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The Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection (Roman Holiday / Sabrina / Breakfast at Tiffany's)

The Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection (Roman Holiday / Sabrina / Breakfast at Tiffany's)

List Price: $28.99
Your Price: $21.74
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: It is wonderful that they put all of these videos in one collection. Now everyone can buy them for theirs. I love each and everyone of these movies. They are part of the best of Audrey's carrer. There is not much more I can say but wonderful!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Charm, Style, and Grace
Review: This film trilogy eloquently captures the spirit and essence of a truly gifted actress. From her naive innocence in "Roman Holiday," to her subtle poise in "Sabrina," and her elegant sophistication in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," Audrey Hepburn personified charm, style, and grace. She could express her vulnerability with a tremor in her voice or a pensive look beneath narrow, furrowed brows. She could then turn playful with a winsome smile and a coquettish peek from beneath a stylish hat. She possessed a bewitching, almost regal femininity with her soft, cultured voice, and sleek, sensuous beauty.

Her chaste romances always simmered beneath a veneer of gentile civility. Whether surrounded by Gregory Peck, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, or George Peppard, she was at once poignant, sentimental, and mischievous. No actress will ever capture the heart nor the imagination quite like Audrey Hepburn...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: How can you not love Audrey Hepburn?
Review: This is one great set. It has two of my favorite Audrey Hepburn Movies (Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany's.) I would of preferred My Fair Lady over Sabrina, but I am not complaining. Three great movies[at a great price], what a deal.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Audrey, Bogey, Moon River...and...You!
Review: This review refers to the Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection...

Can you think of anyone better to spend a weekend with than Audrey Hepburn? And with her, she brings some wonderful gifts. She brings, Gregory Peck, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, 'The Mouth of Truth' (this is one of my all time favorite movies scenes), "La Vie En Rose", "Cat" and "Moon River"..sigh.

You don't need me to tell you, what a gift Audrey Hepburn was to the world, or how wonderful these films are. Pure Movie Heaven... "Roman Holiday"(1953), "Sabrina"(1954) and "Breakfast At Tiffany's"(1961) are three films with all those great cinematic moments, that once seen, will never be forgotten. They are directed to perfection by Hollywood legends, William Wyler, Billy Wilder and Blake Edwards. Audrey Hepburn will tug at your heartstrings, she'll make you smile, laugh and cry. The stories are very romantic, funny, dramatic, and poignant. The music is wonderful, and the locations charming.

Still haven't pushed that "buy now" link yet? Okay here's more..The DVDs are fabulous. I was especially impressed with the restoration of the Black and Whites. Sabrina and Roman Holiday look brand new. Crisp, sharp and clean. Breakfast At Tiffany's looks great in widescreen with excellent color and has the options of DD5.1 or stereo. It may also be viewed in French and has English subtitles for deaf and hearing impaired viewers, as does RH and Sabrina. Not much in the way of Special Features for Breakfast, but Roman Holiday and Sabrina have some great ones. RH includes an entertaining and informative documentary "Remembering RH" with quotes from the cast, a featurette on the restoration, an Edith Head featurette and a photo gallery. Sabrina, also includes a documentary and a photo gallery. Each disc is in their own keep case, with scene selection insert, and the price is right for these three classics, sure to be viewed over and over again.

Ride along with Audrey and Bogey as she serenades you with "La Vie En Rose"... as Sabrina's says... "It's the closest thing to heaven"...Laurie

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: How can you help but love Audrey Hepburn?
Review: What a wonderful collection for a rainy Saturday afternoon! It has been said that two women had the most influence on fashion in the last 100 years: Coco Chanel, and Audrey Hepburn. If you wear a little black dress, big black sunglasses, or a trenchcoat, you have Audrey Hepburn to thank! From the young, fresh face in Roman Holiday, to the transformation to feminine grace in Sabrina, to the ideal vision of woman in Breakfast, Audrey is beautiful. Add Peck and Bogart and you cannot miss!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Three Classics...One Audrey Hepburn...Mix Well
Review: What could be more pleasurable than watching screen legend Audrey Hepburn in her most career-defining roles? This is a great three-movie set at a great price, as all three are deserved romantic comedy classics directed by masters - William Wyler, Billy Wilder and Blake Edwards. Her natural charm and grace are pervasive throughout and further proof that she was among the most consistently affecting of actresses. In my humble opinion, there will be no one like her again.

In a beautifully restored print, 1953's "Roman Holiday" provides a most enchanting introduction to the then-24 year old actress thanks mainly to director William Wyler's expert direction and Dalton Trumbo's sweetly observant script. In hindsight, it is a modest performance compared to Hepburn's later work, but Wyler knew enough to let her natural breeding serve its purpose in conveying the carriage of a princess. It works wonderfully, as she is perfectly believable as a royal who experiences her first glimpse into the world outside her hermetically sealed world. The revelation here is really Gregory Peck, handsome and stalwart as always but in this movie quite relaxed with a surprising light comedy touch. It is actually his Joe Bradley that goes through the dramatic character arc that makes the ending so bittersweet. Even though this film is hardly mentioned in the same breath as his other classics like "The Best Years of Our Lives", Wyler's humanistic touch is everywhere - from the comic haircutting scene with the smitten barber to the famous Mouth of Truth scene where Peck pretends to lose his hand to the concluding press conference, which turns into a dance of acting nuance and unspoken feelings. This DVD has the most extras, including an excellent documentary on the production itself (watch for Hepburn's first Hollywood screen test) and other short films on the film's restoration process and Edith Head's contribution to Hollywood costuming.

With its cynical humor and the European-based sensibilities around different classes, 1954's "Sabrina" is most definitely a Billy Wilder picture. The film is not quite in the same league of other Wilder classics like "Sunset Boulevard", "Some Like It Hot" or "The Apartment", but on its own, it's an airy souffle of a comedy served on a perfectly lovely warming dish. What I like most about this movie is that Wilder keeps the fairy tale trappings of the story grounded in mordant wit and shrewd observations about business mergers, bribery and class snobbery. This is what keeps this movie surprisingly fresh. Torn between the characters played by her leading men, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, Hepburn as a chauffeur's daughter is charming. This was her first introduction to Givenchy fashion onscreen, and the difference in her appearance between "Roman Holiday" and "Sabrina" is actually more startling than the one in the movie itself. It is no wonder she became such a style icon from that point forward. While Bogart is too dour in his role of older brother Linus (a role pegged for Cary Grant who canceled at the last minute, damn the luck), Holden is hilarious as shallow, ne'er-do-well younger brother David. The ending is inevitable, but leave it to Wilder to mix sweet and sour better than a Cantonese restaurant. There is a brief making-of documentary on this DVD.

1961's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" has the most contemporary and provocative story of the three, yet it seems the most dated perhaps because director Blake Edwards tries awfully hard to capture the upscale bohemian atmosphere of early sixties New York. In a role that author Truman Capote wanted to cast Marilyn Monroe, Hepburn is delightful as the aptly named Holly Golightly and somehow dances around the fact that her character is a high-priced call girl through her sense of style, fun and vulnerability. Holly's fear of commitment is the crux of this story, even though she is hopelessly drawn to a failed writer played by George Peppard, who is kept in fine style by a wealthy matron played with conniving sophistication by Patricia Neal. I still think Peppard is the weak link here as he doesn't have the light touch required to keep up with Holly's shenanigans. The rest of the cast can be best described as eccentric, in particular, Buddy Ebsen (pre-Jed Clampett) as Holly's backwoods first husband and Mickey Rooney as the Japanese neighbor upstairs. As a Japanese-American myself, I have to admit I find Rooney's Japanese make-up a bit much, but his accent is spot-on and his casting consistent with the loopiness of this film. Henry Mancini's romantic music provides the perfect accompaniment, and Hepburn's plaintive, ukelele-strummed version of "Moon River" is still the most definitive. Of the three films, this one has the most romantic ending, and the rain-soaked kiss in the alley is just about as lovely a scene as you are likely to see in movies. Sadly there are no extras on this DVD other than the trailer.

Highly recommended obviously for fans of Hepburn but also for those who can appreciate Hollywood classics in the romantic comedy genre.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Meet the cat, ride the Vespa and visit the greenhouse
Review: Where have charm and romance gone ? If you need a pause from the rough world you live in, these three movies will do the trick !

It is hard to sum up three movie in few words (pictures would more appropriate) but here it goes :

- Breakfast at Tiffany : crazy charming girl living with a cool and smart cat meets handsome and intelligent man...will they ever eat breakfast together ?

- Sabrina : you probably saw the Julia Ormond-Harrison Ford remake...you know the plot then: ugly duckling falls in love with wealthy man, goes abroad to forget him (her dad is his chauffeur so it would be quite improper for her to really, really fall in love with Mr. $) and comes back a beautiful woman...but the wealthy man is not a prince and his brother is...you know the story. However, the Audrey Hepburn version is much more charismatic: maybe you should watch this movie again. And visit the greenhouse...

- Roman holiday : for all the little girls who ever dreamed of being princesses...and big girls who enjoy Italy, Vespa and Gelati...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Only time Blake Edwards finds himself in such good company
Review: You can tell this package is a mixed bag just from the case covers: Sabrina is part of the "Audrey Hepburn Collection," Roman Holiday is part of the "Paramount Collection" and Breakfast at Tiffany's is part of the "Widescreen Collection." The individual packages for Sabrina and Roman Holiday feature a copyright date of 2002, but Breakfast goes all the way back to 1999. As you'd expect, this older transfer fails to measure up to the other two, both of which are in glorious black and white and look probably as good or better than the films looked at their premiers all those years ago.

First up: Roman Holiday, which according to the little sticker on the outside of the box has been "meticulously restored frame by frame." It shows! The viewer is treated to William Wyler's lush, grandiose frame composition and gorgeous lighting. Though not as jaw-droppingly beautiful as many of the shots in Sabrina, the look of Roman Holiday will leave you breathless. That's a good thing since so much time is spent, not in character or plot development, but in showing the audience the sights of Rome. One of the first films to double as a travelogue, Roman Holiday wouldn't work half so well without the sharp details and the subtle shades of blacks and greys throughout. Hepburn's character comes across as very natural and charming and Peck is a revelation. This film was shot before he was obligated to play "Gregory Peck" in every movie. Though the humor is played a little too broadly in spots, this film's a good one and the chemistry between Hepburn and Peck is wonderful. Incidental details like a taxi driver crying like a baby to communicate the Italian word "bambino" and a landlord who hauls out his old rifle to guard Hepburn's room complete a picture already delightful, subtle and moving.

The next film, Sabrina, is the true masterpiece of this set. With cinematography that looks like it came from Citizen Kane, supporting characters with pop and dazzle, and writing that never fails to astound, Sabrina is Billy Wilder's second-best film (after Sunset Blvd.) Where parts of Some Like It Hot and Seven Year Itch fall flat, Sabrina fires on all cylinders all the time. Bogart plays against type and truly shows how versatile an actor he really was. The oft-neglected William Holden is perfect as always. (Compare his performance here with his performance in Stalag 17, Sunset Blvd., The Wild Bunch and Network. You'll find no overlapping.) Audrey Hepburn has never been so charming as in Sabrina. Unlike films like Breakfast at Tiffany's, none of the emotion here seems forced. Instead, the gentle and exquisite beauty of the scenes is matched by genuinely likeable characters. First-rate writing, oddball "throwaway" details like Bogart's resilient plastic, and a romantic resolution as moving as anything in Henry James makes Sabrina an underappreciated joy. The bright new transfer will truly take your breath away, especially when Hepburn is up a tree, gazing wistfully at the party lights just over the hedge. The final embrace on board the ocean liner is still unmatched in terms of romance. It communicates everything without any dialogue or any plot device such as a drenched cat.

Finally, Blake Edwards' Breakfast at Tiffany's. And I ask, how could we ever lump Blake Edwards in with directors such as Billy Wilder and William Wyler? Surely, this is the only instance in which he could even be mentioned in the same breath with these two giants. A favorite movie of wispy boys and starry-eyed girls, Breakfast at Tiffany's is the weakest of the three. Yes, Audrey Hepburn shines in it, but Mickey Rooney's racist and unfunny and George Peppard's a humorless dud. Watching this movie again, I was struck how many of the events were completely inessential (Buddy Ebsen's Doc, for instance). It's the kind of movie people remember fondly simply because for many, it's the first movie in which they were exposed to Ms. Hepburn's charm. She's perky and likable in spite of the rest of the film, not because of it. On the whole, it doesn't really work. The "wild bohemian" party is attended by a cast of conservatively dressed squares (all a little long in tooth for such activities), punctuated by a few cartoons like Mag Wildwood and Rusty Trawler. The broad strokes here make Mr. Edwards' later forays into the adventures of Inspector Clouseau look like the work of Truffaut. Sure, the cat steals the show at the end, and the soaked threesome in the alley is bound to squeeze a tear out of even the most jaded viewer, but in order for this scene to work on a purely emotional level, you've got to distance yourself from nearly everything that's gone before. The DVD quality here is abysmal compared to the other two; in fact, the trailer looks better in places than the actual movie! Note also that the voiceover narrator from 1960 pronounces Truman Capote's name like "compote" rather than "Quixote." Nothing like a little care and attention for the writer, eh?

My advice: Buy the set. Everyone should have a copy of Breakfast at Tiffany's around, just so you don't have to rent it when you forget how slipshod it really is. And the other two movies-Sabrina and Roman Holiday-are films you'll want to watch again and again, enjoying them even more with each subsequent viewing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An absolutely incredible collection of movies!
Review: You cannot blame Audrey Hepburn or anybody else involved with these movies for stereotypical portrayals that were socially acceptable at the time. One review below complains about the asian played by Mickey Rooney, but come on! keep in mind that almost every American found this portrayal completely acceptable if not funny when this movie came out. If anything, this is a great representation of our culture at the time that the moviemakers didn't even mean to do--our shallow and xenophobic society. This would only be a problem if you still to this day agreed with the portrrayal, which most people don't. Breakfast at Tiffany's is an absolutely fantastic movie, as is Sabrina and Roman Holiday.

The only real problem with this set is that it doesn't include My Fair Lady, as the VHS version does (although the VHS version doesn't include Sabrina--equally a crime), easily belonged in the set along side the others. Roman Holiday, however, is the best movie Audrey Hepburn was ever in (kind of a shame that it was one of her first appearances ever, that nothing in the rest of her career, no matter how great, ever compared). Roman Holiday is, like the others, outdated if you try to put it into modern context. If you place it in the context of the time that it was filmed, however, it is amazing what was done. This movie stands the test of time because it is a story of love that is somehow more full and pure than the love stories in movies today.

I'm also (as are many people) completely biased because I'm in love with Audrey Hepburn, but oh well...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If you think classic beauty is a thing of the past
Review: You're right! There will never be anyone like Audrey Hepburn, EVER!!! She is elegance personified. She is at her peak in "Roman Holiday" (royal, mischievous, sentimental, vivacious) and her spirit lives on in her other movies. I will forever blow out the paper wrapping of a plastic straw, and eat gelato on the Spanish Steps everytime I visit Rome.


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