We've swooned over clips of Ms. Hepburn singing Moon River, combed through the Internet for pictures of actress with her pet fawn and donned black dresses with four-strand pearls.
Now there's something new to add to the Audrey lure. Author Sam Wasson is out this week with a new book that presents the woman behind the little black dress. His book, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M., gives a behind-the-scenes account of the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's.
For example:
Truman Capote desperately wanted Marilyn Monroe, but Marilyn's people thought the role was too saucy for the actress. (Afterall, Holly Golightly was a "lady of the evening.")
Director Blake Edwards filmed multiple endings;
And Hepburn felt very conflicted about balancing her role as mother and movie star.
"Mr. Wasson approaches his subject from many angles," Janet Maslin writes in today's New York Times. "His book winds up as well-tailored as the kind of little black dress that 'Breakfast at Tiffany’s' made famous. And, yes, there’s lots to say here about that dress’s widespread influence. Audiences used to brightly costumed homebodies and Doris Day-type career girls were in for a big, chic, liberating surprise when Holly and her elegant simplicity came along."
I can't wait to read this book. I already know I'll love it. It never ceases to amaze me that -- five decades after the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's -- we all still adore Audrey,
perhaps now more than ever.
Anyone want to go with me to the bookstore?
