The Fabulous Audrey Hepburn » homage

Dangerous Curves

FabAudrey — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:01:00 +0000

Did anyone catch the Simpsons last night? I usually don’t watch TV of my own accord, but I was over at my sister’s when it was on, and I’m so glad. The whole episode was an homage to Two For the Road! One of my absolute favourite Audrey films, so beautiful. While they didn’t get the rights to the film’s music, the soundtrack on the show was very Mancini, and very true to the feel of the film. It was interesting to see the Simpson’s family history worked into the TFTR story, and I like how they still kept some of the imagery from the film, especially the ending. If you missed it, or would like to see it again, you can view the full episode on Hulu (link goes straight to the episode). I’m not sure how long it will be up, since I’m fairly new to American websites sharing TV shows (I usually have to use these crazy Chinese sites), but if it goes off or you need to look it up elsewhere for any reason, the episode is called “Dangerous Curves.”

Speaking of the film, though, when I was looking for a picture to post, since I’m lagging and haven’t posted any of my own yet, I found an album called “Two For the Road” by the producer of Nouvelle Vague, a favourite of mine. The album has the same basic feel of the film, charting a couple’s relationship emotionally and geographically, though with modern music. They made a video for the title track, and it’s all footage from the 1967 film. So even if the style of music isn’t your cup of tea, just enjoy the visuals.

Two for the Road

I really wish my copy wasn’t in storage right now! I’d love to watch this again.

another great Holly Golightly sleep mask

FabAudrey — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 03:42:17 +0000

Yet another great Audrey find today! The mastermind behind How to Be Lovely (aka Life is Marvelous) has found a really fantastic Breakfast at Tiffany’s sleep mask. The Fred Flare version of Holly’s turquoise mask is part of the “How to be Audrey Hepburn/Holly Golightly For Halloween” post, but this new mask is just amazing. It’s an exact replica of Holly’s mask, down to the three-dimensional eyelids with gems peeping out as the sleepiest little eyes. Compare this new mask, to the left, with Holly’s mask, below:

Amazing, isn’t it? You can see more about the mask and view it in much more detail here.

We need your help!

FabAudrey — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 05:38:00 +0000

Okay everybody, someone needs your help! Today I received a letter from a nice fellow who would really like to find an exact replica of Holly’s cat mask from the five and dime in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. He’s searched everywhere and I’ve searched everywhere and we can’t seem to find it. Has anyone ever come across this mask, or know of a place that makes these now? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated, especially if it could be ordered online and shipped before Halloween. Just leave a comment below, and thank you in advance!

"Gossip Girl" hearts Audrey Hepburn

FabAudrey — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:09:16 +0000

By now you’ve all seen the screengrabs from a recent episode of “Gossip Girl” where main character Blair dreams that she’s Holly Golightly in the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Apparently, Blair is something of a fan of Audrey throughout the show, because reader Cris wrote and asked if I had a copy of the picture Blair has hanging above her bed, which is Audrey Hepburn in profile. I had to watch an episode to see it, but here’s the picture in question:

Hope this made your day, Cris! And any other “Gossip Girl”/Audrey fans looking for that picture. And here’s a fun bit of trivia for you: this picture is part of a series Audrey did where she modeled hats for her friend and designer, Givenchy.

Kay Thompson steals the show

FabAudrey — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:13:00 +0000

At the beginning of this year I saw an Audrey Hepburn double feature that included Funny Face, the first time I’d ever seen that film on the big screen. I was surprised to see that a good portion of the audience, maybe even half, was there because they were huge Kay Thompson fans. Sadly, little information seems to be readily available on her, but I did find someone who is willing to share Kay with the world. At People vs. Dr. Chilledair, the author shares some insider information that he has on her, including the fact that Kay’s goddaughter Liza Minelli is currently recording a tribute album to her. It will be called “The Godmother + The Goddaughter,” though no release date has yet been set. Kay herself only has two albums available (that I could find, anyway), “The Golden Years 1934-1954,” and Queen of Swing Vocals and Her Rhythm Singers 1933-37. It’s a shame that more isn’t available, because she was a prolific and highly talented woman. The author of Dr. Chilledair has also posted a great video on YouTube with some of Kay’s earlier film performances, including one song and dance routine done just five years before Funny Face:

Maybe this new wave of attention to Kay will inspire someone to write a great biography on her, or release more of her music.

Old Hollywood is still alive in Tokyo, thanks to one man

FabAudrey — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:34:00 +0000

I first heard about Noburo Kubo a few weeks ago, when I came across a picture of his fantastic train station painting of Audrey Hepburn for Breakfast at Tiffany’s (left). I couldn’t find a lot about him at the time, so I just saved the picture with his name as the title and moved along. Thankfully, Japan Today has an article about this curious artist, so we can all learn more about him.

It turns out that Kubo is possibly the last person left in Japan that still paints old-fashioned movie posters onto billboards, an art that used to be par for the course in the days before Photoshopped montages passing as posters were quickly pasted up on the side of a freeway. It’s a really fascinating read and Kubo does such beautiful work, it’s a shame that more of his work isn’t feature in the article. And if anyone in Japan ever sees his work, especially anything that features Audrey, take plenty of pictures!

Trumbo

FabAudrey — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:26:20 +0000

If you’ve seen Roman Holiday, then you’re familiar with screenwriter Dalton Trumbo’s work. The name’s not ringing a bell? Perhaps you have an older version of the film, then, before it was digitally remastered and re-released in 2002. For Dalton Trumbo was one of the Hollywood Ten — ten screenwriters and directors who were blacklisted from work in the film industry for refusing to testify against their peers during the McCarthy hearings in the anti-Communist craze. Trumbo was the real writer of the Oscar-winning screenplay for Roman Holiday, but since he was banned from any and all work in Hollywood at the time, he used friend Ian McLellan Hunter as a front. Hunter accepted the award on Trumbo’s behalf, and it wasn’t until 1992 that the Academy Award records were revised and Trumbo’s widow was presented with the award, and another ten years after that until the film was changed to give him the credit he deserved. Now, over 30 years after his death, his son and various well-known Hollywood names have made a documentary about Trumbo’s outcast years. Trumbo has played recently at the Toronto Film Festival and is slowly snowballing into a bigger and bigger deal. The producers are being urged to seek a wide distribution deal so that everyone has a chance to see what really happened during Hollywood’s “Golden Years,” when enormously talented men were shut out from their livelihood because they refused to speculate, gossip, and lie over their comrade’s political affiliations. There was even a film in the 70s about this, and how most screenwriters tried to use fronts to still be able to sell their work and make some money for their families. It’s a brilliant film called The Front and it stars Woody Allen, and it’ll really break your heart. If you can, watch both films. You can read more about Trumbo here, it’s an excellent read.

“Gossip Girl” shout-out to Breakfast at Tiffany’s

FabAudrey — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:29:51 +0000

There’s a new show on the CW (in America) called “Gossip Girl.” It’s just started, but last night on episode 4, the show opened with an homage to the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I’ve put a clip I found below, but until I figure out how to cue up YouTube videos to just play the bits I want, I’m afraid you’ll have to skip to the 1:32 mark and play until 2:23 to see the whole thing. Watching beyond that is optional:

Edit: The video has been taken down, but I do have screengrabs for you. Maybe someday the clip will be put up and can stay up, but in the meantime, these will have to do. Just imagine “Moon River” playing in your head and you’ve got it.

yet another Japanese tea commercial featuring Audrey Hepburn

FabAudrey — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:36:00 +0000

I’ve already posted three Japanese tea commercials that feature a digitally added Audrey Hepburn encouraging a young woman to be her beautiful self (and drink some tea while she’s at it). Maybe it’s the foreign novelty of it, but these commercials seem to offend a lot less people than the polarizing Gap commercial did. Anyway, these commercials always take scenes from Roman Holiday and subtly warp Audrey so that she’s holding a bottle of tea. Sometimes she’s colourized to fit in with the modern women, and sometimes she’s left in her original black and white. This latest commercial falls into the latter category, and in this one she speaks! Unfortunately I’m not able to embed the video for this one, so you’ll have to click here and watch for yourself via YouTube.

Audrey Hepburn cancer awareness

FabAudrey — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 06:01:00 +0000

A couple of days ago, I received a letter from a doctor in India about Audrey. An introduction isn’t really necessary, so here is the letter in full:

Hello,

There is something common in our interest..like Audrey Hepburn. I am always the Fan of Lady Audrey Hepburn. Great charity is done by Hepburn team.

I stumbled on your site while I was surfing the net. .

It is a meticulously prepared site.Congratulations.

Audrey died of advanced colon cancer. It made me think a lot. Colon cancer is one of the cancers which has best prognosis if treated early. Still many patients reach the expert medical aid at little later stage. I felt this is happening because of less awareness.

It is always admirable if intelligent proactive persons from community get organised for noble cause. Nothing is more precious than life. Every saved life is an achievement. We can educate masses regarding early diagnosis of cancer. Info should make people aware of the apparent low profile presentation of the disease. If the rational decisions are taken quickly, the results are quite good.
Knowledge Helps. .
Let us join hands to fight cancer.

We must thank film industry and Audrey Hepburn for providing us beautiful moments with so many films like Roman Holiday, Sabrina and many others.

Regards

Dr. Shriniwas Deshpande

Surgeon, Samarth Gastroenterology

Pune

India

The letter is deeply touching and, I feel, very important. Most types of cancer can be easily treated and possibly cured completely if caught early enough, and all it takes is a little extra awareness. We lost a beautiful person to this affliction, but maybe with a little effort we can keep others from succumbing to this disease.

Interestingly enough, another Audrey Hepburn tie-in with cancer awareness came to me today. The Smoking Gun has recently added a film clip archive section to their site and there are a couple of Audrey clips worth noting. The first is a public service announcement she and Mel Ferrer did backstage during the run of Ondine, and is for cancer research. You can view the whole film here. I’m not sure if the full announcement has ever been widely available before — I’ve only ever seen the first 30 seconds or so myself.

The other clip worth mentioning is a film reel about the 1965 Oscar ceremonies, when Audrey presented My Fair Lady co-star Rex Harrison with the Best Actor statue, which you can see here.

Last for today, there’s a new shoe shop in Ireland that is very Audrey inspired. Called The Shoe Gallery, its walls are covered in pictures of Audrey Hepburn and even the merchandise itself is inspired by her taste in clothing, according to The Athlone Advertiser. It sounds like it would be great fun to shop there!