This was at least the third time I have seen this film. It is a funny story, so typical of Audrey Hepburn's films. She stars as a type writer girl who never assumes a prime role. William Holden, who was also in Sunset Boulevard, is the main character. He is a screenwriter meeting an ever closer deadline. That deadline forces him into an all night session which yields a poor screenplay full of cliche happenings that make for poor screenwriting, but funny dramatic play.
I especially like the beginning when Holden seems to find it impossible to make a start at any screenplay. He starts and scraps and starts and scraps anything that is acceptable copy. The character that Tony Curtis plays is memorable if not very funny. Especially when he turns into cop number two and shoots Holden while he is making his great escape from the the detective hot on his trail. Hepburn plays a funny femme, not as funny and glamorous as Breakfast at Tiffany's but fun still. Clearly she was in the twilight of her acting career. This film came after her more noted roles in Breakfast and other films like Roman Holiday.
I first watched this film as part of a collection of Hepburn films. I was living in New York and my attention was grabbed by all of the Hepburn pictures at poster stands around the city. So many of her films feature New York and Paris that is seems like her type of film has become obsolete. I wish there were more films like Paris When it Sizzles. The humor and the romance of places like Paris and New York are so underplayed in contemporary cinema, it makes me long for the days of a classy cinema that has given way to action scenes and soft porn. It is too bad the Audrey found it hard to find work later in her career.
Her films will still be around for years to come for anyone looking for funny, melodramas of an era in cinema that has passed.
No comments:
Post a Comment