4K UHD Review: Sabrina (1954)
Fresh off her success in William Wyler’s Roman Holiday, Audrey Hepburn joined Humphrey Bogart, William Holden and director Billy Wilder for 1954′s Sabrina. Adapted from Samuel A. Taylor’s play Sabrina Fair, by Taylor himself with Ernest Lehman, the film plays out like something out of a fairytale. It begins with the words “once upon a […]
4K UHD Review: Roman Holiday (70th Anniversary Edition)
Released on August 27, 1953, Roman Holiday is probably best known as the film that introduced American audiences to Audrey Hepburn. Director/producer William Wyler (Ben-Hur) had originally wanted Elizabeth Taylor for the role of Princess Ann (‘Anya Smith’) but Hepburn was cast after a screen test. After she had performed a dignified, subdued scene from […]
Blu-ray Review: Roman Holiday (Paramount Presents Edition)
Released on August 27, 1953, Roman Holiday is probably best known as the film that introduced American audiences to Audrey Hepburn. Director/producer William Wyler (Ben-Hur) had originally wanted Elizabeth Taylor for the role of Princess Ann (‘Anya Smith’) but Hepburn was cast after a screen test. After she had performed a dignified, subdued scene from […]
Wait Until Dark (Blu-ray)
Based on the hit Broadway play by Frederick Knott, fifty years after its initial theatrical release, the last fifteen minutes of Wait Until Dark has lost none of its memorable bite. Audrey Hepburn received her fifth Oscar nomination for her performance as Susy Hendrix, a woman who, having lost her sight just a year earlier […]
My Fair Lady (50th Anniversary Edition – Remastered) (Blu-ray)
First released on Blu-ray in 2011, most agreed that My Fair Lady neither looked nor sounded as good as it could have. Many (including myself), hoped that a remaster would come out in celebration of the films 50th anniversary. It may be slightly late, but we got our wish! CBS/Paramount has re-released My Fair Lady […]
Audrey Hepburn Collection (Breakfast at Tiffany’s / Funny Face / Sabrina) (Blu-ray)
Voted one of the greatest female screen legends in American cinema history by the American Film Institute, Audrey Hepburn remains a fashion icon and fan favorite, more than twenty years after her death in 1992. Warner Bros. Audrey Hepburn Collection offers up three of her most popular films, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Funny Face (1957) […]
Funny Face (Blu-ray)
[Note: Parts of this review have appeared in a write-up concerning a previous DVD release of this film.] The first time I saw Fred Astaire glide across the screen with Ginger Rogers in Swing Time (1936), I was mesmerized. They seemed to move so effortlessly, almost as if they were walking on air. Fred led […]
Sabrina (1954) (Blu-ray)
[Note: Parts of this review appeared in an evaluation of a previous DVD release.] Fresh off her success in William Wyler’s Roman Holiday, Audrey Hepburn joined Humphrey Bogart, William Holden and director Billy Wilder for 1954′s Sabrina. The film was adapted from the Samuel A. Taylor play Sabrina Fair, by Taylor himself with Ernest Lehman. […]
Blu-ray Review: My Fair Lady
The origin of the 1964 film My Fair Lady goes back to George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion (1912), which was subsequently adapted into a Broadway musical by the successful team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe (Gigi, Camelot). The play debuted in 1956. It wasn’t until seven years later that the movie, produced by Jack […]
Blu-ray review: Breakfast at Tiffany’s
As Blu-ray becomes an increasingly popular format, the major studios have really begun to see that the true classics of cinema make their way to high-def. I for one couldn’t be happier. One of Paramount’s latest classics to make a stunning Blu-ray debut is Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Nominated for five Academy Awards, including Audrey Hepburn […]