Breakfast At Tiffany's (DVD 2000)

The iconic presence of Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, George Peppard's finest performance, and the classic Mancini theme music make this one of the most famous films of the 1960's, if not, perhaps, one of the finest.
Based on a Truman Capote story, Hepburn plays a New York call girl consumed by her own delusions. She is a fake, but a genuine one: she has fled some mysterious past, lives from day to day, and dreams of marriage to some millionaire and the Prince Charming route to upward mobility and respectability. Until her dreams come true, she lives with her fantasies, bored, unable even to bother to name her cat.

Peppard is an unproductive writer who makes a living as the kept plaything of an older, rich, married woman. He moves in to the same apartment block as Hepburn, and quickly falls for her charms. Hepburn, of course, is irresistible. No nudity, no sex scenes, everything coy and 'decent', but Hepburn simply sizzles. 'Irresistible' hardly does her justice.

The film has aged somewhat - the 1961 party scenes and social mores look quaint. The sleaziness of the principals' lifestyle is barely commented upon. But "Breakfast at Tiffany's" retains a magnetism of its own. A lightweight romantic comedy, a bit sentimental and sexually sanitised, it remains a compulsive, entertaining tale. It has magical moments - Hepburn, of course, established Holly as an iconic figure of the 60's, and you wonder why George Peppard never recaptured the presence he exerts throughout this film, but watch out for a marvellous little cameo sequence in Tiffany's. Watch out, also, for an appalling comedy role by Mickey Rooney, playing a Japanese caricature which would probably be banned today.

Buying this package may appeal to those of you who are avid collectors of anything to do with the film or Hepburn, but you otherwise need to ask yourself if you need the 'extras' provided with this one, for, if you simply want to watch the film, there are cheaper options.