July 9, 2022 – This light, fluffy romantic comedy is powered by the thousand watt smile of Audrey Hepburn and the easy charm of George Peppard as they dance ever closer to each other through a series of madcap, chaotic misadventures.

The prolific Blake Edwards (“The Pink Panther” and “A Shot in the Dark”) directs this 1961 romantic comedy, based on a novella written by Truman Capote (“In Cold Blood”). While the story does finally get serious at the very end, the overall mood of the story is frothy and bubbly for the most part.

Hepburn (“My Fair Lady”) plays Holly Golightly, a beautiful woman who flits like a butterfly through the New York social scene, seemingly existing on charm, and the generosity of men, including mob boss Sally Tomato (played by Alan Reed, best known as the voice of Fred Flintstone) who she visits every Thursday at Sing Sing, passing along his “weather reports” to his lawyer.

We first see Holly, dressed to the nines, eating breakfast from a paper sack in front of Tiffany's, the place where she feels most at peace. When she returns to her apartment, she annoys her neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi (played by Hollywood veteran Mickey Rooney) and hides out with her new neighbor, Paul Varjak (George Peppard, of “How the West Was Won”). Paul is a writer who is secretly a kept man, bankrolled by a wealthy woman, Emily Eustace Failenson played by Patricia Neal (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”).

Holly quickly learns Paul's secret, but it takes him much longer to learn Golightly's secret. He finds out some of her secret when Holly's former husband, Doc (Buddy Ebsen of “The Beverly Hillbillies” TV show) shows up. Paul learns Holly's real name and real background from Doc, along with her deep relationship with her brother, currently serving in the Army. Holly has been cooking up a plan to marry a rich man and go live south of the border in luxury with her brother.

None of this makes much sense, unless the real purpose of Holly's plans is to avoid real intimacy with anyone, including Paul, or her house cat with no name. She leads Paul on a merry chase, including getting arrested, and hosting wild parties at her apartment, where he meets many of Holly's numerous friends, including Hollywood friend O.J. Berman (Martin Balsam of “Psycho”) and a couple of rich men Holly hopes to marry Rusty Trawler (Stanley Adams of “Lilies of the Field”) and (José Luis de Vilallonga of “Juliet of the Spirits”).

Holly and Paul cruise along through these misadventures with style and ease, but eventually, there is a reckoning when Paul decides he is not going to be strung along anymore. He confronts both Holly and Emily Eustace Failenson, leading to some considerable drama.

Both Hepburn and Peppard are utterly charming in this romantic comedy. Their trip to Tiffany's is highlighted by a delightful encounter with a smart, dour salesman played by John McGiver, who, as always, has a formidable and unforgettable screen presence. Mickey Rooney, who appeared in over 300 movies and TV productions over a 95 year period, gives an embarrassing performance, playing the kind of stereotypical Asian character that used to be common in Hollywood movies. Say what you want about cancel culture, but at least we don't have to see this kind of thing in Hollywood movies anymore.

If this was just a silly romantic comedy, it would be completely forgettable, but the story has some meat on its bones, the the performances by Hepburn and Peppard make this a movie worth watching, at least once, anyway, if nothing more than to see what all the fuss is about. This film rates a C+.

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