I was making huckleberry jam last night -- yes, huckleberries really do exist -- and needed to look them up on Wikipedia since I didn't have a recipe on hand and wanted to make sure it came out alright. While I was reading up on this strange fruit, something caught my eye. Apparently, the huckleberry came to be known as something tiny and insignificant culturally, and from there on to something reliable. The slang evolved from "a huckleberry to a persimmon," meaning the tiniest bit beyond what you could do or achieve, to "I'll be your huckleberry," which meant "I'm your man," or "I'm the one for the job." So, long story short, is this the true meaning behind the mysterious "my huckleberry friend" line in "Moon River"? I'm convinced! What do you think? You can read more about the evolution of the huckleberry as a cultural reference here, if you need more information.
The berries themselves, by the way, are very similar to blueberries but are more tart in flavour, and the jam came out perfectly. :)
There's a new video on You Tube from a made-for-TV biography that I don't think I've ever seen. The clip that was uploaded was from a Chinese airing, but maybe it's been aired in English-speaking countries? Either way, it's fantastic interviews with Mel Ferrer, Henry Mancini (composer of "Moon River"), Stanley Donen (director of Funny Face and Two For the Road), and Hubert de Givenchy. It's a really fascinating segment to watch and gives more insight into Audrey's career and relationships with these men, you really just have to see it to appreciate it. I certainly can't do it justice!
I know nearly everyone has seen these now and they're definitely not new, but news is still very slow and I just really like these. There were at least two tea commercials that ran in Japan that featured Audrey Hepburn quite heavily, and maybe it's just the foreign aspect here, but I really like them. A lot more than the Gap ads, anyway. It's just cute girls being influenced by Audrey while drinking tea! What more could you ask for?
And, because I just really love these girls, here's Vanilla Mood, a Japanese string/keyboard combo, playing "Moon River." They've played a few other Audrey-related songs as well, so if you like this clip, please search for more!
On iFilm there's an interview with director Cameron Crowe about Elizabethtown, and he's asked about his obsession with Audrey Hepburn. If you're not familiar with his films, in Vanilla Sky there is a Sabrina reference, in Jerry Maguire there's the line "That's more than a dress; that's an Audrey Hepburn movie," and in Elizabethtown there's footage of Roman Holiday(besides "Moon River" playing throughout the film and the obvious Kirsten Dunst as a modern Holly Golightly bit throughout as well). I won't ruin it for you, so just click the link above to go to the video. It's short at just under 3 minutes, so the interviewer doesn't have a chance to get too annoying. :)
As a special bonus, here is an animation of cute little Parisian kitties prancing about to the tune of the instrumental "Bonjour Paris" from the Funny Face soundtrack. Such a great little song! Thank you to the shy one who sent this video in.
Author Sidney Sheldon, who wrote many pulp-style novels and has the dubious distinction of penning the worst Audrey Hepburn film ever, died Tuesday at the age of 89 from pneumonia complications. Sheldon had been active writing screenplays for over 30 years, and Bloodline was his fourth novel out of his final 22 published books. Thankfully, it's a lesser-known and harder to access film, and the cover art of the video tape alone should put you off of it. Is Ben Gazzara made of wax?
Making big news lately is the fictionalized biopic on Warhol muse Edie Sedgwick, Factory Girl. Reviews of the film often call Edie a "real-life Holly Golightly," and according to Ign.com, it's because Edie herself confesses to seeing a movie poster for Breakfast at Tiffany's and desperately wanting to be as glamorous as Audrey Hepburn looked as Holly Golightly. Edie never got around to reading Truman Capote's novella or watching the movie, but she nonetheless knew she wanted to be a real life Holly. An icon influencing an icon.
And to make up for news being so slow, here's Audrey singing "Moon River." She was the first one to sing it, she saved it from being scrapped in the movie, and it was always Henry Mancini's favourite version of the song -- he should know, he wrote the song!
At the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. I was there, because honestly, how can you resist seeing Audrey on the big screen twice in one day? It's the way she was meant to be seen, really. And I must say, it really does make a difference. I watch most of my DVDs on the computer, mainly because I've cut TV out of my life, and it's easy to forget that movies were filmed to be seen on a grand scale. You always hear about Audrey's height and slender frame being her trademarks, but it's easy to forget when she's only 7 inches tall and every other actress (in and out of Hollywood) strives to be her. But seeing the one and only Audrey Hepburn larger than life in the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's caught my breath and made me realize what magic she must have been when her films were new. I had even seen Breakfast earlier last year in a smaller theatre, but to see it in a grand old movie house from the 20s on a real screen makes all the difference. If you ever have the chance to see a film of hers on the big screen, take it! It's a completely new experience.
The Castro is a fantastic theatre that was built in 1922, and it shows in every inch. It even has a functioning organ directly below the screen, and a professional organist often plays movie themes and accompaniments to silent films. (The organist that often plays at the Castro played at the fabulous Grace Cathedral, also in San Francisco, on New Years Eve, playing movie themes before the grand fireworks over the Bay.) They couldn't have picked a better venue for an Audrey double feature! If you'd like to learn more about the theatre, click here.
The double feature, as you can see from the marquee, was Breakfast at Tiffany's and Funny Face. Like I'd said above, I was lucky enough to find Breakfast before, but I was beyond excited to find Funny Face. I've always been a big fan of musicals, and to see Audrey singing and dancing -- with Fred Astaire, no less! -- and possibly at her happiest onscreen was beyond exciting. Breakfast at Tiffany's showed first, with both movies playing twice that day (a double feature twice). I had thought that the earlier pairing would be less crowded, since the weather had finally cleared and the Castro was still a mess from the New Year's Eve parties the night before, but it was pretty much a full house for both films.
For Breakfast at Tiffany's, the audience clapped when the film first started, and laughed throughout. It's funny how you forget to laugh when you watch it at home by yourself, and it's interesting to see what first-timers find funny when you're watching with them. Mickey Rooney's Mr. Yunioshi got a lot of laughs, surprisingly, and no one seemed offended by him. A lot of Holly's more kooky lines got a lot of laughs; for example, "It's useful being top banana in the shock department" and her hypocritical "I hate snoops!" comment. And of course, at the end of the film the sound of people sniffling and blowing their noses could be heard even over the "Moon River" theme.
I also noticed a lot of young children at both films. They were very good throughout, but I noticed because it seemed that a lot of parents were bringing their children to introduce them to Audrey the right way -- on the big screen. It made me very happy to see it, and I hope that the kids did enjoy the films and would maybe remember the pretty lady from the movie later on in life. :) It's just pleasing to realize that old cinema is not dead, and the passion for older movies is being passed on and hopefully appreciated as much as the older generations have enjoyed it.
The crowd for Funny Face was even more enthusiastic, if that can be believed. Audrey's credit and Fred Astaire's credit were applauded, along with Kay Thompson's credit and even Givenchy's credit! The audience had warm applause for every single music or dance piece, and a collective groan when Fred sang "If you can cook the way you look." I think I even heard people singing along, too. But the funniest part was during Jo's spat with Dick Avery before the botched unveiling of the Quality Woman, when Dick (Fred Astaire) says "He's about as interested in your intellect as I am!" A group of people at the rear of the theatre actually hissed, and there were scattered "Boo!"s throughout the crowd. Still, everyone seemed to absolutely love it, and I found out afterward that Kay Thompson has quite a following in San Francisco. A group just in front of me came just to see her, but I hope they still enjoyed Audrey's part in the film. :) Though I readily admit (and Audrey did, too), that Kay completely stole every scene she was in. My favourite non-Audrey song is definitely "Clap Yo Hands" because of Kay alone.
There's an article critiquing the November issue of Harper's Bazaar (the one with Natalie Portman in Audrey's dress) here. While the author says good things about the dress and Natalie's short article, she doesn't much care for the rest of the magazine. The reason? The women in it are too thin. Thankfully, she doesn't cast blame with Audrey, but still, it's a glossy fashion magazine -- what were you expecting?
We also have a new submission to the lookalikes page, which you can see here. Don't forget that the lookalikes is totally run by you, the fans, and I don't submit any of my own. So if you know of an actress or other well-known person that resembles Audrey, send your suggestions to us! There may be voting on the lookalikes soon, to rate which ones look the most like Audrey . . .
And lastly, to make up for my spotty updates the past few days and the lack of any good news, here's the Roman Holiday documentary from the special edition DVD. It's very fun to watch!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
*edit* At Ankit's suggestion, I've updated the Moon River Wikipedia entry to properly reflect the Huckleberry Hound reference. I've also taken the liberty of linking Audrey's Wikipedia page to this site, because it couldn't hurt. :) I would have done it sooner, but I thought it was a lot harder to update than it really is.
Though a lot of the more seasoned Audrey fans may already know this story, it's still nice to read about the history of "Moon River," and how Audrey singlehandedly saved it from the scrap heap. This is an article giving the background of iconic songs in film ("Moon River" is about halfway down), and while it does give good information, it's wrong about Paul's mask being Huckleberry Hound!
Holly does pick up a Huckleberry Hound mask shortly before settling on the cat, though:
So there's that, once and for all.
Next up, what are you plans for New Year's Day? If you live in San Francisco or anywhere around the Bay area, you might want to take a trip to the Castro Theatre. They're having an Audrey double feature playing Breakfast at Tiffany's and Funny Face! I was lucky enough to catch a showing of Breakfast a few months ago on the big screen, and I must say, it's a totally new feeling seeing it large. Plus, watching with a theatre full of people adds a whole new dimension to it. There were people there who obviously hadn't seen the movie before, and it was great to hear them laugh during the party scenes (and some other scenes where you might not expect laughter), and then that hush towards the end where everyone is either holding their breath or crying -- or both. So keep an eye out on any local theatres that may show older films, because it is definitely worth it to watch Audrey the way she was meant to be seen. Anyway, the information on the double feature is currently at the bottom of the December page of their calendar, if you want to learn more.
Lastly, MTV has a feature on their website about a new film coming out called Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, and they list 10 great films about photography that should definitely be watched. Funny Face is #3! I saw the trailer for Fur when I went to see The Science of Sleep and it definitely intrigued me, so I might look into these other films they suggest as well, even if it is MTV doing the suggesting. You can see the list and more information about Furhere.
I was making huckleberry jam last night -- yes, huckleberries really do exist -- and needed to look them up on Wikipedia since I didn't have a recipe on hand and wanted to make sure it came out alright. While I was reading up on this strange fruit, something caught my eye. Apparently, the huckleberry came to be known as something tiny and insignificant culturally, and from there on to something reliable. The slang evolved from "a huckleberry to a persimmon," meaning the tiniest bit beyond what you could do or achieve, to "I'll be your huckleberry," which meant "I'm your man," or "I'm the one for the job." So, long story short, is this the true meaning behind the mysterious "my huckleberry friend" line in "Moon River"? I'm convinced! What do you think? You can read more about the evolution of the huckleberry as a cultural reference here, if you need more information.
The berries themselves, by the way, are very similar to blueberries but are more tart in flavour, and the jam came out perfectly. :)
