Audrey Hepburn Collection (DVD, 2002, 3-Disc Set)

This collector's edition DVD set is comprised of three definitive Audrey Hepburn classics: Roman Holiday; Sabrina; and Breakfast at Tiffany's. If you like to sit down for a theme night of films with your cohorts this set has the goods for a great "Audrey Hepburn" night, "Good Clothes" night or "Classic Films" night. Bring hankies and low-cal snackies (Hepburn's waistline will fill you with guilt).

"Roman Holiday" was Hepburn's breakthrough movie and her performance earned an Oscar for her first starring role. She shines as the poor little rich girl who escapes the oppressive duties of royal life for a romp through 1950's Rome. She is accompanied on her lark by Gregory Peck, a struggling reporter who thinks he's found his "big" story in Hepburn's princess. Their character arcs cross as the cynical, been-around reporter finds his integrity in Hepburn's trusting innocence and enthusiasm for life outside the castle's walls. The princess is a mouthpiece for royal family public relations platitudes and transforms into a woman with conviction and true grace. The film's bittersweet ending completes the film's promise of sparkling performances, authentic locations and giddy pace.

In "Sabrina" Hepburn was cast this time as the rich little poor girl. She portrays the daughter of a chauffeur on the grand Long Island Larrabee estate. It's a Cinderella story about how her transformation to a sophisticated stunner unwittingly becomes a stumbling block in Linus Larrabee's merger plans. A bottle blonde William Holden romps through the film as playboy David Larrabee, Sabrina's adolescent heartthrob. The middle-aged Humphrey Bogart plays Linus as a driven executive and Hepburn's unlikely romance interest. While Bogart pulls it off for the most part due to some very witty dialogue, he still seems a couple of decades too old for Hepburn's radiant and youthful Sabrina. It is rather characteristic of the film that it touches occassionally on darker themes then skips blithely away. The movie is well written with amusing lines for everyone. While the plot is unsurprising, it carries you along enjoyably to it's happy romantic ending. Also filmed in black and white, it manages to work for the picture's light and somewhat deeper moments. It's a great film to revel in the stylish creations of costume designer Edith Head, who also designed the clothes for "Roman Holiday." Both disks include a special "Edith Head - The Paramount Years" featurette for those drooling over the stunning outfits.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's," is based on a Truman Capote's novel about the troubled and free-spirited Holly Golightly who has breakfast at Tiffany's when she is feeling down. The darkest story of the three, Hepburn's Golightly lives by charming men into giving her "bathroom money." By today's standards she would probably be diagnosed as bi-polar with her manic ups and "blue meanie" downs. Holly develops a friendship with handsome neighbor George Peppard that brings her issues to crisis. There is some weird miscasting that includes Buddy Ebsen as Holly's ex-husband and Mickey Rooney as a perverse politically incorrect Japanese neighbor. The story is a bit uneven at times, but the dazzling combined pretty of Hepburn and Peppard will require cheap sunglasses. Pullout the tissues for the cat scene which always seems to get to everyone. This disk has less extras than the other two, but still remains a perfect aperitif for an Audrey Hepburn night out.