Sabrina (1954 film)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Sabrina'' (''Sabrina Fair''/''La Vie en Rose'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1954 American romantic
comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film directed by
Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Hol ...
, adapted for the screen by Wilder,
Samuel A. Taylor Samuel A. Taylor (June 13, 1912 – May 26, 2000) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Biography Born Samuel Albert Tanenbaum, in a Jewish family, in Chicago, Illinois, Taylor made his Broadway debut as author of the play ''The Hap ...
and
Ernest Lehman Ernest Paul Lehman (December 8, 1915 – July 2, 2005) was an American screenwriter. He was nominated six times for Academy Awards for his screenplays during his career, but did not win. At the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001, he received an Ho ...
from Taylor's 1953 play ''
Sabrina Fair ''Sabrina Fair'' (subtitled "''A Woman of the World''") is a romantic comedy written by Samuel A. Taylor and produced by the Playwrights' Company. It ran on Broadway for a total of 318 performances, opening at the National Theatre on November ...
''. The picture stars Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn and
William Holden William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...
. This was Wilder's last film released by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
, ending a 12-year business relationship between him and the company. In 2002, the film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


Plot

Sabrina Fairchild is the young daughter of the Larrabee family's
chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...
, Thomas, and has been in love with David Larrabee all her life. David, a three-times-married non-working playboy, has never paid romantic attention to Sabrina. Since she has lived for years on the Larrabees' Long Island, New York, estate with her father, to him she is still a child. Eavesdropping on a party at the mansion the night before she is to leave to attend the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris, Sabrina watches, follows, and listens as David entices yet another woman into a dark and vacant indoor tennis court. Distraught, she leaves her father a suicide note and then starts all eight cars in the closed garage in order to kill herself. She is passing out from the fumes when Linus, David's older brother, opens the door, discovers her, and carries her back to her quarters above the garage when she does pass out. After two years in Paris, Sabrina returns home an attractive sophisticated woman. When her father is delayed from picking her up at the station, flirtatious David, passing by, offers her a lift without recognizing her. She accepts. Once David realizes who she is, he is quickly drawn to Sabrina and invites her to join him at a party at the mansion, and then later invites her to the indoor tennis court. When Linus sees this, he fears that David's imminent marriage to Elizabeth Tyson may be endangered. If that engagement were broken it would ruin a profitable opportunity for a great corporate merger between Larrabee Industries and Elizabeth's very wealthy father's business. Instead of confronting David about his irresponsibility, Linus pretends to sympathize with him. Linus manipulates David to sit down on champagne glasses he has placed in his pockets, and David is incapacitated for a few days. Linus now takes David's place with Sabrina on the pretext that “it’s all in the family.” Linus and Sabrina fall in love, though neither will admit it. Linus’s plan is to pretend to accompany Sabrina back to Paris on an
ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...
but then not join her on the ship, getting her away from David, the family, and the now-threatened merger. However, when Linus instead confesses these intentions to Sabrina, she is hurt but understands the logic of the tactic. She agrees to sail the next day to live in Paris, but without Linus's offered money and other inducements. The following morning Linus has second thoughts, and decides to send David to Paris with Sabrina. This means calling off David's wedding with Elizabeth and the big Tyson deal, and Linus schedules a meeting of the Larrabee board to announce this. David doesn't sail, and enters the meeting room at the last minute. He shows that he will marry Elizabeth after all, and helps Linus recognize his own feelings for Sabrina by insulting her and letting Linus punch him in the face. Linus, who has already arranged a car and a tugboat to wait for David, assists him to rush off and joins Sabrina's ship before it leaves the harbor. Linus seeks out Sabrina on board after providing an inside-joke hint that he is there, and they sail away to Paris together.


Cast


Production

Initially,
Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
was considered for the role of Linus, but he declined,Jaynes, Barbara Grant; Trachtenberg, Robert
''Cary Grant: A Class Apart''
Burbank, California:
Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...
(TCM) and
Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...
. 2004.
and the role was taken by Bogart. Best known for playing tough detectives and adventurers, Bogart was cast against type as a smart businessman gradually transformed into a romantic lead. During production of the film, Hepburn and Holden entered into a brief but passionate and much-publicized love affair. Bogart had originally wanted his wife Lauren Bacall to be cast as Sabrina. He complained that Hepburn required too many takes to get her dialogue right and pointed out her inexperience.Ben Mankiewicz of Turner Classic Movies. Bogart was 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 a performance that critics generally considered successful. Bogart later apologized to Wilder for his behavior on set, citing problems in his personal life. Wilder began shooting before the script was finished, and Lehman was writing all day to complete it. Eventually he would finish a scene in the morning, deliver it during lunch, and filming of it would begin in the afternoon. Although
Edith Head Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy's history. Head is cons ...
won an
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
for Best Costumes, most of Hepburn's outfits are rumored to have been created by
Hubert de Givenchy Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (; 21 February 1927 – 10 March 2018) was a French aristocrat and fashion designer who founded the luxury fashion and perfume house of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the ...
and chosen personally by the star. 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 Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
in his ''salon''. The location used to portray the Larrabee family's mansion in
Glen Cove, New York Glen Cove is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Nassau County, New York, United States, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island. At the 2020 United States Census, the city population was 28,365 as of th ...
was 'Hill Grove', the home of George Lewis in
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
, California. This mansion was later demolished during the 1960s. The location used to portray the Glen Cove train station was the Glen Cove train station on the
Oyster Bay Branch The Oyster Bay Branch is a rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch splits from the Main Line just east of Mineola station, and runs north and east to Oyster Bay. The bra ...
of the Long Island Rail Road. The building at 30 Broad Street in Manhattan's financial district was used as the location for the headquarters of the Larrabee company.


Reception

The film opened in New York and Los Angeles on September 23, 1954 and was number one at the US box office for two weeks. Bosley Crowther, writing for
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
on its original release, lauded the film, thinking it, "in our wistful estimation, the most delightful comedy-romance in years". Crowther also offered praise to Audrey Hepburn's performance, declaring "she is wonderful in it — a young lady of extraordinary range of sensitive and moving expressions within such a frail and slender frame". Critical reception to ''Sabrina'' has been uniformly positive.
James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...
gave it 3 out of 4 stars and thought that it "will leave almost all viewers, even those as cold as Linus, with a smile on their lips and a warm glow in their hearts".
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
noted that "the Script is long on glibly quipping dialog, dropped with a seemingly casual air, and broadly played situations. The splendid trouping delivers them style. Leavening the chuckles are tugs at the heart." On film aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of critics have given the film a positive review, with an average of 7.8/10. The critical consensus reads "With its humorous script and its stars' immense charm, ''Sabrina'' remains a resonant romantic gem."


Awards and nominations


Remakes

There have been Indian adaptations of the film. ''
Manapanthal ''Manapanthal'' () is 1961 Indian Tamil-language romance film, directed by V. N. Reddy, produced by T. R. Ramanna and written by Thuraiyur K. Moorthy, with music by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy. The film stars S. S. Rajendran, S. A. Ashokan, B. S ...
'' (1961) was a
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
version, followed in the same year by a
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...
version, ''
Intiki Deepam Illale ''Intiki Deepam Illale'' () is a 1961 Indian Telugu-language romance film, produced by T. R. Ramanna and directed by V. N. Reddy. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, B. Saroja Devi and Jaggayya, with music composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy. The fi ...
''. In addition ''Sabrina'' was the inspiration for the successful
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
film ''
Yeh Dillagi ''Yeh Dillagi'' () is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Naresh Malhotra and produced by Yash Chopra for his production company Yash Raj Films. Based on the 1954 American film '' Sabrina'', its story revolves on ...
'' (1994), although with some changes to the plot. ''Sabrina'' was remade in Turkish as ''Şoförün Kızı'' in 1965. In 1995 there was a Hollywood
remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
from
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
.


References

Further reading * (Candid photographs of Audrey, on and off the set, taken by Mark Shaw for ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine during production of the film.) * (''Life'' article on Hepburn including some of the photos from the ''Sabrina'' set.)


External links

* * * * * *
Reel Classics page includes a ''Sabrina'' poster and Hepburn's photo from the film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabrina (1954 Film) 1954 films 1954 comedy-drama films 1954 romantic comedy films 1954 romantic drama films 1950s romantic comedy-drama films American black-and-white films American films based on plays American romantic comedy-drama films 1950s English-language films Films about social class Films directed by Billy Wilder Films set in country houses Films set in Long Island Films set in New York (state) Films set in Paris Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in New York City Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award Films with screenplays by Billy Wilder Films with screenplays by Ernest Lehman Paramount Pictures films United States National Film Registry films 1950s American films