Publisher Description
Audrey Hepburn is an icon like no other, yet the image many of us have of Audrey—dainty, immaculate—is anything but true to life. Here, for the first time, Sam Wasson presents the woman behind the little black dress that rocked the nation in 1961. The first complete account of the making of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. reveals little-known facts about the cinema classic: Truman Capote desperately wanted Marilyn Monroe for the leading role; director Blake Edwards filmed multiple endings; Hepburn herself felt very conflicted about balancing the roles of mother and movie star. With a colorful cast of characters including Truman Capote, Edith Head, Givenchy, “Moon River” composer Henry Mancini, and, of course, Hepburn herself, Wasson immerses us in the America of the late fifties before Woodstock and birth control, when a not-so-virginal girl by the name of Holly Golightly raised eyebrows across the country, changing fashion, film, and sex for good. Indeed, cultural touchstones like Sex and the City owe a debt of gratitude to Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
In this meticulously researched gem of a book, Wasson delivers us from the penthouses of the Upper East Side to the pools of Beverly Hills, presenting Breakfast at Tiffany’s as we have never seen it before—through the eyes of those who made it. Written with delicious prose and considerable wit, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. shines new light on a beloved film and its incomparable star.
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“I listened to this very short book on a trip to Columbus. I thought it would be more a review of the early women’s rights movements of the 60s but instead found it it be mostly a commentary on the writing and making of the movie – you know background on Truman Capote, Audrey Hepburn, why no one really wanted George Peppard, How the movie was filmed. in between all that were short discussions of the commission that set the standards for movies at the time – no sex, no talking about sex except in innuendo, no adultery – a comparison of Doris Day/Rock Hudson films a representing one type of woman and then there were the others. Even though it wasn’t what I really expected, I found it interesting. I’ve never seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s so now I’m looking forward to that and other movies mention in the book.”
—
Coleen (4 out of 5 stars)
