Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman (P.S.)
Author:
Genres: History, Humor & Entertainment
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: History, Humor & Entertainment
Book Type: Paperback
The best things about this book are the "might have beens." A script that could have been a more faithful adaptation of Truman Capote's novella. Marilyn Monroe as Holly Golightly. Tony Curtis as Paul. Almost anyone in the world except Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi ...
As a gossipy and, it seems, well researched "making of" book, this was excellent. I was however, not impressed by Wasson's "dawn of the modern woman" thesis, which he bangs on about throughout the book, and which, in my opinion, was quite a stretch. BaT, the novella, is definitely a minor masterpiece, a brave voice in the wilderness of the 1950s for gay themes and feminism (sort of: I think we can have hours of fun & enjoyment debating whether Capote was any sort of feminist, or indeed believed in ANYTHING but one Master T. Capote ...), and while BaT, the movie, was a sorry, bowdlerized reflection of its source text, it couldn't help but carry forward some of the genuinely transgressive elements from the book, no matter how hard Blake Edwards and his fellow adaptors worked to turn it into rom/com pap.
However, "dawn of the modern woman" that does not make ... In fact, I would argue, based on the information that Wasson provides, that the movie represents the last gasp of certain toxic stereotypes: the young woman who has to prostitute herself to survive, the high flyer woman whose success makes her so unlovable that she has to humiliate herself with a narcissistic jerk. And Mr. Yunioshi ... let's never forget Mr. Yunioshi ...
Just consider this little takeaway factoid: there were two versions of the iconic Givenchy dress that Holly Golightly wears in the opening scene. There had to be two, because the hem of the "A" version was so tight, she couldn't walk in the dress.
So much for "dawn of the modern woman."
PS -- one nice thing I learned was that the college I attended in NYC was just about one block east of Holly and Paul's brownstone digs ... How did I never know that?
As a gossipy and, it seems, well researched "making of" book, this was excellent. I was however, not impressed by Wasson's "dawn of the modern woman" thesis, which he bangs on about throughout the book, and which, in my opinion, was quite a stretch. BaT, the novella, is definitely a minor masterpiece, a brave voice in the wilderness of the 1950s for gay themes and feminism (sort of: I think we can have hours of fun & enjoyment debating whether Capote was any sort of feminist, or indeed believed in ANYTHING but one Master T. Capote ...), and while BaT, the movie, was a sorry, bowdlerized reflection of its source text, it couldn't help but carry forward some of the genuinely transgressive elements from the book, no matter how hard Blake Edwards and his fellow adaptors worked to turn it into rom/com pap.
However, "dawn of the modern woman" that does not make ... In fact, I would argue, based on the information that Wasson provides, that the movie represents the last gasp of certain toxic stereotypes: the young woman who has to prostitute herself to survive, the high flyer woman whose success makes her so unlovable that she has to humiliate herself with a narcissistic jerk. And Mr. Yunioshi ... let's never forget Mr. Yunioshi ...
Just consider this little takeaway factoid: there were two versions of the iconic Givenchy dress that Holly Golightly wears in the opening scene. There had to be two, because the hem of the "A" version was so tight, she couldn't walk in the dress.
So much for "dawn of the modern woman."
PS -- one nice thing I learned was that the college I attended in NYC was just about one block east of Holly and Paul's brownstone digs ... How did I never know that?
