The other day I was with a group of girls discussing various women we admire. One of the girls mentioned Audrey Hepburn, a name that immediately conjures words such as “classy,” “elegant,” and “sophisticated.” Such terms to describe the actress are very appropriate. Though I did not like Breakfast at Tiffany’s as much as I thought I would, (it only proved that parties in the 60s were awkward/dorky-in-a-bad-way before the drug culture started to gain momentum) I was still impressed by the charm Audrey exuded. Hers is a certain kind of glamour that many try to emulate. I think it has something to do with the fact that Audrey wasn’t a “sexy” kind of beautiful, like that of Marilyn Monroe, but a different, more understated variety of beauty. The simplicity of this glamour is what speaks to a lot of women; that a woman doesn’t have to be a pin-up vixen, or have the looks of one, in order to be attractive.
After the discussion, I was very much interested in wanting to watch another Audrey Hepburn movie to see more of her characteristic appeal. I have always noticed Sabrina pop up when I browse through the endless sea of Netflix titles, but I have not had an inclination to watch it until now.
The film begins with a shot of a mansion, as Audrey’s voice is heard telling the audience a story that starts “Once upon a time…” I found this introduction, if clichéd, to be surprisingly cute and charming. Through this narration the audience is introduced to the central players of the film. The impressive estate is owned by the Larrabee family. The family has two sons, one of which is a professional playboy (William Holden.) The other, in contrast, is a professional workaholic (Humphrey Bogart.) The Larrabee’s have many people working for them, including a chauffeur and his daughter, Sabrina Fairchild, played by the one and only Audrey.
Sabrina has grown up around the affluent lifestyle of the Larrabee’s, but has never actually been a part of it. Instead she watches as lavish parties take place on an outdoor patio, dreaming about David Larrabee, the notorious playboy.
Aiming for the bad boy I see. *pff* Typical.
Unfortunately David pays little mind to Sabrina’s existence, and instead chases around other young women to Sabrina’s torment.
Sabrina is expected to leave for culinary school in France, but the night before her departure she is overcome with a horrible bout of hopelessness. She convinces herself that David is never going to love her like she loves him and the only way to handle the situation is to kill herself. She then proceeds to enter the Larrabee’s garage, turns on all of the expensive cars, and then tries to sleep in a cloud of monoxide poisoning. However the other Larrabee brother, Linus, manages to find the lovesick puppy just in time to save her life. Oh darn, I guess that means she has to go to Paris.
Two years pass. In that time David becomes engaged to a pretty young woman who just so happens to be the daughter of a wealthy business man. One day as David is driving around town he comes across a sophisticated woman standing alone by herself at the train station. Being the playboy that he is, David jumps at the chance to drive the woman to her destination. It is soon revealed that the mysterious young woman is non-other than Sabrina, completely transformed after her stay in Paris.
A shorter haircut and a pooch tends to do that to a woman.
Despite having matured greatly during her time abroad, Sabrina is still completely in love with David. Though she is well aware of David’s upcoming marriage, she is completely confident that her new cosmopolitan ways will win over his heart.
An engagement party for David and his fiancé is given shortly after Sabrina’s arrival. Instead of watching the party from afar as she normally would have done, Sabrina arrives at the party upon David’s invitation wearing an absolutely gorgeous, and dare I say iconic, ball gown.
I’m fairly positive that anything Audrey Hepburn has ever worn is considered iconic. If she were to show up at a party wearing nothing but a potato sack and a pair of crocs, *BAM* iconic.
Sabrina’s arrival truly is a Cinderella moment as every man at the party turns toward her wondering who she is. To her delight, David is completely smitten with her to the point where he forgets his fiancé even exists. He manages to steal a dance with Sabrina and the two plan to meet intimately in the indoor tennis courts.
There was once a time in my life where I too was smitten by a boy. Like Sabrina, I was also welcomed with unrequited love. Also like Sabrina, I dreamed of the day where I would blossom into an incredibly attractive woman. Unlike Sabrina, instead of fantasizing about using my newfound charms to win the boy’s heart, I realized I was too damn good for the idiot. I instead fantasized about flaunting my wares in a taunting fashion. These fantasies also included me singing “I’m Still Standing” with a tribe of background dancers performing an intimidating dance routine.
The aristocratic party in Sabrina is incredibly lavish and is the most perfect scene for Sabrina to make her dreams come true. As she runs off to the tennis courts to meet her Prince Charming, I couldn’t help but smile at her good fortune. (Even if I thought it would be best for her health if she stopped obsessing over the dumb schmuck.) Unfortunately, father Larrabee and Linus notice the attraction between the couple and round up David before he can meet Sabrina for their rendezvous.
The audience then learns that David’s marriage to the wealthy socialite will actually come to represent a business deal between the Larrabee’s and the bride’s family. But David doesn’t love his fiancé anymore – of course – and realizes that his heart has always belonged to Sabrina (says the playboy with three failed marriages already under his belt.)
At the tennis courts, Sabrina is finally received by Linus. He comes to talk with her about her budding relationship with David in hopes to discourage it. They talk, they walk, they sip on some champagne, and they dance a little bit. Linus even gives Sabrina a small peck of a kiss. My heart began to flutter at this point in the movie; what a wonderful ending! I suspected that soon Linus would realize that he was in love with Sabrina too, and Sabrina would realize that Linus was her Prince Charming all along!
I paused the movie for moment in order to get some water. That’s when I realized the film was only half-way over. What? What more does this story have to tell?
Quite a number of things: For instance, the peck that Linus gives Sabrina was apparently only step one of the master plan to get Sabrina out of David’s life. The plan in its entirety involves Linus making Sabrina fall in love with him instead, in hopes that he can eventually coax her into traveling to France with him. And by “with,” Linus really means “without, but given a hefty sum of cash to compensate for a broken heart and shattered dreams.”
What the heck Bogey? I don’t care how much you dislike her silly hat – you can’t just get rid of something by shipping it off to a foreign country. It’s rude.
Sabrina, although being in black-and-white, was released the same year as the last film I reviewed, Dial M for Murder. I mentioned how the second act in that film started to lag in comparison to the excitement of the first act. Unfortunately, Sabrina, follows this same pattern. I don’t know if it’s fair to say it is because it was released in 1954, and all films released in 1954 have awesome beginnings and sluggish endings, but it is something I noticed. (I notice tiny comparisons like this, and they make me wonder if they are just coincidences or mean something on a grander scale.) I believe the reason for Sabrina’s unenthusiastic last half is due to the fact that all of a sudden, the story shifts from being about the title character, Sabrina Fairchild, to the stuffy Linus Larrabee. The reason I fell in love with Sabrina’s story is because I could relate to her lovelorn plight and I was very interested to see how her fairy tale would end. If the film had been about Linus Larrabee from the onset, I probably would have been able to sympathize and care more for the character. But the film is called Sabrina, not Linus, and I after the first half of the movie I was expecting a love story that was catered to the “little girl who dreams of her Prince Charming” part of me, not the “I’m never going to find true love because the real world is no place for dreamers, but maybe this new person in my life can change all that” side of my personality. (I actually prefer those types of films, so honestly a film focused on Linus wouldn’t be so incredibly boring to me. But like I said, I was promised cake, I became really excited to eat cake, and at the last minute was served ice cream. Excuse me for being a little upset.)
The ending is cute and almost makes up for the previous act. Overall the film is very delightful and even garnered some genuine laughs from me. Imagine that, a young person like me finding jokes in an old film funny! I love it when that happens – it restores my faith that I have good taste. I just wish the whole film was as delightful and magical. Though I suppose the aspects I did like made it worthwhile. And I got to soak in Audrey’s fabled presence, which is always a treat. That dress certainly was absolutely stunning.
Rating: 4/5
***
Sabrina
1954
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden
Writers: Billy Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, Ernest Lehman
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Morticia the Cat 