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Overall | Sabrina (1954) (Blu-ray) | Funny Face (Blu-ray) (1957) | Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blu-ray) (1961)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Audrey: Timeless Collection (Blu-ray) (1975)

Audrey: Timeless Collection (Blu-ray) (1975)

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Released 1-May-2013

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Overall Package

     This three Blu-ray disc set Audrey Timeless Collection from Paramount includes Sabrina (1954), Funny Face (1957) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961).

     Sabrina is a delightful romantic comedy from master director Billy Wilder. Audrey Hepburn is fabulous, but the thing that stops Sabrina being an absolute classic to my mind is that neither William Holden nor Humphrey Bogart are totally convincing. The video is superb for a 50 year old film, the audio is acceptable.

     Funny Face is a musical that looks gorgeous; the film’s Technicolor colours are deep and vibrant, the set direction and costumes worn by Audrey Hepburn stunning but as a musical and a vehicle for Hepburn it lacks the sparkle it should. The video is sumptuous and the audio fine.

     Breakfast at Tiffany’s, based upon a novella by Truman Capote, contains a timeless, iconic performance by Audrey Hepburn and the Oscar winning score by Henry Mancini which includes the haunting Moon River. The video is very good, the audio perfectly fine. The extras are extensive, interesting and generally worthwhile.

     In this set we get a comedy, a musical and a bona fide classic of 60s cinema. The set is a bargain for fans of Hepburn or classic Hollywood cinema if you do not already own the standalone Blu-rays.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Sabrina (1954) (Blu-ray) | Funny Face (Blu-ray) (1957) | Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blu-ray) (1961)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Sabrina (1954) (Blu-ray)

Sabrina (1954) (Blu-ray)

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Released 1-May-2013

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama None
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1954
Running Time 113:35
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Billy Wilder
Studio
Distributor

Paramount Home Entertainment
Starring Humphrey Bogart
Audrey Hepburn
William Holden
Walter Hampden
John Williams
Martha Hyer
Joan Vohs
Case ?
RPI Box Music Frederick Hollander


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby TrueHD 2.0
French Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.37:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
French
Portuguese
English for the Hearing Impaired
Dutch
Danish
Italian
Spanish
German
Norwegian
Finnish
Swedish
Japanese
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     The Larrabees are a very wealthy industrial family with two very different sons. The younger son David (William Holden) is a dashing playboy; he loves women and has already been married, and divorced, three times. The elder son Linus (Humphrey Bogart) is a staid, conservative businessman, controlling the family’s multiple businesses and with no time for women. The Larrabees live in a large estate on Long Island, with numerous servants including Thomas Fairchild (John Williams), a chauffeur whose daughter Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn) lives with him in a room above the garage.

     Sabrina has had a crush on David since she was nine years old, and watches him from the wings as he pursues a succession of women during the parties held by the Larrabees on their estate. David takes no notice of an awkward, adolescent servant’s daughter of course. Sabrina is sent by her father to Paris for two years to attend a cooking school. She returns to Long Island an elegant, sophisticated, cultured woman, and this time David takes notice and falls in love with her. The problem is that David is due to be married in two weeks to Elizabeth Tyson (Martha Hyer), the daughter of another wealthy family, and the marriage is to cement a lucrative business merger deal that Linus had negotiated. So that David’s marriage, and the merger, can go ahead Linus decides to woo Sabrina himself and then place her on a boat back to Paris. Of course, things do not work out as Linus expects.

     Sabrina is a delightful romantic comedy directed and co-written by Billy Wilder. It is light weight Wilder for sure but he still manages to get in some barbs about the American dream and the film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, but lost out to Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront, a very different type of film. Audrey Hepburn was 24 at the time of filming and is absolutely luminous as Sabrina. She is gorgeous and her looks and screen charisma light up every scene she is in. She was also nominated for an Oscar for the role, having won the year previously for Roman Holiday, but lost out to Grace Kelly in The Country Girl, a film pretty much forgotten today. The supporting cast are also interesting with John Williams good as Sabrina’s father and Walter Hampden a heap of fun as the father of Linus and David. However the thing that stops Sabrina being an absolute classic to my mind is that neither William Holden nor Humphrey Bogart are totally convincing. It was reported that Bogart was a last minute replacement for Cary Grant and did not like Hepburn in the title role; he wanted his wife Lauren Bacall instead. As well Bogart and Holden could not stand each other which would have caused some friction on set!

     Despite this Sabrina is a lot of fun. It may be lightweight and romantic but is worth watching for Audrey Hepburn alone, who is wonderful.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Sabrina is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, the original ratio being 1.37:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     Sabrina is a black and white film made almost 60 years ago and it looks great in this HD transfer. Detail is very good and the film has an excellent depth and definition in pristine black and white. There is slight blur with some motion, and aliasing on vertical railings, but marks and scratches are nowhere to be seen.

     Subtitles are available in English, English for the hearing impaired, a wide range of European languages, plus Japanese.

     In this HD print Sabrina probably looks as good as it ever has.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio choices include an English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 track plus Dolby Digital 2.0 dubs in German, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese. The film was theatrically released with a mono soundtrack.

     The dialogue is easy to hear. There is no surround or subwoofer use obviously and the effects lack depth and resonance but this is to be expected.

     The film uses adapted music including music composed by Richard Rogers, the Edith Piaf classic La vie en rose and Yes! We Have No Bananas.

     Lip synchronisation was fine.

     The audio reflects the original theatrical release and is perfectly adequate.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

     There are no extras, the same as the standalone Australian Blu-ray release.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    Standalone Blu-ray releases of Sabrina include a US Region Free and Scandinavian Region B version, but the specifications seem similar to ours and none have any of the extras that were available previously on either the Region 4 Australian DVD, reviewed on this site here, or the Paramount 2 disc DVD; details of the extras on that release can be found here.

     I can find no listing of a similar Blu-ray set to the Audrey Timeless Collection elsewhere. A local bargain.

Summary

     Sabrina is a delightful romantic comedy directed and co-written by Billy Wilder and staring the fabulous Audrey Hepburn.

     The video is probably the best the 60 year old film has looked and the audio is fine. No extras.

     A stand-alone Blu-ray of Sabrina has previously been available in Australia. The same Blu-ray is now released as part of the three disc set Audrey Timeless Collection from Paramount that also includes Funny Face (1957) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). The set is a bargain for fans of Hepburn or classic Hollywood cinema if you do not already own the standalone Blu-rays.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Sabrina (1954) (Blu-ray) | Funny Face (Blu-ray) (1957) | Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blu-ray) (1961)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Funny Face (Blu-ray) (1957)

Funny Face (Blu-ray) (1957)

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Released 1-May-2013

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Romantic Comedy None
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 1957
Running Time 103:19
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Stanley Donen
Studio
Distributor

Paramount Home Entertainment
Starring Audrey Hepburn
Fred Astaire
Kay Thompson
Michael Auclair
Robert Flemyng
Case ?
RPI Box Music George Gershwin


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s)
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s)
Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
French
German
Dutch
Norwegian
Croatian
Italian
Spanish
Danish
Spanish
Swedish
Japanese
English for the Hearing Impaired
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     Fashion magazine Editor Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) is seeking a new look for the magazine. At an impromptu photo shoot in a bookstore, fashion photographer Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) meets shopgirl Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn), an erudite and intelligent young woman so different from the airhead models he usually photographs. Avery manages to persuade Maggie that Jo is the new face they are looking for; he also persuades Jo to come to Paris for the launch of the new look, mainly because Jo wants to meet her idol, philosopher Professor Emile Flostre (Michel Auclair). In Paris love blossoms but as usual true love does not run smooth, nor does the launch. However, there is never any doubt that it will all be happily resolved before the fade out to “The End”.

     Funny Face is a musical that looks gorgeous; the film’s Technicolor colours are deep and vibrant, the set direction and costumes worn by Hepburn stunning. This is the strength of the film and it was nominated for four Oscars, including for art direction, costumes and cinematography, but won none. As a musical it is less successful. Director Stanley Donen had revamped the musical with his magical Singin’ in the Rain in 1952 and in some aspects Funny Face is a lesser version of that film, down to an Astaire dance with an umbrella – but minus the rain. By 1957 the concept, and choreography, feel somewhat dated.

     Funny Face had originally been a George & Ira Gershwin musical play on Broadway in 1927 which starred Fred Astaire and his sister Adele, but the plot of the play was jettisoned when it came to make Funny Face. Some of the Gershwin music and lyrics were retained and additional songs written by Leonard Gershe and Roger Edens, but except for S’Wonderful, Funny Face and the most lively song in the film Clap Yo’ Hands, the music comes over as fairly bland. It is not helped by the fact that Hepburn does not have a strong singing voice and, indeed, in her next role in a musical, in My Fair Lady in 1964, her voice was overdubbed. Hepburn does acquit herself well in the dance numbers, being a lithe, flexible woman of 28 years old, but her romance with Astaire, who was 30 years her senior, lacks any spark. At 58 Astaire still has the moves, but it is telling that he is at his most animated in the Clap Yo’ Hands number performed with Kay Thompson, who is in fact only 10 years his junior! Indeed, Thompson is great, and the most consistently entertaining person in the film.

     Funny Face does include some barbs at beauty, celebrity and fashion and boasts some witty dialogue, such as when Jo explains the purpose of dance to Dick; it looks stunning but as a musical and a vehicle for Hepburn it lacks the sparkle it should. It is still, however, entertaining and good clean fun.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     The Blu-ray states that Funny Face is presented in a full frame in an aspect ratio. The original release ratio as listed on IMDb is 1.85:1; this Blu-ray presentation of Funny Face is in fact presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     In a word, sumptuous! The depth of detail is astounding, the colours deep, rich and vibrant. In a couple of sequences, such as the early developing room scene or the sequence in the Paris café, the reds are enhanced and look magical. Elsewhere, on the Paris set or in the interiors the colours are beautiful, detail in close-ups pristine. Blacks and shadow detail are superb. The film also shows a pleasing amount of grain, skin tones are great, brightness and contract consistent.

     This is not to say the print is perfect. At times it struggles to cope with Astaire’s white coat, which comes over as glary, as well as some of the white lamps in the background. Perhaps the most obvious is where Astaire’s white coat and Hepburn’s white wedding dress are in the scene with a green grass and tree background: throw in movement, such as at 69:35 and the cameras cannot cope and the scene becomes soft and glary. The great detail of the HD Blu-ray presentation just makes it more obvious.

    There is also minor occasional blur with movement.

     Subtitles are provided in English, English for the hearing impaired, a wide range of European languages plus Japanese. I sampled a small portion; they were in a clear white font and seemed to cover all the words.

     A simply gorgeous Technicolor print.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio choices are English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, German, Spanish, French and Italian Dolby Digital at 224 Kbps and Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 at 640 Kbps. The audio for Funny Face was originally a mono track, which is not available on this Blu-ray release. I listened to the English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio, and expect for some ambient musical noise in the surrounds it may as well have been mono.

     Dialogue is clear and easy to hear although it was sometimes soft compared to the musical numbers. Not surprisingly the audio lacked depth, but the singing and dancing came over nicely. I did not notice any subwoofer use, but then again it was not really needed.

     Lip synchronisation seemed slightly out during the Think Pink! musical number but was otherwise fine.

     The audio does what is required.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

     Nothing.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    There have been standalone Blu-ray releases of Funny Face including a US Region Free and a version here in Australia, but the specifications seem similar and none have any of the extras that were available previously on the DVD release, especially the Paramount 2 disc edition; details of the extras on that release can be found here.

     I can find no listing of a similar Blu-ray set to the Audrey Timeless Collection elsewhere. A local bargain.

Summary

     Funny Face looks gorgeous; the film’s Technicolor colours, the set direction and costumes worn by Hepburn stunning but as a musical and a vehicle for Hepburn it lacks the sparkle it should.

     The video is sumptuous and the audio fine. No extras.

     A stand-alone Blu-ray of Funny Face has previously been available in Australia. The same Blu-ray is now released as part the three disc set Audrey Timeless Collection from Paramount that also includes Sabrina (1954) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). The set is a bargain for fans of Hepburn or classic Hollywood cinema if you do not already own the standalone Blu-rays.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Monday, May 20, 2013
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Sabrina (1954) (Blu-ray) | Funny Face (Blu-ray) (1957) | Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blu-ray) (1961)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blu-ray) (1961)

Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blu-ray) (1961)

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Released 1-May-2013

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Romantic Comedy Audio Commentary-Producer Richard Shepherd
Featurette-A Golightly Gathering
Featurette-Henry Mancini: More than Music
Featurette-Mr Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective
Featurette-Making Of-Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Making of a Classic
Featurette-It's So Audrey! A Style Icon
Featurette-Behind the Gates: The Tour
Featurette-Brilliance in a Blue Box
Featurette-Audrey's Letter to Tiffany
Gallery-Photo-x 3
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1961
Running Time 115:05
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Blake Edwards
Studio
Distributor

Paramount Home Entertainment
Starring Audrey Hepburn
George Peppard
Patricia Neal
Buddy Ebsen
Martin Balsam
José Luis de Villalonga
John McGiver
Alan Reed
Dorothy Whitney
Beverly Powers
Stanley Adams
Claude Stroud
Elvia Allman
Case ?
RPI Box Music Henry Mancini


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
German Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
English for the Hearing Impaired
Danish
Dutch
German
Finnish
French
Spanish
Swedish
Norwegian
Italian
Smoking Yes, constantly
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) is an escort in New York with a fascination for Tiffany’s jewellery store. Paul Varjak (George Peppard) is a struggling writer with one published book and a writer’s block; he is also the kept man of the wealthy married woman 2-E (Patricia Neal) who sets him up in an apartment in the same building as Holly. Paul and Holly meet and become close friends but Holly is determined to marry a rich man so does not allow the friendship to go any further. Complications ensue, until an evening in the rain.

     Breakfast at Tiffany’s is based upon a novella by Truman Capote, who didn’t think Hepburn was suitable for his more earthy character of Holly; Hepburn was not convinced she was right for the part either, but wanted to do it. Marilyn Monroe was in the frame for Holly and the screenwriter for Breakfast at Tiffany’s was George Axelrod, who had worked on Monroe films before such as The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Bus Stop (1956), so they may have created a rather harder character. George Peppard was also not the original choice for the role of Paul, but Steve McQueen was unavailable because of shooting Wanted: Dead or Alive. The director Blake Edwards, who is known for the Pink Panther series of films with Peter Sellers, was also not the first choice to direct the film; that was John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Seven Days in May (1964)): there is not much doubt Breakfast at Tiffany’s would have been a different film with Monroe and McQueen in the leads and Frankenheimer directing!

     Yet, what we get is impressive. Breakfast at Tiffany’s captivates, right from the opening scenes in New York to the climax in the rain. For all the doubts about Hepburn it must be said that she looks gorgeous in a black dress and she is lovely, mischievous and funny; when she is on screen she is delightful to watch and Holly has become one of her signature roles. Peppard is also good fun and fit, showing of his chest to good effect; his scenes with Hepburn are sweet and the two remained friends for years. The other major plus is the Oscar winning score by Henry Mancini that includes the Oscar winning song Moon River by Mancini and Johnny Mercer. Orchestral variations of the Moon River theme occur throughout the film to great effect, and it is impossible to imagine Breakfast at Tiffany’s without it.

     Breakfast at Tiffany’s is not perfect. Some of the aspects of the original story that remain that feel at odds with the rest of the light hearted, sentimental tone of the film, such as Paul being a kept man or Holly’s previous marriage (to the character played by Buddy Ebsen, who on the strength of his performance was offered the role in the long running The Beverly Hillbillies). Breakfast at Tiffany’s also feels slow in the middle section and the cocktail party scene, other than introducing a couple of characters such as agent O.J. (Martin Balsam) and Jose (Vilallonga), feels very dates, is not very interesting and goes on far too long. The other misstep, admitted by Edwards in the featurette included as an extra on this disc, is the stereotype Japanese man played by Mickey Rooney that is intended to be broad comedy but is anything but. However, the climax of Breakfast at Tiffany’s means all is forgiven: it is simple, beautiful and very romantic with the Mancini music, the rain and the bedraggled cat! No-one with any soul could repress a smile!

     Breakfast at Tiffany’s remains a wonderful, entertaining film fifty years after release, mostly because of an unforgettable iconic performance by a lovely and captivating Hepburn and the wonderful Oscar winning music. Of course, the cat (or cats) in the film are delightful actors too.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Breakfast at Tiffany’s is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original ratio being 1.85:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code. The print went through restoration in 2011.

     The Technicolor print is sharp and nicely detailed, with close-ups of Hepburn’s exquisite facial features wonderful. The colours are natural and rich, with good depth and separation. Skin tones are beautiful, blacks and shadow detail great, brightness and contrast consistent.

     There are no marks or scratches; the film grain is pleasing. There is some obvious blur with motion against vertical lines, such as the vertical blinds in Paul’s room; see 21:39 for an example, but there are lots of other examples as scenes in Paul’s room are frequent.

     Subtitles are available in English, English for the hearing impaired and a wide range of other European languages.

     Breakfast at Tiffany’s has beautiful colours in a nicely detailed print, not looking its age at all.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio choices are English DTS HD MA 5.1, a restored English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, plus German, Spanish, French and Italian, all Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. There is also a commentary track.

     It is good to have the original mono audio available although the default audio on the Blu-ray is the DTS mix. It is thankfully not overdone, and the surrounds are mostly used for the wonderful Oscar winning score by Henry Mancini and the rain at the end, although there are occasional panning effects, such as the train. Dialogue is always clear and easy to understand. I cannot say that I noticed any subwoofer use, but nor did the film need it. The restored mono audio, not surprisingly, has less depth but works fine.

     Lip synchronisation was good.

     The audio track is perfectly adequate.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Audio Commentary by Producer Richard Shepherd

     Richard Shepherd was one of the two producers of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. He mentions locations, casting, differences between the novella and the film and discusses scenes he believes were important. He maintains that Hepburn was his original choice for Holly and explains his reasons; he is a fan of Hepburn and she can do no wrong. This is a low key commentary, with lots of short statements and long silences but as the film’s audio plays in his silences it is not too bad.

A Golightly Gathering (20:26)

    A reunion cocktail party for some of the actors who appeared in the cocktail party scene in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, plus a few others. They talk about the style and clothes in the film and provide anecdotes about the shooting of that party scene. Light weight but fun.

Henry Mancini: More Than Music (20:57)

     A moving tribute to the man, his music and his life by his wife Ginny and his two children, Chris and Monica, using black and white photographs and home videos. Includes some anecdotes about Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the Oscar winning song Moon River. Well worth watching.

Mr Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective (17:30)

     In Breakfast at Tiffany’s Mickey Rooney played the comic Japanese character Mr Yunioshi. This role is used as a starting point by various people, including actress Marilyn Tokuda and members of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, to discuss racial stereotyping in American films and how the portrayal of Asians has, thankfully, changed. This stereotyping is also placed in a wider cultural context, such as the internment of American citizens of Japanese origin during WW2 – it seems if you were 1/16th Japanese you could not be trusted. This is a very interesting featurette. It is worth noting that in the “making of” featurette, also included in extras, director Blake Edwards states that he regrets that casting.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s: The Making of a Classic (16:13)

     Director Blake Edwards, producer Richard Shepherd, casting director Marvin Paige, actress Patricia Neal, various extras in the party scene and the son and companion of Hepburn discuss the Capote novella upon which Breakfast at Tiffany’s was based, the changes made when Hepburn agreed to play Holly, the other casting, the party scene and the Oscar winning song. Interesting and informative.

It’s So Audrey! A Style Icon (8:15)

     Various people, including a designer, producer, magazine editor and Hepburn’s son discuss the look Hepburn brought to the screen and her choice of clothing including working with Paris designer Givenchy. Includes scenes from Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Paris When it Sizzles.

Behind the Gates: The Tour (4:33)

    A publicity tour of the Paramount Studio lot; no connection with Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Brilliance in a Blue Box (6:03)

     Extended publicity for Tiffany’s jewellery store in New York, which started in 1837 and moved to its current location in 1940.

Audrey’s Letter to Tiffany (2:29)

    Hepburn wrote a preface for a book, published in 1987, written to commemorate 150 years of Tiffany’s.

Galleries

     Divided into three sections of black and white and colour stills. No music, and the remote is used to advance to the next still. The sections are:

Theatrical Trailer (2:37)

     Unrestored theatrical trailer; interesting to compare with how the restored film footage looks!

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Blu-ray stand-alone releases of Breakfast at Tiffany’s are basically identical across all regions except for some subtitle options. All include the extras previously available on the DVD release.

     I can find no listing of a similar Blu-ray set to the Audrey Timeless Collection elsewhere. A local bargain.

Summary

     Breakfast at Tiffany’s contains a timeless, iconic performance by Audrey Hepburn and the Oscar winning score by Henry Mancini. The film looks great in HD and is still captivating fifty years on.

     The video is very good, the audio perfectly fine. The extras are extensive, interesting and generally worthwhile.

     A stand-alone Blu-ray of Breakfast at Tiffany’s has previously been available in Australia. The same Blu-ray is now released as part the three disc set Audrey Timeless Collection from Paramount that also includes Sabrina (1954) and Funny Face (1957). The set is a bargain for fans of Hepburn or classic Hollywood cinema if you do not already own the standalone Blu-rays.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE