Monday, September 19, 2011

Sabrina (1954)




The plot to Sabrina is nothing new. A young girl named Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) lives with her chauffer father on the estate of the Larrabee family. Ever since she was little Sabrina has had an unrequited crush on the youngest son David (William Holden). David is the typical rich playboy who can have any woman he wants and has been married three times. He never really takes notice of Sabrina since she is just a young girl and the daughter of a member of the help. Sabrina follows David around during a party watching him dance with a rich, pretty young woman.
            Sabrina is sent off to Paris to attending a cooking school for three years. While away she longs for David so much that her cooking suffers. When she returns home her father is late to pick her up from the train station. David is driving home past the station when he sees Sabrina but does not even recognize her he just saw a beautiful girl and picked her up. Now David is totally head over heels for her and she could not imagine anything better.
            The rest of the family are not as happy as David is about his new object of affection. His older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) has arranged for business for David to marry so the families’ companies can merge. Linus does everything he can to make sure that Sabrina and his brother are kept apart but not shockingly Linus begins to fall for the young girl himself.
            I was not particularly thrilled with the plot I feel like I have seen it a hundred times in movies. I also did not particularly care for the cast. William Holden I think was a great actor and so was Humphrey Bogart but I think they were both terribly miscast. Bogart was fifty-five he was way too old to be Audrey Hepburn’s man at the end. I did like seeing Bogart in a light role but it would have been better had he gotten his way and Lauren Bacall had been cast or someone close to his age. Holden would have been the better choice to play Linus and someone younger than him cast to play David. Audrey Hepburn never impresses me in any film I see her in. I cannot tell you exactly why I do not like Audrey Hepburn I cannot put my finger on it. I do not find her acting that great all but I do respect her as a style icon.
          Speaking of style, Edith Head is given credit as costume designer for the film and even won an Academy Award for it but it was actually Hubert de Givenchy who designed the costumes for Audrey Hepburn. Her outfits and gowns are absolutely stunning in this film. 
            Sabrina is a cute, light film. It is a great classic film which I cannot see why because of the boring, overused plot and the casting but I would not say to blow it off and never see it.  

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