Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 American romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards from a screenplay by George Axelrod and based on the 1958 novella by Truman Capote. It stars Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, and Mickey Rooney. In the film, Holly Golightly, a naïve, eccentric socialite, meets a struggling writer who moves into her apartment building.
Development for the film began soon after the publication of Capote's novel, with several actors, including Marilyn Monroe, Shirley MacLaine, Kim Novak, Steve McQueen, Jack Lemmon, and Robert Wagner, considered for the lead roles prior to Hepburn and Peppard being cast. The screenplay, which deviates from Capote's novella (wherein both lead characters are gay), was originally completed by Axelrod and director John Frankenheimer, who was replaced by Edwards well into pre-production. Principal photography began on October 2, 1960, with filming taking place in New York City and at the Studios at Paramount in Hollywood, California. The film's music was composed by Henry Mancini and its theme song, "Moon River", was written by Johnny Mercer.
Breakfast at Tiffany's was released in the United States on October 5, 1961, by Paramount Pictures. It grossed $14 million worldwide and received critical acclaim for its music and Hepburn's style and performance, being nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Hepburn, and winning two (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture for Mancini and Best Song for Mancini and Mercer). The film also received numerous other accolades, although Rooney's portrayal of the character I. Y. Yunioshi garnered significant subsequent controversy for being perceived as racist. In 2012, the film was preserved in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Plot
Fending off a date from the night before, Holly Golightly visits the Tiffany & Co. flagship store but her date finds her at her apartment building. Holly, who cannot find her keys, buzzes her landlord, Mr. Yunioshi, to let her in. Holly meets her new neighbor Paul Varjak as she readies to leave for her weekly visit to incarcerated mobster Sally Tomato. Tomato's lawyer pays her $100 a week to deliver "the weather report". Holly meets Paul's "decorator" Emily Eustace Failenson, a wealthy older woman, whom Paul nicknames "2E". That night, when Holly crawls out onto the fire escape to elude an over-eager date, she sees 2E leaving Paul money and kissing him goodbye.
Holly visits Paul and learns he is a writer who has not had anything published in five years, and has no ribbon in his typewriter. Holly explains she is saving money to support her brother, Fred, after he completes his Army service. The pair fall asleep but are awakened when Holly has a nightmare about Fred. When Paul questions her about this, Holly chides him for prying. Holly buys Paul a typewriter ribbon to apologize, and invites him to a party at her apartment. There, he meets her Hollywood agent, Berman, who describes Holly's transformation from a country girl into a Manhattan "socialite", along with wealthy Brazilian politician José da Silva Pereira and the wealthy American Rusty Trawler.
Some time later, 2E enters Paul's apartment, worried about someone loitering outside the building. Paul confronts the elderly man who explains he is Holly's husband, Doc Golightly. Doc informs him that Holly ran away and he has come to take her back to rural Texas. After Paul reunites them, Holly informs Paul the marriage was annulled and she declines to return with Doc. After drinking at a club, Paul and Holly return to her apartment, where she tells him she plans to marry Trawler for his money. A few days later, Paul learns a short story inspired by Holly will be published. On the way to tell Holly, he sees a newspaper headline stating that Trawler has married someone else.
Holly and Paul agree to spend the day together, taking turns doing things each has never done before. At Tiffany's, he has the ring from a box of Cracker Jack engraved as a present for her. After spending the night together, Paul awakens to find Holly gone. 2E arrives and calmly accepts when he ends their affair, realizing he loves Holly. Returning from a date with José, Holly learns Fred has been killed and trashes her apartment.
right|thumb|Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly
Months later, Holly prepares to move to Brazil and marry José but is arrested in connection with a drug ring run by Sally Tomato. Berman pays her bail, and Paul picks her up in a cab with all her things, including her nameless pet cat and a breakup letter from José. Holly decides to go to Brazil anyway, breaking bail, as Paul declares that he loves her. Resistant to being in a relationship, Holly chastises him and releases the cat into an alley. Paul storms out of the cab, leaving the engraved ring with Holly. After she puts it on, Holly runs back to the alley, where Paul is looking for the cat. After Holly finds him, she cradles him in her coat and, smiling, walks into Paul's embrace.
Cast
<!--- Cast and order per opening tombstone credits --->
- Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly
- George Peppard as Paul Varjak
- Patricia Neal as Mrs. Emily Eustace "2E" Failenson
- Buddy Ebsen as Doc Golightly
- Martin Balsam as O.J. Berman
- Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi
- José Luis de Vilallonga as José da Silva Pereira
- John McGiver as Tiffany's salesman
- Dorothy Whitney as Mag Wildwood
- Stanley Adams as Rutherford "Rusty" Trawler
- Elvia Allman as the librarian
- Alan Reed as Sally Tomato
- Miss Beverly Hills as the stripper
- Claude Stroud as Sid Arbuck
- Orangey as Cat (Frank Inn, trainer)<!--- Frank Inn is included onscreen as part of the Cat credit--->
Production
Development
After Paramount producers Martin Jurow and Richard Shepherd optioned the film rights to Capote's novella, they hired Sumner Locke Elliott to write its screenplay. Although this was generally faithful to the source material, Jurow and Shepherd disliked it and he was replaced by George Axelrod. Axelrod, who previously made structural changes to the source material while adapting The Seven Year Itch (1955), worked with Jurow and Shepherd to deviate from Capote's novella. This included altering its plot and tone to be a romantic comedy, replacing its unnamed gay narrator with a named, heterosexual male love interest, adding new characters, and reducing the gay subtext.
Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly Golightly: he considered Monroe to best reflect the character, with Axelrod required to "tailor" the screenplay to accommodate Monroe. Monroe declined to star in the film, opting for The Misfits (1961), after theatre director Lee Strasberg advised her that playing a "lady of the evening" would be bad for her image. The role was then offered to Shirley MacLaine, who turned it down in favor of starring in Two Loves (1961), and Kim Novak also turned it down.
Capote was angry at the studio's eventual decision, remarking, "Paramount double-crossed me in every way and cast Audrey". Hepburn was hesitant to star in the film, citing difficulty playing an extroverted character. Steve McQueen was offered the role of Paul Varjak, but declined the offer due to being under contract with United Artists, and Jack Lemmon was also approached, but was unavailable. Robert Wagner was also considered. Eventually George Peppard was chosen, despite having appeared the previous year in the failed The Subterraneans.
The film's original director, John Frankenheimer, worked with Axelrod for three months on the project before he was replaced by Edwards after Hepburn's agent requested a higher-profile director. Edwards also supported Axelrod's changes to the novella, stating the changes made were for "audience approval". Most of the exteriors were filmed in New York City, and all of the interiors, except for portions set inside Tiffany & Co., were filmed on the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood.
According to one report, the film's on-location opening sequence outside Tiffany & Co. was extremely difficult to shoot, due to issues related to crowd control, Hepburn's dislike of pastries, and an accident that nearly resulted in the electrocution of a crew member. However, another report claims the sequence was captured rather quickly, owing to an unexpected lull in city traffic.