Director: Billy Wilder
Writer: Billy Wilder, Samuel A Taylor, Ernest Lehman (Screenplay) Samuel A Taylor (Play)
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Walter Hampden, John Williams, Martha Hyer
Plot: A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family’s chauffeur, but it’s his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.
Tagline – the chauffeur’s daughter who learned her stuff in Paris!
Runtime: 1 Hour 53 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: One for the Classic Film Fans
Story: Sabrina starts as we meet the daughter of the playboy family’s chauffer Sabrina (Hepburn) who has been in love with one of the son’s of the house David (Holden), after Sabrina spends time in Paris, she returns with a better knowledge of fitting in to higher society. David on the other hand has been match made by his brother Linus (Bogart) to continue to grow the family business.
When David needs to recover from an injury, Sabrina ends up spending time with Linus as the two brothers end up battling over the beautiful woman.
Thoughts on Sabrina
Characters – Sabrina is the beautiful daughter of the chauffeur, that gets herself educated before returning to the family that looked down on her, hoping to impress the son she is attracted too, she seems to be a character drawn to a better life and looks to marry her way to it. Linus is the straight talking serious brother that conducts the business and wants to stop David from marrying Sabrina. David is the man that has fallen for Sabrina, he is known as a playboy having a routine for seducing women. We have the rich family and the help family that believe they shouldn’t be together.
Performances – The performances in this film are good, we have three of the most famous stars in Hollywood history. Audrey Hepburn is the star of the film that showed the grace she had in any film she was part off.
Story – The story here follows one woman that dreams of being in the higher society and her way there is through her love of one of the sons of the family her father works for. This isn’t the most overly entertaining story as it seems to show just how Sabrina just wants to plan her own way to get to the top, I am not sure if I am misreading the film, but it does show how the two different classes act towards each other.
Comedy/Romance – The comedy works for the time, but most of the laughs are based on how the reactions of the higher society act. The romance does seem to show the wrong idea of what love is for the people involved.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show the different living standards the characters are used to, what they can buy and how they can get there.
Scene of the Movie – Paris cooking class.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Hasn’t dated very well.
Final Thoughts – This is one of those classic films that has struggled to date the way others have, it tells a story for the time, but not our time which can make it harder to connect too.
Overall: The dated classic.
Rating
