February 2006

Breakfast at Tiffany's special edition DVD released February 7th. 45 years after its original release, and after we've all bought the first release DVD, Paramount is releasing a special edition B@T for us. It's unclear whether it's being restored, but I get the feeling that it might be. A commentary by producer Richard Shepard is included, as well as four featurettes -- one is on Audrey alone. And, if you haven't already seen it, you can catch a peek at the new wrapping (and pre-order) here.

Berlin Film Festival Retrospective to include Audrey February 9th through the 19th. To coincide with Berlin's annual International Film Festival, they will also be throwing a retrospective on leading ladies of the 1950s throughout the world. Audrey is included in this filmfest, and there will be discussions and lectures for the films, so I'm really curious to see what film(s) they'll pick and who will talk on them. For the full story, click here.

April 2006

Nun's Story pre-order available to be released April 4th. Amazon has finally cleaned up it's Nun's Story page and has a definite release date for us. It's also available for pre-order right now, which you can do here. And, as mentioned on the front page, an interesting religious boxed set is going to be released on the same day. For more information and ordering info, go here.

Keira Knightley keeps crawling into Audrey's shoes posted April 9th. Keira Knightley seems desperate to be associated with Audrey Hepburn, I'm beginning to think. She wants to play Audrey in a new possible biopic and won't let us forget that, and now she's desperately scrambling to play Eliza Doolittle in a film remake of My Fair Lady. The Broadway play was revamped and revived in 2001 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, and now he wants to film it. Well, he hasn't decided whether he wants to film his revival or the original 1960s script, but he's eyeballing Keira and she is desperate to get this part. He has his doubts, though, because she has never appeared onstage and this production might go onstage as well, and he experienced headaches with an inexperienced stage actress during the 2001 revival. The full (slightly confusing) story can be found here, and please feel free to post your thoughts on this crazy story here.
There's another article here, this one saying that the new MFL will be a West End (that's London) stage production.
Aaaand another article here. I think this is only really making news in the UK.
Final article: The director of the My Fair Lady revivals himself has said that he doesn't want Keira to star in either a stage or film remake of the play/movie. He says he's happy with the two actresses playing Eliza onstage now, and that's that. Whew! Link to the full article here.

Vote to have Audrey's remaining films released on DVD! posted April 15th. I don't know why I didn't do this ages ago, but here's a great idea: we should all gang up and "vote" through Amazon to get the few Audrey movies that aren't out on DVD yet released! They All Laughed already has a potential DVD page here. All you have to do is enter your email in the blue box on the top right. Dead easy. I haven't found any similar pages for other films (such as Laughter in Paradise, Green Mansions or One Wild Oat), but we could request it. I think enough people nagged to get Two For the Road and The Nun's Story out, so we could get these out, too!

May 2006

Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit, the leatherbound edition posted May 13th. While catching up on the slew of new books on Audrey, I stumbled across this gem for only -- $156.99! I don't know if this is a legitimate printing because there don't seem to be any new books held by Amazon, plus the fact that the release date is given as 1999. And the open picture of the book is obviously photoshopped. But if you feel like experimenting (and just happen to have about $200 to drop for it), then let us know what it's like!

Hollywood Icon Journals: Audrey Hepburn due out May 2006. Apparently, this is just a lined paper journal with a picture of Audrey on it in a "suede-like" finish. I'm all about blank journals! But I wish someone would bother to post a picture, since I can't find anything on this particular one. Ah, well. For only $9.99 it's a much safer gamble than the book mentioned above. To read more (not that there's much), click here.
Update: Since the journal is now out, there's pictures up! Go see.

June 2006

Enchantment: The Life Of Audrey Hepburn released June 1st. Just when you thought no more could be written on Audrey, yet another biography is set to come out! This one is by Donald Spoto, who has written a prolific amount of biographies on celebrities. Can't wait! And huge thanks to Carl for pointing this out to me.
Update: the release date of this book for the UK is June 1st (pre-order link here). The American release date is September 19th, 2006 (pre-order link here). This refers to the hardcover release.

The Book of Faces -- modern poetry about Audrey posted June 29th. A book of poems about Audrey was released in September 2005, and I've just now heard about it. I don't know how big the pressing is (which means I don't know how easy it will be to find at bookstores), but it is available at Amazon.com and I found it at my local new & used bookstore. While the book was definitely not my cup of tea due to personal feelings on poetry in general, you might like it. Be warned that not all of the poems are glowing tributes to Audrey, and some pieces seem downright crass and callous towards her. If you're interested in previewing three of the poems, you can find them here.

July 2006

Audrey Hepburn really was royalty posted July 1st. Geneologists have discovered that Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and Brooke Shields all have the same daddy -- sort of. All three are descendants of King Henry VIII of England. While this does sound impressive, the article, which you can read here, points out that an estimated 80% of England's population is probably descended from that crazy monarch. Still, I would consider it something to brag about. ;)

August 2006

Angus McBean exhibit traveling the UK until June 2007. One of the people who really helped to get Audrey's face out there in the early days (literally!) is being celebrated throughout the UK for his prolific work in photography. The famous picture of Audrey buried in sand among pillars will be in the exhibit, which starts in London at the National Portrait Gallery. From there it will travel around the UK at the end of October, with stops in Cardiff and Wales, McBean's native land. If any fan in the UK could make it, would they mind writing and telling us what the exhibit's like? Plus, it would be nice to see that picture of Audrey in a much larger size. :) Click here for the article with basic information. The NPG's website seems to be down right now, so no ticket information is handy.

Maria Sharapova finds Audrey on the courts posted August 31st. Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova has been going through a big Audrey phase lately, saying "I'm in a phase where I'm watching all her movies. I haven't seen Breakfast at Tiffany's since, like, three weeks ago." She also said that her outfit at the US Open was inspired by Audrey. The whole article (and picture) can be seen here.

September 2006

Audrey responsible for the wildly popular Vuitton "Speedy 25" posted September 7th. I found a fashion article talking about totes and their interesting history. Apparently, Louis Vuitton had a very popular bag called the "Speedy 30," named that because it was 30 centimeters long. Audrey had asked for a smaller version of the bag, and the "Speedy 25" was born. And it's still wildly popular today! Click here for the full article.

AFI lists My Fair Lady in its top 25 Greatest Movie Musicals posted September 7th. The American Film Institute, which seems to exist just to make lists, has released their list of the best film musicals. My Fair Lady is number 8 (you can see the whole list here). But some people disagree with this list, saying that the film shouldn't be included because Audrey didn't actually sing in the movie. They also feel that Audrey was completely miscast in the film, and that it's an hour too long. Why couldn't he just come out and say that he didn't like the film? When you see the full article and his opinions on what should have made the cut, it becomes more obvious, though. The author is a thoroughly modern man when it comes to musicals.

Why Japan still loves Audrey posted September 8th. In this article you'll find out why. Sort of. The author goes back on forth on Audrey herself and her lasting appeal, but at least the article ends on a positive note. It would be nice if women today looked beyond Audrey's looks and films to see who she really was and let that influence them.

Run yourself into debt the stylish way! posted September 8th. If you're in Japan, that is. You can choose from four different pictures as well, and there's no charges the first year! After that, you can collect bonus points for . . . something. I didn't read hard enough to see what they were for. I know Japan also has phone cards with Audrey on them, you see them on eBay a lot. Sure, they're all used up by the time they go on the block, but you would be buying them for the pictures anyway. Click here for the ad. FYI, the page is entirely in Japanese, and Babelfish won't really translate since most of the page is tables made with images instead of text.

The Gap to pay big for the Skinny Black Pants ad posted September 8th. To celebrate their new ad campaign featuring Audrey hawking their Skinny Black Pants, the Gap is making "a generous contribution" to the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund. You can read the whole article here, which mainly talks about Gap's new "Keep It Simple" ad campaign in general.
And, because I had mentioned this article earlier without ever linking to it, the article about Gap's profit falls leading to their more aggressive ad campaigns (and Audrey useage) can be found here.
Now if you go to Gap's website you can see both the 30 second and 60 second Audrey commercials, as well as a behind the scenes video showing briefly how they made the commercial from Funny Face footage.
The blogosphere is up in arms over Audrey and the Gap posted September 14th. On a whim I decided to search some blogs to see what people were saying over the new Gap ads. I don't get a lot of feedback from fans here because no one bothers to sign up for the message board to post and no one emails ("You never call! You never write!"), but people seem to vent quite well on their blogs. Searching Blogger alone brought up a trove of angry posts over the ad campaign, and one post in particular points out the inherent unoriginality of the whole campaign. The blog I've linked to is about par for the course in anger and frustration over the use of Audrey, and of the random sampling I've looked over, all of these blogs are well written and bring up good points. I'd like to hear more people's opinions, though. Yes, that's a hint.
The L.A. Times gets down to the business side of the Gap ads here, with a little more detail on to just how much Gap is profiting off of this and how much Sean Ferrer was involved in the process.

In space, everyone can hear Audrey posted September 11th. On their way to the International Space Station, the astronauts on the shuttle Atlantis were awoken Sunday morning with Audrey singing "Moon River." One of the astronaut's wives had picked the song as their wake-up call. If you're interested, the whole story is here.
edit: Now with video goodness!

Tiffany & Co New York gets a makeover, Breakfast at Tiffany's fans weep posted September 12th. Yes, the Tiffany you had memorized from that one movie is no more. While it's hard to tell just how different it is just by reading this article, new display cases and treated wood lead me to believe that it looks pretty different. If anyone around lives in New York and wouldn't mind taking pictures . . .

Love and Other Disasters might as well be called Breakfast at Tiffany's II: Electric Boogaloo posted September 14th. I fear Elizabethtown started a new generation of filmmakers and starlets on the trend of modernizing Breakfast at Tiffany's and Audrey's portrayal of Holly Golightly to fit their own generation and tastes. The latest has just opened at the Toronto Film Festival, Love and Other Disasters. Brittany Murphy plays a modern, vacuous Holly-esque character nicknamed Jacks who flits about in a Mini Cooper and suspiciously retro clothing (and beehives) and is completely oblivious to the sensitive writer-type who lives right next to her. The only major changes are the decade, actors, (talent?), and the fact that the Holly- and Paul-type characters actually live with each other. For more information click here, and for a positive review and showing times at the festival, click here.

Would you care for a picture cigarette, Princess? posted September 15th. Technology is finally catching up with movies. For a decent price you too can have a camera hidden in a cigarette lighter like Irving Radovich in Roman Holiday. Hot princess not included. Click here for more pictures and details on the camera and buying information, if you are so inclined.

Breakfast at Tiffany's most trend-setting fashion film; still no word on whether it's the most ripped off posted September 15th. The world's leading designers and fashion editors got together and made a list of the top 10 most influential films on fashion. Number one was Breakfast at Tiffany's! Audrey is also, to my knowledge, the only person to have starred in two movies in the top ten. But we already knew she was in a class by herself. :) My Fair Lady was sixth, surprisingly. I'm personally sad Funny Face isn't on the list, since it always gets overlooked and has spectacular style. For the full list, click here.

Bidding wars ensue over Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years posted September 15th. If you've got a few thousand to spare, why don't you check out this auction? You could get the new book a month ahead of the UK and six months ahead of the US, since the publication date (and style, apparently) has been pushed back. There's seven days left on the auction as I write this and already the bidding is up to over $3,000 US (bidding started at $75). People are already marveling at this auction, as you can see here, and it looks like there might be even more buildup about this before the auction ends. But if you're of modest income like most of us and live in the US, you'll just have to sign up to be notified when you can pre-order. The release date is still set for October 6th, interestingly enough.
update: There's another signed copy of the book up (by the same seller -- if he wants to get top dollar, why sell both at the same time?), this one only up to $100 right now. So if you have some spare change and can't wait for the book, or don't want to just order it from Amazon UK and pay a little extra for shipping, then click here.

Green Mansions soundtrack gets rave reviews, even if no one knows it's out posted September 18th. In this article you can get a little background in both the movie and the book Green Mansions, and get a bit of a history lesson on how the film was scored. Much more than you would get from any Audrey biography. If you're interested in buying the album, go here. Unfortunately, you can't preview any tracks because Amazon doesn't sell the album themselves, so maybe you'd better see the movie first before buying. Unless you're a very hardcore fan, that is!

Donald Spoto's interview about Enchantment posted September 19th. Author Donald Spoto was on CBS's Early Show this morning bright and early at 7 am to talk about his biography on Audrey, Enchantment. CBS sites were good enough to post a paraphrasing of the interview with facts on Audrey's life as well as a high quality video of the entire interview. They show the Gap ad and some rare pictures of Audrey as well.

I said sell! Sell! posted September 19th. Now would be a good time to sell any rare Audrey memorabilia you have on eBay. With the bidding war over The Paramount Years going on, other sellers seem to be jumping on the bandwagon and unloading a lot of vintage film posters of her films, many of them foreign. Some of these posters are really good, and in excellent condition, but to start bidding at $1,000 US? Yikes. Here's a French Funny Face poster for $1,500, and an Italian Wait Until Dark can be found here for $1,000. Neither are signed. But if you would like a series of 7 My Fair Lady posters signed, that'll set you back $2,800 -- if no one else bids, and if the signatures are indeed real (and most eBay auctions don't come with certificates of authenticity). These are just some of the more heady highlights. If you ever feel like having a small heart attack, just search for Audrey Hepburn and sort by price, highest to lowest. There's always crazy stuff up for grabs. Just be careful! If you're going to buy something autographed, check to see if it has a certificate of authenticty, and even those can be mass-produced fakes. I'd say the best bet was to see it for yourself in person and know her handwriting, and preferably shop with a licensed dealer.

Enchantment doesn't seem to sum up Audrey's love life posted September 25th. Donald Spoto's new biography on Audrey has been receiving many good reviews, but what seems to have mainly fallen through the cracks about his book is his take on Audrey's love life. Unearthing a new love affair during the earlier years of her marriage to Mel (and before Sean's birth) and giving new "insight" onto her views of relationships and reciprocation, his book seems to be an interesting read. Now whether I'll believe it or not is a different story. For the full story, click here.

Enchantment author says people copy the wrong aspects of Audrey posted September 27th. Although I've posted the whole article on the main page of the site, it's worth posting twice: the interview on imitating Audrey.

Breakfast at Tiffany's isn't enough: Holly (times three!) robs the place posted September 29th. "CSI: New York" recently had an episode that centered around three female robbers dressed as Holly Golightly doing smash and grabs at high-end jewelry stores. Go here to read a bit more about the website and see some vague pictures.

October 2006

Treasures of Audrey Hepburn October 3rd. To follow up on the success of Elegant Spirit, this book promises to have over 200 photos of Audrey and special envelopes fitted in the book holding reproductions of family keepsakes. I love these sorts of books! The most interesting part about this book, though, is that it seems to be by/for the Children's Fund. The foreward is by Sean, but the book is credited as being authored by Ellen Erwin and Jessica Diamond. Now, Ellen is Sean's right hand woman at the Children's Fund, which is what leads me to believe that it's either going to be published by the AHCF or, like Elegant Spirit, that the proceeds will go to the charity. Jessica Diamond is an American visual artist, so I'm not sure how exactly she's involved with the book. Perhaps the design of the layouts? We'll see. So far there's no dust jacket photos out yet, and Amazon has nothing, but I did find what little information I could from a British website that's overcharging for the book (£ 30.00 being about equal to $60.00). Here's the link anyway.
Update: Here's a sneak peek inside the book, showing some of the inserts and the back of the dust jacket. It's from a Japanese website, and they get their book in September, a month before us! And from what I could make of the text, the book is being produced with the cooperation of the Children's Fund, with around 200 private photos and 34 personal items duplicated. The book is broken up like a biography, with each chapter representing a certain era of her life.
Another sneak peek can be found here.

Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years October 6th. For the UK only. Publication for the US release has been pushed back to March 2007.

They All Laughed on DVD October 17th. I never thought I'd see this one on a major DVD release, let alone a 25th anniversary edition! So far, the Amazon pre-order page doesn't list any special features -- beyond closed captioning -- but maybe we'll see some rarities pop up before the release date. The UK Amazon doesn't have anything (that I could find, anyway) about it yet, so it might be a Region 1 deal only for the time being.

November 2006

Audrey Hepburn: Taschen Movie Icons November. Moving is going to be very hard for us Audrey fans after this book-heavy year! Taschen Books, a wonderful publisher of beautiful art books, has released a book dedicated to Audrey because of her overwhelming popularity on their celebrity polls for years now. It's unclear on what exactly is going to be in the book, but because it's Taschen, I can imagine scads of pictures with very thorough notes. If you'd like to see their other works, here's their website (warning: some images not safe for work). The book will be available in October for German fans, who can pre-order here at Amazon.de. In America it will be released in November, and you can pre-order here. Nothing yet on the UK Amazon site, but I'll keep an eye out! Special thanks to Franklin for writing in with this information, since I would have missed it!

December 2006

Iconic Breakfast at Tiffany's black dress goes on the block December 5th. When City of Joy Aid was created to benefit impoverished children in India, Hubert de Givenchy gave them the classic black formal dress that helped define Holly Golightly -- and further define Audrey's classic fashion. At the end of the year, City of Joy is auctioning this dress off at Christie's in London to benefit their charity. If you have about $130,000 you'd like to get rid of, please feel free to bid! We'll just watch. ;) There's tons of articles on this and they all have slightly different info and pictures. If you're likely to be annoyed by the fact that some random chick is strutting around in Audrey's dress (looking sort of like Jennifer Love Hewitt), then you might want to refrain. I've marked the model articles with an asterisk (*).
Canada.com*; BBC News; Washington, D.C.*; Playfuls.com; CBC Canada; ABC News; The Age (Australia); Fox News.