Is "Sabrina" Still Fair After All These Years?

I can't even say how many times I've seen the movie "Sabrina." I loved the Cinderella story of the chauffeur's daughter with a massive crush on the wealthy family's golden boy, the girl who starts as a waif but grows up to acquire a fabulous wardrobe and the ability to attract every male in sight. Yep. Cinderella, all right.

But that was when I was eight or ten, and the idea of Audrey Hepburn, luminous and impossibly lovely at 25, matched up with world-weary Humphrey Bogart at 55, didn't seem all that weird. After all, I was already familiar with Audrey as a love interest for Fred Astaire (also 30 years older) and Gary Cooper (a spring chicken at 28 years older) and I adored "Funny Face" and "Love in the Afternoon."

That worked for me when I was ten, but would it work for me now, when my sensibilities are quite different? Would "Sabrina" seem creepy and sexist and all the other things I complain about now when they pair senior-citizen men with teenage girls?

Well, no. Watching "Sabrina" again, I was caught up in Billy Wilder's magic pretty much from the opening "Once upon a time." Wilder produced and directed "Sabrina" and also collaborated with Ernest Lehman on the script, a script that is lighter than air, terribly romantic, and quite often hilarious. And I buy every bit of it, every time.

It helps that Sabrina is clearly the heart of the movie and Audrey Hepburn is absolutely perfect in the role. She's believable as the ragamuffin who hides in trees to eavesdrop on the Larrabees' fabulous parties, and just as believable as the sophisticated beauty wearing Givenchy gowns. (I chose the French poster to accompany this piece because it shows off the famous dress. I think about 90% of girls who see "Sabrina" wish they could wear that dress just once.)

But there's more to recommend in "Sabrina" than just Audrey. Humphrey Bogart, as tight-laced Wall Street wizard Linus Larrabee, and William Holden, as David Larrabee, the careless playboy Sabrina pines for, are both playing against the type we expect from them. This is not the thug or tough guy Bogie from "The Maltese Falcon," not even the crazy Captain Queeg from "The Caine Mutiny" released earlier that same year. Instead, he's a conservative businessman who doesn't remember how to have fun. It's to Bogart's credit that he's so very good at playing stuffy Linus, and that he was willing to look silly in a too-small Yale sweater and beanie.

Ditto for William Holden, best known for playing cynical, hard-luck smart guys in serious films like "Stalag 17" and "Sunset Boulevard." Here, he's gone blond and a little silly, but it doesn't stop you from rooting for his character. Holden really does look like a Golden Boy.

The supporting cast is one of the highlights of this upstairs/downstairs plot, as you'll notice Grandma Walton (Ellen Corby) showing up as Linus's secretary, Miss Jane Hathaway from The Beverly Hillbillies (Nancy Kulp) as a servant in the Larrabee household, and silent film star Francis X. Bushman as David's prospective father-in-law. John Williams is also terrific as Sabrina's father, who knows no good can come from a chauffeur's daughter falling in love above her (or his) station.

But I think most of the credit for "Sabrina" has to go to Billy Wilder. There's just something about the way humor and sentiment combine in this movie that works like a charm.

"Sabrina" plays the Normal Theater tonight and tomorrow night. What a treat to get to see it on the big screen!

February Fever!

February is a great month to shake off the dust and expand your mind with a play, a movie, a book... Something!

This month, I'm recommending SOUTHERN COMFORTS, by Kathleen Clark, playing at Heartland Theatre from February 18 to March 7th. Heartland calls it a "tour-de-force journey of a widow and widower who meet later in life and find a way into each other’s hearts." SOUTHERN COMFORTS stars two terrific local actors -- Carol Scott and Michael Pullin -- as the widow and widower, and is directed by Heartland Artistic Director Mike Dobbins. I'll write a full review once it opens, so come back and look for that!

One other reminder about Heartland -- the annual 10-minute Play competition closed on February 1, but Heartland's New Plays from the Heartland competition for one-act plays is open till March 15th. You can see details at Heartland's website, linked at left.

On other area stages, you can catch the Greek classic LYSISTRATA, about women who withhold sex to put an end to war, at Illinois Wesleyan, running February 16-21, or two very different plays at ISU. ISU is offering DON JUAN COMES BACK FROM THE WAR, by Ödön von Horvath, at ISU's Westhoff Theatre February 17-21, and Tennessee Williams' A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at the Center for the Performing Arts from the 18th through the 27th.

This DON JUAN is, like LYSISTRATA, about war and love. Set after World War I, the play looks at what happens when Don Juan decides to look for his lost love in a landscape of bitter cold and terrible post-war deprivation. Everything has changed; nothing has changed. What's a Don Juan to do?

STREETCAR is more familiar to American audiences, and it's always intriguing to see what a college-age cast can do with such iconic characters as Blanche DuBois, the faded Southern belle in search of softer lighting, and Stanley Kowalski, the rough-and-tumble man's man symbolized by the raw slab of meat he brings home to his wife. Even after all these years and a whole lot of productions, STREETCAR is still a fascinating play.

Also on my must-see list for February is the mini-Audrey Hepburn festival at the Normal Theater, with one of my favorites, SABRINA, playing on the 11th and 12th, and BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S on the 13th and 14th. Either movie could work nicely for your Valentine's celebrations and I'll try to review them both before they hit the screen.

At the bookstore, you'll find a sure-fire way to heat up your winter in Jess Michaels' NOTHING DENIED, where a Regency-era shrew is unleashed more than tamed. The book is available right now from Avon's Red line (its spicier, sexier imprint), and I'll be posting a full review a bit later in the month. (FYI: Jess Michaels is one of local author Jenna Petersen's alter egos.)