|
SabrinaRating:
Release Date: 01 March, 2004 Retail Price: $12.98 OUR Price: $8.99 You SAVE: $3.99! Cast: Complete Cast (9 total) |
Sabrina Reviews
Wilder Audrey
(4.5/5 stars) It is easy to see why both Linus and David Larrabee fall for Sabrina Fairchild: she is young, pretty and refined. They overlook the fact they are very wealthy magnates and she is but the lowly driver's daughter. She has admired David from afar, but alas! Her lot in life has kept her hopes from becoming a reality. Now that she has blossomed into Audrey Hepburn, she can have any man she wants. Which one to choose? This is a very good romantic fairy tale from director Billy Wilder, which is based on Samuel Taylor's play. Nearly everything about the film is wonderful, from Wilder's script to the pacing and cast. The only issue that is a little troublesome is Bogart's age, which was fifty-five at the time. Although he is great (as always) in the role, he is thirty years Hepburn's senior. At thirty-six, William Holden is more plausible as the object of her desire. It is more difficult to see her interest Bogart. Apparently Bogart replaced Cary Grant at the last minute for the role of Linus. At fifty, this still would have been a stretch, though Grant was certainly more dashing and played the romantic lead rather convincingly and with much aplomb. Although I really like this movie, it is most tantalizing to think how it would have been had Grant been in it.
Sabrina fair falls for the man in the homburg
Young Sabrina Fairchild has loved David Allarbee from afar ever since they were children. But the difference in social status proves an insurmountable barrier. Her father, you see, is the chauffer to David's very wealthy family in Long Island, New York. Sabrina goes away to Paris to forget David. There, she learns couth and refinement, and comes back to Long Island an alluring, polished woman. David sees her and falls in love, much to the chagrin of the Allarbee clan. Linus, David's workaholic older brother, is especially dismayed because he had just engineered an engagement between David and Elizabeth, whose father's business enterprise is the all-but-done, new corporate partner of the Allarbee industry. When David becomes indisposed, Linus takes it upon himself to sabotage Sabrina's relationship with David. But what happens when Linus gets in over his head and takes his new "job" too seriously?
William Holden is very capable as the thrice-married, responsibility-shunning playboy David Allarbee. He plays his character lightly, with a wink of an eye and an insouciant, toothy grin. This display of likable nonchalantness is effectively juxtaposed with his later, more dramatic scenes. Humphrey Bogart, one of my favorite actors of cinema's golden age, is seemingly at first out of his depth in the would-be suitor role, casting-wise. And, yeah, the age difference made me cringe somewhat, at first. But the manner in which director Billy Wilder crafts the storyline enables the viewer to follow each progression and see how - yes, okay - this beautiful girl can fall for this stuffy, aging businessman. Bogie is one of the all-time great icons and he does his thing again in this film. On the surface, he's a corporate shark. But underneath, he's still essentially Bogie, with his intensity, stand-alone independence and not-to-be-trifled-with persona. My favorite line of the film is acerbically uttered by Bogie, who'd rather be happily enmeshed in red tape but instead has to venture into his "courtship" of Sabrina: "I wish I were dead with my back broken!" Bogie rocks eternally.
But Audrey Hepburn easily owns this movie. She embodies the essential qualities of charm, class, beauty and artlessness that would intrigue and attract two such affluent and powerful men (or, come to think of it, basically any guy on the planet). Audrey is wistful and vulnerable, elegant and romantic in all the proper places. It's obvious why she became the darling of the media, the critics and the fans. The only flaw in this film is that David Allarbee did NOT fall in love with Sabrina before she went to Paris.
Kudos go out to character actors Walter Hampden and John Williams. Hampden plays the gruff, discombobulated Oliver Larrabee, Linus and David's father. Williams is simply superb as Thomas Fairchild, the wise, gentle chauffer who feels for his daughter Sabrina, yet is of the old school and distinctly knows which side of the social fence he stands.
The combined cast and crew, the great directing and the witty storyline all come together to form a synergy which shapes the film into something that has stood up to the test of time. In short, it's a classic. Go see it.
More Customer Reviews (39 total)
You like Sabrina?
|
© 2004, 2005, 2006 DVD Booty | Don't Plunder Our Cache of Booty, Matey!
Hosting made possible by donations from Payday Loan Benefits, payday advance, and Compare Mortgages And Loans
