Sabrina (1954)

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Movie
German title Sabrina
Original title Sabrina
Country of production United States
original language English , French
Publishing year 1954
length 112-113 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Billy Wilder
script Billy Wilder,
Samuel A. Taylor ,
Ernest Lehman
production Billy Wilder for
Paramount Pictures Corp.
music Frederick Hollander ,
Richard Rodgers
camera Charles Lang
cut Arthur P. Schmidt
occupation
synchronization

Sabrina is a comedic romance film directed by Billy Wilder from 1954. Audrey Hepburn plays the title role , while Humphrey Bogart and William Holden are rival brothers for Sabrina's favor. The template for the film script goes back to the play Sabrina Fair by Samuel A. Taylor , which premiered on November 11, 1953 in New York.

The film was listed in the National Film Registry in 2002 as being particularly worth preserving .

action

Linus and David Larrabee are the sons of a wealthy family on Long Island . Linus, the elder, is completely absorbed in his work. He is busy running the family business and has no time for a wife or his own family. David is a bon vivant who is officially employed in the family business, but does not care much about work. He has already been married three times and never misses a social event. Sabrina Fairchild, the young, shy and clumsy daughter of the family chauffeur , fell in love with David from an early age, but he hardly paid any attention to her. She went to Paris , where she trained as a cook and, through friendship with an aged French baron, acquired the manners of better society. She returns after two years as a equally cultured, elegant and beautiful woman. David immediately notices her, who immediately courted her.

For business reasons, however, Linus David would like to marry Elizabeth, the daughter of the sugar manufacturer Tyson. To keep her away from David, the die-hard bachelor Linus manages to go out with the fun-loving Sabrina. He pretends to her that he has fallen in love with her and wants to return to Paris with her. Shortly before leaving, however, he lets Sabrina, who has since fallen in love with him, know about his plans. David, who is supposed to drive with Sabrina in his place, has noticed, however, that Linus has developed feelings for the young woman. He does not want to stand in the way of their happiness and can finally persuade his brother to follow her onto the ship, so that Sabrina leaves with Linus in the end.

production

Production notes, filming

The working title of the film was Sabrina Fair . The film begins in the original with the voice of Audrey Hepburn, who speaks about the character Sabrina she plays . According to a note in the Daily Variety , Paramount paid $ 75,000 for the rights to the script to Samuel A. Taylor in 1953, stipulating that the film would not be released until a year later. Filming for the film began in late September and lasted until late November 1953. The film was shot on Long Island , an island belonging to the US state of New York on the property of Paramount chairman Barney Balaban, and in Mamaroneck , a location in the state of New York. The play with Joseph Cotten as Linus and Margaret Sullavan as Sabrina started in New York in mid-November 1953. As can be read in some sources, Audrey Hepburn is said to have convinced Paramount after her successful film A Heart and a Crown to buy the piece for her. There are also sources who write that Billy Wilder came across the piece and suggested Audrey Hepburn for the title role. According to Variety , Paramount was considering changing the film title to The Chauffeur's Daughter . The film marks Humphrey Bogart's first work for Paramount and the last of Billy Wilder, who had made seventeen films for the studio over eighteen years. When Linus takes Sabrina to the theater, they see the play The Itchy 7th Year , which was Billy Wilder's next film project.

As with Twilight Boulevard ( 1950 ), film production began without a finished script. Ernest Lehman continued working on the book with Billy Wilder during production. One day when Lehman did not have a copy of the upcoming scene for Bogart, Bogart is said to have exploded. Wilder explained in front of the assembled team that he would not shoot another meter of film until Bogart apologized to Lehman. Bogart then invited Lehman into his dressing room and filming continued.

Wilder continued to work on the book continuously during production. One day he is said to have asked Hepburn to pretend that she couldn't write her lines for a scene; she should throw the scene in question so often that there would be enough time to finish the next scenes for recording the following day. Bogart, who was not informed about this, is said to have responded to the question of how he assessed the work with Hepburn: “She's all right, if you don't mind a dozen takes.” (“She's okay if it you don't mind shooting the same scene a dozen times. ")

Taylor, who was initially named as a co-screenwriter, was not happy with the sweeping changes Wilder made and turned away from the project. Humphrey Bogart was installed in place of Cary Grant at the last minute after he had canceled. Bogart and William Holden hated each other. Bogart said Holden was a bad actor and he disapproved of Audrey Hepburn's use (he would have preferred his wife Lauren Bacall in the role) while Holden fell in love with her, as did Hepburn with him. However, the actress broke off the relationship when it became clear that she would not be able to have children with Holden.

Bogart received $ 300,000 as a fee, Holden received $ 150,000 and Hepburn only received $ 15,000.

Although Edith Head won an Oscar for best costume design , most of Hepburn's wardrobe was from Hubert de Givenchy . Head accepted the Oscar without even mentioning Givenchy, which was particularly incomprehensible to Audrey Hepburn. In fact, Hepburn wore her own dresses from the Givenchy collection. It was the first time that she worked with the French fashion designer. He was then outfitted by him for almost her entire career.

It was the second film in a row that Hepburn wore her hair short as a symbol of maturity. She previously did this in the film romance A Heart and a Crown in 1953 . It was also the first of four films in a row in which her character was romantically linked to a man old enough that he could have been her father.

publication

The film premiered on September 23, 1954 in Los Angeles and New York. It was generally released in US cinemas on October 15, 1954. It was seen in Canada (Toronto) on September 3, 1954, in the United Kingdom (London) on September 10, 1954 and in Japan on September 17, 1954.

The film premiered in the Federal Republic of Germany on November 16, 1954, in Italy on November 16, 1954, in Portugal on November 19, 1954 and in Austria on December 17, 1954. In 1955 it was released in the following countries: Turkey, Argentina, Finland, France, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Hong Kong, Australia, Spain (Madrid). It was also presented on September 21, 2003 at the Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival and on February 12, 2009 at the Audrey Hepburn Film Festival. It has also been published in Brazil, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, Romania, the Soviet Union and the Ukraine.

synchronization

The German dubbed version was created by Berliner Synchron based on a dialogue book by Erika Streithorst and directed by Rolf von Sydow .

role actor German Dubbing voice
Linus Larrabee Humphrey Bogart Wolfgang Lukschy
Sabrina Fairchild Audrey Hepburn Marion Degler
David Larrabee William Holden Heinz Engelmann
Thomas Fairchild John Williams Siegfried Schürenberg
Mr. Oliver Larrabee Walter Hampden Robert Klupp
Mrs. Maude Larrabee Nella Walker Agnes Windeck
Elizabeth Tyson Martha Hyer Inge Estate
Miss McCardle, secretary Ellen Corby Elf tailors
Cooking teacher in Paris Marcel Hillaire Alfred Balthoff
Margaret the cook Marjorie Bennett Anneliese Würtz

reception

criticism

The difficulties that the production faced were not apparent in the finished film. The New York Times called Sabrina the most delightful romantic comedy in years - a film as frothy and tender as the casseroles Sabrina learns to make.

“With a light hand, Wilder staged a witty social comedy based on a play by Samuel Taylor. Funny dialogue, the delicacy of the image guidance and charming presentation complete the positive overall impression. "

- Lexicon of International Films

"Pun, romance, esprit: just great!"

- TV movie

Awards

Academy Awards 1955
Golden Globe 1955
National Board of Review 1954
Writers Guild of America 1955
  • 1955 WGA Award (Screen) for Best Screenplay in an American Comedy: Billy Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor and Ernest Lehman

Remake

The play by Samuel A. Taylor was remade in 1995 under the same title by Sydney Pollack with Julia Ormond in the title role, largely using the script by Billy Wilder and Ernest Lehman.

literature

  • Samuel A. Taylor : Sabrina. Comedy in four acts (Original title: Sabrina Fair. Or, A woman of the world. A romantic comedy) . Verlag Felix Bloch Erben, Berlin undated (stage manuscript)

Web links

Commons : Sabrina  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Sabrina  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sabrina (1954) see Screenplay Info at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  2. ↑ a b c Sabrina (1954) see Notes at TCM (English)
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Sabrina (1954) see Articles at TCM (English)
  4. ↑ a b c Sabrina (1954) see Trivia at TCM (English)
  5. ↑ German synchronous index: German synchronous index | Movies | Sabrina. Retrieved January 9, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Sabrina. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 31, 2016 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used