Hear hear. None of these lack of awards make any sense. My favorite role of hers outside of the musical world was The Americanization of Emily. Both she and James Garner just fucking killed it. It always remains in my top five movies of all time.
My understanding was that the reason she couldn't do Eliza Doolittle in my fair Lady was because of her booking in Mary Poppins and sound of music. But you're right on both counts of Audrey Hepburn being miscast. I adore Audrey Hepburn, but neither of those roles belonged to her.
This post was wonderful and a nice change to show off your lovely writing and depth of knowledge. Thank you.
Two things. Breakfast was a horrible movie. My husband and I decided to watch a while back and were horrified at how racist it was and how the guy pursuing her was such a predator.
Also I did a movie with Michael Nouri and he was a lovely man. Extremely nice.
The Rooney character is especially insulting because in the book, Capote actually subverts that expectation. When someone refers to the character as a “Jap,” the narrator corrects him — “he’s from California.”
Absolutely. There are a lot of movies that you can look at that have racist elements where you can kind of semi shrug and say, well those were different times. But that Mickey Rooney role quite literally crucifies that movie and makes it unwatchable. My understanding was that Truman Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly golightly. Which made so much more sense.
You are right on both counts about Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I liked the cat and Audrey Hepburn's husband, played by Buddy Ebsen. His hillbilly character was treated with dignity, but the same can't be said for Mickey Rooney's Asian character. I read somewhere that Ebsen was hired to play Jed Clampett based on his performance in the movie.
Insane that she's not an EGOT, can they give her an honorary tony? I loved Mary Poppins as a kid but my childhood was before the time of the VCR so not a lot of repeat watches. My daughter however, can recite it backwards and forwards. It was THAT movie in her childhood. We had the DVD and the soundtrack on CDs so we could listen in the car. Victor/Victoria is also one of our faves. I do think you are wrong about Breakfast at Tiffanys though, Audrey Hepburn nails that role.
Audrey Hepburn nailed that role simply because she was Audrey Hepburn. She's not going to not nail anything that she's in. But even then it's still a miscast. My fair Lady the musical is baked into my soul from my earliest childhood memories, so I can't extricate Audrey Hepburn from that role. The musical sequence "wouldn't it be loverly" gives me insane nostalgic tingles. The music from that hangs as tight as any Rogers and Hammerstein musical does. And frankly usurps a good number of them. maybe even most of them. sound of music is so fucking good I tend to overcredit that team I think. It's funny, their best musical in my opinion is also their worst in terms of the music. Flower drum song is hands-down their best conceit concept wise, but the music is breathtakingly unmemorable. except for "I enjoy being a girl" I guess. And I don't even know what to do with carnival. I have attempted to watch it all the way through three or four times and I just can't do it. I don't get it. And South Pacific has a lot of really fun numbers, but it's mostly Schlock. As much as I love musicals, I didn't watch fiddler on the roof until about five years ago. That one took my breath away. It is superb from soup to nuts
How funny, I followed an opposite musical path. I've never seen South Pacific, other than a few clips, nor Carnival or Flower Drum song. TBH, I'm not that big of a fan of Sound of Music, I never saw it live until my kid did it in seventh grade. But Fiddler, oh my! I fell in love with that one as a child. I've seen it live multiple times, it was the one show I had to see on my one and only trip to NYC. ETA There's a documentary called Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles, I highly recommend.
The first movie I ever saw in a theater was "Mary Poppins." I was three, enjoyed it 61 years ago, and still enjoy it today. Yes, I wish that I were Julie Andrews, and you are right - she doesn't need a Tony, but we will always need her.
Hear hear. None of these lack of awards make any sense. My favorite role of hers outside of the musical world was The Americanization of Emily. Both she and James Garner just fucking killed it. It always remains in my top five movies of all time.
My understanding was that the reason she couldn't do Eliza Doolittle in my fair Lady was because of her booking in Mary Poppins and sound of music. But you're right on both counts of Audrey Hepburn being miscast. I adore Audrey Hepburn, but neither of those roles belonged to her.
>> I didn’t care that she called me “Steve.”
Quietly folds, folds again, folds a third time, puts in safe pocket, nods.
;)
Wow I learned a lot from this essay. What a great birthday tribute as well!
This post was wonderful and a nice change to show off your lovely writing and depth of knowledge. Thank you.
Two things. Breakfast was a horrible movie. My husband and I decided to watch a while back and were horrified at how racist it was and how the guy pursuing her was such a predator.
Also I did a movie with Michael Nouri and he was a lovely man. Extremely nice.
The Rooney character is especially insulting because in the book, Capote actually subverts that expectation. When someone refers to the character as a “Jap,” the narrator corrects him — “he’s from California.”
Absolutely. There are a lot of movies that you can look at that have racist elements where you can kind of semi shrug and say, well those were different times. But that Mickey Rooney role quite literally crucifies that movie and makes it unwatchable. My understanding was that Truman Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly golightly. Which made so much more sense.
Yes! That’s what really got to us.
You are right on both counts about Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I liked the cat and Audrey Hepburn's husband, played by Buddy Ebsen. His hillbilly character was treated with dignity, but the same can't be said for Mickey Rooney's Asian character. I read somewhere that Ebsen was hired to play Jed Clampett based on his performance in the movie.
BTW, that cat (a good-sized orange tabby) also played Sally Rogers' (Rose Marie) cat on the Dick Van Dyke show.
Those are the kinds of details that make life worth living! Thank you for that
Fabulous clips, "Steve". 😅
Happy Birthday Dame Andrews!
Insane that she's not an EGOT, can they give her an honorary tony? I loved Mary Poppins as a kid but my childhood was before the time of the VCR so not a lot of repeat watches. My daughter however, can recite it backwards and forwards. It was THAT movie in her childhood. We had the DVD and the soundtrack on CDs so we could listen in the car. Victor/Victoria is also one of our faves. I do think you are wrong about Breakfast at Tiffanys though, Audrey Hepburn nails that role.
Audrey Hepburn nailed that role simply because she was Audrey Hepburn. She's not going to not nail anything that she's in. But even then it's still a miscast. My fair Lady the musical is baked into my soul from my earliest childhood memories, so I can't extricate Audrey Hepburn from that role. The musical sequence "wouldn't it be loverly" gives me insane nostalgic tingles. The music from that hangs as tight as any Rogers and Hammerstein musical does. And frankly usurps a good number of them. maybe even most of them. sound of music is so fucking good I tend to overcredit that team I think. It's funny, their best musical in my opinion is also their worst in terms of the music. Flower drum song is hands-down their best conceit concept wise, but the music is breathtakingly unmemorable. except for "I enjoy being a girl" I guess. And I don't even know what to do with carnival. I have attempted to watch it all the way through three or four times and I just can't do it. I don't get it. And South Pacific has a lot of really fun numbers, but it's mostly Schlock. As much as I love musicals, I didn't watch fiddler on the roof until about five years ago. That one took my breath away. It is superb from soup to nuts
How funny, I followed an opposite musical path. I've never seen South Pacific, other than a few clips, nor Carnival or Flower Drum song. TBH, I'm not that big of a fan of Sound of Music, I never saw it live until my kid did it in seventh grade. But Fiddler, oh my! I fell in love with that one as a child. I've seen it live multiple times, it was the one show I had to see on my one and only trip to NYC. ETA There's a documentary called Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles, I highly recommend.
Happy Birthday Julie Andrews!
The first movie I ever saw in a theater was "Mary Poppins." I was three, enjoyed it 61 years ago, and still enjoy it today. Yes, I wish that I were Julie Andrews, and you are right - she doesn't need a Tony, but we will always need her.
I just thought I'd watch it today on my computer while sewing but I cancelled Disney+. Good thing I have the dvd!