She one day meets the new writer that lives in her apartment complex, Varjak. As time goes on she gets close to Varjak, the writer, and meets a man named José. She later in the film decides she wants to marry him to get away but ends... 777 Words | 4 Pages Breakfast at Tiffanys Film Review Essay ...Tiffanys is now any girls best friend. The perfect blend of romance, comedy and tragedy, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the must-see classic that captures the life of the young and ambitious, and shows the clear statement of what it is like to make it in a big city. Perfectly put together by Blake Edwards, and creatively written as a novel by Truman Capote, Audrey Hepburn (Holly Golightly) and George Peppard (Paul Varjak) make this film just as special as its name....

661 Words | 2 Pages Breakfast at Tiffany s Essay ...﻿Breakfast at Tiffany’s Organic unity is achieved throughout the novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote through its uses of symbolism, setting, and tone. The symbolism, setting, and tone of the novel create the thematic idea of personal freedom. The protagonist, Holly Golightly, demonstrates her inability to establish roots when she refuses to give her cat a name. The theme is further transmitted through the setting of the novel... 881 Words | 3 Pages 18 Hearty Facts About 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' | Mental Floss 18 Hearty Facts About 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' Keystone Features/Getty Images Like us on Facebook The 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, based on Truman Capote’s novella, starred Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, one of the most iconic characters to ever appear on screen. The seemingly naive young girl who is sought out by wealthy men and looking to marry into money is befriended by struggling writer Paul Varjak (George Peppard), a fellow inhabitant of a New York City apartment building.

Holly and Paul grow close, as her ex-husband unexpectedly shows his face in town, and the status of her beloved brother’s well-being remains in doubt. The controversial aspects of the movie—including Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of I.Y. Yunioshi, and Holly’s occupation—haven’t done much to hurt the popularity of the Blake Edwards classic. Here are some facts about the movie on its 55th anniversary. 1. TRUMAN CAPOTE WANTED MARILYN MONROE TO PLAY HOLLY. Monroe’s advisor and acting coach, Paula Strasberg, said she shouldn’t play a “lady of the evening” , and Monroe took her advice. Capote said Paramount Pictures “double-crossed me in every way” when they cast Audrey Hepburn instead. The outspoken author also proclaimed it to be the “most miscast film I've ever seen.” Over time, Capote would go on to say that Tuesday Weld or Jodie Foster would be good choices to play Holly in a remake. 2. SHIRLEY MACLAINE TURNED DOWN THE LEAD. Shirley MacLaine said it was one of her biggest regrets . Kim Novak also said no . 3.

AUDREY HEPBURN HESITATED BEFORE ACCEPTING THE PART. “It’s very difficult and I didn’t think I was right for it,” Hepburn told The New York Times. "I’ve had very little experience, really, and I have no technique for doing things I’m unsuited to. I have to operate entirely on instinct. It was Blake Edwards who finally persuaded me. He, at least, is perfectly cast as a director, and I discovered his approach emphasizes the same sort of spontaneity as my own.” 4. JOHN FRANKENHEIMER WAS ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO BE THE DIRECTOR. John Frankenheimer had been on board to direct the film, but Hepburn wanted a bigger name . It was only after Blake Edwards (director of Operation Petticoat, and later The Pink Panther series) was attached that Hepburn accepted the role. 5. STEVE MCQUEEN COULD HAVE BEEN PAUL. Edwards wanted Steve McQueen, but he was still under contract and under the control of television (CBS and the producers of Wanted: Dead or Alive wouldn’t allow the up-and-comer time off from the show). Edwards also suggested Tony Curtis to the producers.

While Curtis was interested, the producers were not. 6. GEORGE PEPPARD ANNOYED EVERYBODY. YouTube Edwards did not want George Peppard for the role of Paul. He went so far as to drop to his knees on the sidewalk and beg producers Martin Jurow and Richard Shepherd not to bring him in. Peppard ended up not listening to Edwards’s direction if he didn't agree with it. Hepburn was annoyed that Peppard overanalyzed everything, finding him “pompous.” Mrs. “2E” herself, Patricia Neal—a former friend of Peppard’s—thought he wanted to be an “ old-time movie hunk ,” and didn’t think her character should be so domineering of him. 7. THE SCRIPT HAD TO TRICK THE CENSORS. Screenwriter Sumner Locke Elliott first attempted to write the adaptation. George Axelrod (who wrote The Seven Year Itch and The Manchurian Candidate) took over and lost the unhappy, unresolved ending and put in more Paul sex scenes which he had no intent on keeping. He figured —correctly—that the censor would focus more on finding issue with the now more promiscuous Paul and not pay attention to Holly. 8.

HOLLY'S DRESS WAS CUSTOM MADE. Hubert de Givenchy designed Holly's famous little black dress. It was auctioned off in 2006 at Christie’s for over $900,000. Hepburn and Givenchy had worked together in the past on Sabrina (1954), Funny Face (1957), and Love in the Afternoon (1957). 9. BLAKE EDWARDS WENT ALL OUT FOR THE PARTY SCENE. The party scene took six days to film on a Paramount soundstage. The extras who played the guests were all friends of Edwards. Real champagne, 120 gallons of soft drinks, 60 cartons of cigarettes, hot dogs, cold cuts, chips, dips, and sandwiches were involved. A smoker used by a beekeeper was brought in to create enough smoke . 10. FRED FLINTSTONE AND POSSIBLY BARNEY RUBBLE WERE IN IT. Alan Reed , who was the original voice of Fred Flintstone, played mobster Sally Tomato in the movie.

The voice of Holly’s over-eager date remained officially uncredited, but some believe it sounds a lot like legendary voice actor Mel Blanc , who voiced Barney Rubble—not to mention Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and other classic Warner Bros. cartoon characters in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts. 11. TIFFANY’S OPENED ON A SUNDAY FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE 19TH CENTURY TO ALLOW FILMING. Forty armed guards had to work on the floor to prevent thievery. 12. MICKEY ROONEY DEFENDED HIMSELF, THEN DIDN’T. Both Edwards and Rooney expressed regret at Rooney’s over-the-top portrayal of the Japanese character Mr. Yunioshi. According to Turner Classic Movies, Rooney wrote in his 1991 memoir , Life is Too Short, “I was downright ashamed of my role in Breakfast at Tiffany's ... and I don't think the director, Blake Edwards, was very proud of it either." He was more defensive in 2008 , after a Sacramento screening of the film was canceled after there were protests over Rooney’s portrayal.

“They hired me to do this overboard, and we had fun doing it. Never in all the more than 40 years after we made it—not one complaint. Every place I've gone in the world people say, ‘God, you were so funny.’” 13. "MOON RIVER" WAS ALMOST CUT FROM THE FILM. Lyricist Johnny Mercer initially titled it “Blue River,” before realizing there were already other songs with the title. Henry Mancini spent a month to come up with the right melody. “It was one of the hardest things I ever had to write, because I couldn’t figure out what this lady would be singing up there on the fire escape,” Mancini said . In one version of the story, the president of Paramount Pictures, Marty Rankin, after the first preview screening of the movie, said the song had to be taken out. Hepburn told the man they would cut it out of the movie over her dead body . In another version of the story, one of the producers said after the screening that the song had to go, followed by Hepburn’s uncharacteristic response.

In a different retelling of the legend, Rankin said it had to go, but it was producer Richard Shepherd who reportedly told the studio head he would had to contend with his dead body. “Moon River” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. 14. HEPBURN WROTE A NOTE TO MANCINI. It read : "I have just seen our picture—Breakfast at Tiffany's—this time with your score. A movie without music is a little bit like an aeroplane without fuel. However beautifully the job is done, we are still on the ground and in a world of reality. Your music has lifted us all up and sent us soaring. Everything we cannot say with words or show with action you have expressed for us. You have done this with so much imagination, fun and beauty. You are the hippest of cats—and most sensitive of composers. Thank you, Dear Hank.” She signed it “Lots of love, Audrey.” 15. CAPOTE SAID HOLLY WASN’T A CALL GIRL. He explained as much to Playboy in 1968. “Holly Golightly was not precisely a call girl.

She had no job, but accompanied expense-account men to the best restaurants and night clubs, with the understanding that her escort was obligated to give her some sort of gift, perhaps jewelry or a check … if she felt like it, she might take her escort home for the night. So these girls are the authentic American geishas, and they’re much more prevalent now than in 1943 or 1944, which was Holly’s era.” 16. THE STUDIO MADE SURE SHE WASN’T SEEN AS A CALL GIRL. Rather than “call girl,” Golightly was described officially by Paramount Pictures as a “kook,” and a press release was written and sent out during filming which quoted the actors in the film defining the term "kook." (Producer Martin Jurow: “A kook is a kitten who’ll never grow up to be a cat.”) It also stipulated that ‘kook’ was not a beatnik term, because “The star is Audrey Hepburn, not Tawdry Hepburn.” 17. GLORIA VANDERBILT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE INSPIRATION FOR HOLLY.

Suspected influences for Holly include heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, dancer Joan McCracken, Carol Grace, Capote’s mother Lillie Mae (similar to Holly’s real name of Lula Mae), Carol Marcus , author Doris Lilly, Capote high school friend Phoebe Pierce, Oona O'Neill Chaplin, writer and journalist Maeve Brennan, and model/actress Suzy Parker. Capote called the speculation "the Holly Golightly sweepstakes,” and claimed that the real Holly was a woman who lived downstairs from him in the early 1940s. One Bonnie Golightly filed a lawsuit for libel and invasion of privacy against Capote saying she was the inspiration, but she officially lost the “sweepstakes.” 18. HOLLY’S APARTMENT SOLD FOR $7.4 MILLION. YouTube The interiors of her place were shot on a Paramount soundstage, but the Upper East Side brownstone on East 71st Street that was used for exteriors hit the market in 2014 for $10 million. It was sold to ‘169 E. 71st LLC’ for $7.4 million in June 2015 .

Question: Who wrote the novella on which the film 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' was based?
Answer: Truman Capote