Facts > Films > Breakfast at Tiffany's
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) Facts
| Director(s) | Blake Edwards |
| Producer(s) | Martin Jurow, Richard Shepherd |
| Featured Cast | Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam |
| Total Facts | 54 |
Audrey Hepburn hated Danish pastries, making filming the famous opening scene a bit of a chore for her.
Audrey Hepburn said the scene where she throws Cat into the rainy street was the most distasteful thing she ever had to do on film.
Audrey Hepburn supposedly exclaimed "over my dead body" when it was suggested that "Moon River" be removed from the film. However, there's an alternative recollection of this event. On the DVD of "Breakfast at Tiffany's Anniversary Edition," co-producer Richard Shepherd says in his commentary that after a premiere in San Francisco, Paramount's Head of Production desired to have "Moon River" removed from the film but "Marty Jurow, co-producer and I both said 'over our dead bodies.'"
Audrey Hepburn's salary for the film was $750,000, making her the second highest paid actress (behind Elizabeth Taylor) per film at the time.
Steve McQueen was offered the co-starring role. However, he was still under contract for the show Wanted: Dead or Alive, which prevented him from appearing. The role eventually went to George Peppard.
George Peppard was a student of Method acting, a style Hepburn found difficult to work with. Nonetheless, the two actors remained close friends until her death.
Alan Reed, who plays Sally Tomatoes, was the voice of Fred Flinstone, a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Huckleberry Hound - the mask that Holly picks up in the store - is also a Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
John Frankenheimer was hired to shoot the film with Marilyn Monroe. When the producers suddenly moved to Switzerland and Audrey Hepburn replaced Monroe, she said she had never heard of Frankenheimer and insisted that he be paid off and another director be hired.
Jean Seberg was considered to play Holly.
Truman Capote maintained that he based Holly Golightly on Carol Grace (the former wife of William Saroyan and future wife of Walter Matthau), who had been a friend of his while living in New York.
Truman Capote was reportedly unhappy with the decision to cast Audrey Hepburn as he'd been in favor of Marilyn Monroe. Hepburn was very self-conscious of her performance while Capote was on set as she felt inadequate as the Holly he had envisioned.
Kim Novak told Larry King that she was offered the part of Holly Golightly before Audrey Hepburn.
Henry Mancini wrote "Moon River" specifically for Audrey Hepburn. He later said that while many version of the song have been done, he feels that Audrey's was the best.
2-E (Patricia Neal's character) references Love Finds Andy Hardy, in which Mickey Rooney played the title role.
About nine cats were used throughout the film as the role of Cat.
According to the screenplay, 2-E's real name is Emily Eustace, hence the nickname "2-E."
After seeing Buddy Ebsen in his country role in Breakfast at Tiffany's, the creator of The Beverly Hillbillies wanted him to play family patriarch Jed Clampett. At the time, Ebsen was thinking of retiring, but the producers sent him a copy of the script, and he changed his mind.
Although it's never explained why Holly is wearing a bed sheet at her cocktail party, an earlier scene (cut before release) established she'd been taking a bath and had to improvise a gown on the spur of moment. The cut scene was featured in Life magazine pictorial shortly before film was released.
Although not visible on camera, hundreds of onlookers watched Audrey Hepburn's window-shopping scene at the start of the film. This made her nervous and she kept making mistakes. It wasn't until a crew member nearly got electrocuted behind the camera that she pulled herself together and finished the scene.
Although the story in the movie occurs in 1960, the story in the novella is penned as occuring in 1943.
At a post-production meeting following a screening of the film, a studio executive, in reference to "Moon River," said, "Well, I think the first thing we can do is get rid of that stupid song." Audrey Hepburn stood up at the table and said, "Over my dead body!" The song stayed in the picture.
Audrey felt that she was miscast as Holly Golightly in this film, although it was one of her most popular roles.
Author Truman Capote envisioned Marilyn Monroe in the part of Holly Golightly. Monroe was originally cast as Golightly, but her drama coach, Lee Strasberg, told her that playing a call-girl was not good for her image. The film went on to be a huge success, with Monroe's replacement Audrey Hepburn receiving Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress.
Contrary to popular belief, the movie follows Truman Capote's original novel quite closely. The character of Mag Wildwood, the Amazon-like model who crashes Holly's party in the film, is a major character in the novel. Capote describes her as having a stutter. In the film, Mag does indeed stutter though this isn't explained. During the shoplifting sequence, Holly briefly dons a Huckleberry Hound mask; a direct reference to a line in her song, "Moon River." Although Audrey Hepburn's performance of "Moon River" is unsurpassed, it would not be officially released until after her death. Holly's "bad date" prior to her first visit to Paul's apartment is only heard behind a door. The man who provides this voice is uncredited, but he sounds a lot like Mel Blanc, who at the time was working with film co-star Alan Reed on The Flintstones.
Director Blake Edwards was lunching with Mickey Rooney at a posh Hollywood restaurant when Rooney objected to how his salad was being tossed by the waiter and proceeded to show the 'proper' way to do it. Edwards thought Rooney's attention-getting routine so funny that he wrote it into the movie.
Due to the Hays Code Fred's homosexuality could not be referred to in the movie.
Elements of Holly's character in the original novel, such as her flirtation with bisexuality, were omitted to make the part more suitable for Audrey Hepburn.
Holly Golightly is supposed to be just nineteen years old when she meets with Paul. Audrey Hepburn was thirty-one years old when playing Holly.
Holly Golightly wears the same dresses all the way through the movie, simply changing the accessories to give each outfit a different look. Her black shift dress features through the movie at least four times.
Holly's couch is really an old-fashioned bathtub split in half. In some scenes, you can still see the gold handles at one end and the legs on the bottom.
Holly's pad is much larger than the real-life brownstone used for exteriors.
Holly's real name is Lullamae, which means "Famous Warrior born in the Month of May". The name she chooses for herself is Holiday, Holiday meaning "Born on a Holy Day". In real life, Audrey Hepburn's birthday happens to be May 4th.
In Truman Capote's novel Holly was a prostitute, had an abortion, liked to smoke weed, was bisexual and swore like a drunken sailor.
In the book rack in the train station behind George Peppard and Audrey Hepburn can be seen in soft focus copies of a paperback version of "Peter Gunn (1962)" which was the TV show on which Henry Mancini and Blake Edwards worked.
In the Book the narrator describes how Holly would wash her hair and sit out on the fire escape thumbing her guitar while waiting for her hair to dry; this is reflected during her "Moonriver" scene, which is why she has a wrap around her hair.
In the famous "it should take you exactly 4 seconds to cross from here to that door. I give you two" scene, it takes Paul exactly 4 seconds from when he starts walking to when he reaches the door.
In the film's original trailer (included on the special edition DVD), the announcer mistakenly pronounces Truman Capote's last name as "Capot", without pronouncing the "e" at the end of his name. This mistake was repeated (on purpose) on the "Mary Tyler Moore" show - Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) is demanding better writers and he says they should get "that Truman Capot fellow". Phyllis (Cloris Leachman) tries to correct him by saying just "E". Ted then says "oh yeah, Truman E. Capot"
In the French post-synchronized version of the film, the actors are dubbed by: Jacqueline Carrel (Audrey Hepburn); Roland Ménard (George Peppard); Sylvie Deniau (Patricia Neal); Georges Hubert (Buddy Ebsen); Michel Gudin (Martin Balsam); Georges Riquier (John McGiver); André Valmy (Alan Reed) and Pierre Trabaud (Mickey Rooney).
In the Italian post-synchronized version of the film, the actors are dubbed by: Maria Pia Di Meo (Audrey Hepburn); Pino Locchi (George Peppard); Nino Pavese (Buddy Ebsen); Nando Gazzolo (Martin Balsam) and Luigi Pavese (John McGiver).
Premiered at the famed Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Rusty Trawler's full name is Rutherford Trawler.
Several exterior scenes had to be reshot after the processing lab accidentally damaged one of the film reels. Cinematographer Franz Planer was no longer available for the reshoots however, and Blake Edwards bought in Philip H. Lathrop to take his place.
The book Paul has written and brings to Holly's apartment is titled "Nine Lives" - a reference to Cat.
The famous black dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in the opening scenes of this movie was sold for $807,000 on December 4, 2006 at Christie's Auction House in London, making it the second most expensive piece of movie memorabilia ever sold. The first is the Best Picture Oscar for Gone with the Wind.
The movie was shot only three months after the birth of Hepburn's first son, Sean H. Ferrer.
The movie's poster was as #18 of "The 25 Best Movie Posters Ever" by Premiere.
The party sequence was reportedly the longest and hardest scene to shoot in the movie.
The perfume Holly is spraying in the apartment hallway during her drunken scenes is Makila by Jean Patou.
The perfume Holly is spraying in the apartment hallway during her drunken scenes is Makila by Jean Patou.
The song "Moon River" was written especially for Audrey Hepburn, since she had no training as a singer. The vocals were written to be sung in only one octave.