Piąta Aleja, piąta rano

by Sam Wasson, Agnieszka Lipska-Nakoniecznik (Translator)

Jesienią 1960 roku na nowojorskiej Piątej Alei o piątej rano padł pierwszy klaps na planie jednego z najsłynniejszych filmów w historii – Śniadania u Tiffany'ego.

W pełnej porywających faktów i anegdot opowieści Wasson przedstawia nie tylko kulisy powstawania filmu, lecz także dokumentuje burzliwą epokę przełomu lat pięćdziesiątych i sześćdziesiątych w Ameryce – przed rewolucją seksualną dzieci kwiatów, powszechnym dostępem do antykoncepcji i zanim mała czarna stała się symbolem elegancji. Autor pokazuje plan filmowy, przybliża stosunki panujące wśród członków ekipy i narastające między nimi animozje. Jednocześnie szerokim spojrzeniem ogarnia wpływ Audrey Hepburn na modę, politykę dotyczącą płci i budzenie się nowej moralności. Pojawiają się wielkie postacie tamtych czasów: Truman Capote, Audrey Hepburn, Blake Edwards, Henry Mancini, a także Marylin Monroe, Billy Wilder czy Akira Kurosawa.

Dlaczego filmowa opowieść o Holly Golightly miała kłopoty z cenzurą? Czym różni się od powieści Capote'a? Co zmieniła w życiu milionów młodych kobiet, które nie chciały żyć jak ich matki? Tę książkę – pełną smakowitych szczegółów – czyta się jak powieść o dawnym Hollywood, pełnym uroku i mrocznych tajemnic.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Film, Pop Culture, Biography Memoir, Media Tie In

Paperback

First published June 22, 2010

About the author

SAM WASSON is the author of the New York Times bestseller Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M .: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman and two works of film criticism. He is a visiting professor of film at Wesleyan University.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. The author has compiled an endlessly fascinating book. This was not Capote's project because he was not involved in the film, but of course he's discussed when relevant. The book is full of interesting background and great anecdotes, all sourced. Reading about what happened at Givenchy's atelier when Audrey was sent there to get clothes for Sabrina gave me goosebumps. The story of how Blake Edwards cast and filmed the party scene is amazing. The book is a page-turner. Sam Wasson doesn't gloss over the sadder aspects of her life, the miscarriages, the unhappy marriage, but neither does he dwell on them. If you're here because you're a fan of Ms. Hepburn or Breakfast at Tiffany's (or Roman Holiday or Sabrina), you will love this book.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. combines several of my favorite things. Old Hollywood, Classic film, celebrity, and fashion.

Before I go any further I must admit that I have never watched the film Breakfast at Tiffany's or read the novel its based on. I'm not a huge Audrey Hepburn fan(sorry) but it is on my list of movies to watch before I die. Reading this book has made me want to push it up my list and Hey! I've got the time now.

I didn't realize how transformative and culturally significant Breakfast at Tiffany's was and is. Breakfast at Tiffany's led to the popularization of the ultimate fashion stable The Little Black Dress. Hepburn's Holly Golightly was also in its time considered a feminist touchstone. Before Breakfast at Tiffany's a woman like Golightly, a woman who lived alone, slept around, and pretty much did whatever da fuck she wanted, would have needed to be reformed or die by the end of the movie. "Bad girls" didn't get the guy but Holly Golightly does.

Although most people didn't know it, Breakfast at Tiffany's may have been one of the first movies of "The Sexual Revolution". The Holly Golightly of Truman Capote's novel was a call girl and while the movie never points that out its very clear that Holly is able to afford her lifestyle through not so wholesome means.

Sam Wesson had the difficult job of trying to tell the story of how both the novel and the movie came to be. He also had to give mini biographies of the main cast of characters(both real & fictional) and he needed to contextualize the impact this movie has had on film, politics, fashion, and feminism. It was a hard task but I think he pulled it off.

A must read for: Film buffs, fashionistas, and history buffs.

[Timothy Hallinan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book but it's a cautionary example of what can go wrong when a writer sets out to do too much.

Wasson takes a great cast -- Audrey Hepburn, Blake Edwards, Truman Capote, screenwriter George Axelrod, studio design empress Edith Head, Paris couturier Hubert de Givenchy, and many more, plus the making of an iconic film -- and tries to demonstrate that somehow this enterprise was a benchmark in the liberation of women, that it changed fashion forever, that it did so many things that one could almost write an alternative-reality novel about today's world as it would have been if "Breakfast at Tiffany's" had never been filmed.

And that's the problem. It would be exactly the same. The film, made in 1960, rode a tide of change, but it didn't create it, and it's silly to pretend that it did. If it left an impact anywhere, it might have been in the establishment of the Little Black Dress as a fashion necessity. Not exactly the kind of event that marks the beginning or the end of an era.

Still, lots of fascinating stuff about Capote; his socialite "swans"; Hepburn; Axelrod (now largely forgotten, but a really interesting screenwriter); how Hollywood functioned under the "code" that pretty much forbade sex between -- well, between anybody; Blake Edwards; and other interesting people and topics. The kind of book you'd enjoy immensely on a long flight and then leave in the seatback in front of you.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like countless others my first major adult movie star crush was Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly. The exact memory of the first time viewing Breakfast at Tiffany’s has become completely muddled with all of the times I watched the movie in my early 20s – my only clear recollection now is watching in a love-smitten stupor those opening minutes when Golightly emerges from a taxi onto an empty pre-dawn 5th avenue.

I loved the book's details of making the movie (how cold it was for Hepburn doing that early morning shot, the clearly racist Rooney portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi – and how neither the actor nor the director could understand what the fuss was about, shooting the “party” scene that Capote absolutely loathed) – but I disliked, in equal amounts, the author’s stretch to make this movie into the major catalyst that sparked the sexual revolution, major fashion changes and a new era in film. Was it a part of those changes? Sure, I’m willing to give Wasson that point. I’m just not ready to believe that this film was the landmark that changed everything for women’s liberation.

[Olive Fellows (abookolive) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Click here to hear my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!

[Victoriakor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книжка для тех, кто посмотрел фильм и решил узнать побольше. Автор берет большой промежуток времени (с 1951 по 1965) и рассказывает массу деталей, интересных случаев и сплетен. Как звонили Мэрилин и просили сниматься в фильме, как муж Одри тыкал вилкой в ее локти, чтобы она убрала их со стола, а также топотал, чтобы никаких Тони Кертисов в фильме с его женой не было. Как художник по костюмам Эдит Хэд зажимала тренчи из фильма, Одри с трудом уговорила отдать ей один в подарок. Откуда взялся Джордж Пеппард, зачем нелепые сцены с Микки Руни в роли японца и прочее. Вообще такое полное погружение и в процесс создания фильма, и в Голливуд 50-60-х очень приятно, даже если узнаешь про вилки.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an alternative pick for the non-fiction (Hollywood history-centric) #CannonBookClub, and it was my pick. I saw it and I knew I had to read it ASAP, even if it didn't end up winning the vote (it didn't; that honor, of course, went to Life Moves Pretty Fast, which I haven't read yet as of writing this review).

I'd actually never seen Breakfast at Tiffany's before a couple of weeks ago, though I'm familiar with its legacy, both positive and negative. (Positive: Audrey as fashion icon, a central pivot point in changing sixties womanhood; Negative: Mickey Rooney and the racist portrayal of the character Mr. Yunioshi). Watching the film for the first time in 2017 was an interesting experience. It's tame in content compared to both its source material and the more no-holds-barred approach we have these days (relatively) in terms of film and TV content. Watching it is simultaneously like stepping into a time machine and visiting a more (on the surface, and perhaps entirely illusory) innocent past, and watching the end of that same era begin to appear. I wasn't aware of the extent of the latter until reading this book, however. Wasson really puts into context how revolutionary Breakfast at Tiffany's was for Hollywood film, for fashion, for women in film, for romantic comedies.


Forcing down the hated Danish.

You can feel the push and pull throughout the film, between a more conservative, restrictive mindset (most prevalent in that romantic Hollywood happy ending, and the softening of Holly Golightly from hooker to "kook") and the inescapable boundary pushing nature of the story (a girl having sex and not being punished for it, Audrey Hepburn living a life without a man, the casual normative treatment of sex work). Slim as the book is, Wasson does a great job contextualizing all of that, planting you back in the fifties and sixties so you can really feel the historical impact of the film as people would have felt it at the time. He portrays the birth of the film from start to finish, the origins of Capote's novel, the production process, casting, behind the scenes drama, and the film's reception and legacy.


You know she's a kook because of the cat. Without the cat: HOOKER.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. is first and foremost a historical biography of a film, but bound up in that by nature are discussions of gender roles, contemporary social mores, Hollywood history lessons, and portraits of the film's stars, most obviously Audrey Hepburn, who is the star of this book in much the same way she is the star of the film.


Reese Witherspoon had the best Audrey costume in Big Little Lies. Fight me.

The book wasn't perfect. I mentioned earlier that it was slim. In fact, it clocks in at just over 200 pages, and those pages are on the smaller side for a hardcover, with relatively large print. I zoomed through it in several hours and it was fast and engaging, but I frequently found myself wishing Wasson would dwell a little more on his subject. This book could have easily had 100 more pages, and been the better for it. There were also individual moments that needed clarifying, for instance, he goes on and on about how unusual looking Hepburn was at the time, and the narrative voice he employs doesn't leave much room for contextualizing that. He points out her perceived "flaws" (as they were considered at the time), but he never says why they were considered flaws, or offers up an alternative vision of womanhood. We in 2017 are living in a post-Audrey world, and these things are not as obvious to us as he perhaps thinks they should be.

A book recommended if you enjoy Hollywood history, behind the scenes stories, making-of books, and if you love the film.

[3.5 stars, rounded up just because I wanna]

[Kressel Housman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've recently become a big fan of a Hollywood history podcast called "You Must Remember This," and when I heard the episode on Audrey Hepburn, it cited this book, which I first heard of last year when the "101 Books" group read Breakfast at Tiffany's. I saw the movie years before reading the original, so I could only imagine Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly the whole way through, even though I knew that Truman Capote said she was all wrong for the part. This book goes into that conflict in detail.

The book goes into many more delicious details than that. I read all about Audrey: her "discovery" by Colette, her relationship with costumer Edith Head and designer Hubert de Givenchy, and her rocky marriage to Mel Ferrer. I learned more about the original Holly, Truman Capote's mother, and his glamorous women friends that he called "the Swans." I learned about director Blake Edwards: his sensitivity to Audrey, who was nervous about the role, and the expensive party he threw to film the 13-minute party scene. There was even a paragraph on the casting of the cat! But one of my favorite parts turned out to be the composition of "Moon River," which won the film its only Oscars (scoring and song). I had it going through my head to the end of the book, and there's a lot to be said for reading those lyrics typed out. The lyrics were written by a small-town Southern man who settled in glamorous New York to capture a character created by another small-town Southern man who'd settled in glamorous New York. Truman Capote may have hated the movie, but what did he think of the song?

On top of all that, the book is also about the changing views of womanhood. It argues that the film represents the transition from the "good girl" of the 1950's to the feminism of the 1960's. It gave me a lot of food for thought, but it's not quite digested yet. If anyone wants to discuss it further, there are always comments. Go ahead. I invite you.

This was the most fun book I've read all year. Whenever I was in a bad mood, all I had to do was turn to this book for a pick-me-up. It was the perfect mix of lightness and seriousness. And now I'm ready to tackle something purely edifying and probably depressing.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book about the making of the iconic movie Breakfast at Tiffany's is a delicious, delectable read.

I liked how the author dishes out wonderful nuggets of information. I don't want to give much away, so as not to ruin your "a-ha" or "oh no" moments. I'll just say this: you'll never guess who the famed writer Truman Capote wanted to play Holly Golightly in the film adaptation of his novel (hint, she was blonde and buxomy - quelle horreur!). Capote had his own choice for leading man (an "oh my god you're kidding" moment.)

On a broader scale, the author does a nice job of showing how the cultural shifts that were to come in the 1960's were captured and foreshadowed in the movie. Before "BAT", women in movies were either saints (Doris Day) or - using the authors word - sluts (Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield). Holly Golightly was a movie first, "good girl" Audrey Hepburn playing a prostitute! Hepburn became the embodiment of a new ideal - a sexy, experienced, independent woman who enjoyed her life, and knew how to have fun. Men loved her, and women embraced her. (And suddenly women throughout North America had a "little black dress" in their closets!)

The cast of characters depicted in the book is large and colorful. But just like the movie, it is Audrey herself who is the book's heart and soul. Years after her success in Roman Holiday and Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany's represented a huge challenge for Hepburn. The movie called on her to really prove her abilities as an actor. We see her as insecure, afraid of failure and trapped in a controlling marriage - yet she was always kind and gracious to everyone with whom she worked. She overcame her fears and made Holly Golightly come alive - capturing her kookiness, strength and vulnerability. In doing so she became more than a movie star - she became a screen legend, and deservedly so.

If you're at all intrigued with learning how this movie magic came to be, I highly recommend this entertaining and well-written book.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high expectations for this book, hoping to learn more about Audrey Hepburn, the woman behind the little black dress. The first half of the book was not what I was expecting since it seemed to be written assuming the reader is very familiar with all of the players involved, which I am not. I was confused by the cast of characters and the history seemed very disjointed.

I almost gave up reading but I'm glad I continued on. The second half of the book was easier to follow and the story flowed more fluidly as it narrated Ms. Hepburn's personal and professional life and I felt like I was there watching it all unfold. I learned some interesting things about her life and about the filming of Breakfast at Tiffany's", making it worth the read.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an absolute delight! I bought a copy because I'm going to be teaching the novella and film in the Adaptation Study module; it's proved to be not only an excellent source for teaching the adaptation but a highly entertaining read in its own right. Honestly, I wasn't expecting that.

Wasson writes with a light, humorous touch but never sounds like he's gossiping. The book covers all facets of the making of the film, from the author himself and the inspiration for the character of Holly Golightly, to the difficulties of shooting a scene inside Tiffany's itself. Wasson details how Audrey got into acting (via Colette and Gigi), her difficulties in creating a family, and why she didn't want to play the role of Holly. Hepburn's marriage to actor-director Mel Ferrer, a man who is described by many as controlling and who would criticise Audrey in public, fills in the background to the film production - in true historian style, Wasson never explicitly judges but lays out witness accounts and details from other sources, laying bare both the truth of the relationship as well as Audrey's own flaws.

As fascinating and enjoyable as it is to read about the making of the film itself, it was the cultural context aspect that really lifted this book into one of intelligent insight. Wasson explains how Hollywood stars are made into "saleable commodities" no matter their talent. They were "built, not born" [p.19]. "To foster that desirability, studios manufactured stars to suit the fears and fantasies of the day, giving faces to paradigm shifts, and therefore historical consequence to their chosen personae. [...] American moviegoers have been devouring a steady dosage of self-image." [pp.20-1] For women, Wasson explains, there were only two choices for actors: you were either a slut or a saint. For Audrey Hepburn, the ultimate "good girl", to play a promiscuous socialite whom some call a "hooker" (including Audrey herself, after she read the script), a new type of heroine was born, one who was good but flawed. Independent yet somehow still wholesome, because it was Audrey. "What Audrey offered - namely to the girls - was a glimpse of someone who lived by her own code of interests, not her mother's, and who did so with a wholesome independence of spirit." [p.23] Such a woman had never been seen on the 'silver screen' before.

And then there is the context of the American housewife of the 1950s. After the war, Wasson writes, "the entire country, it seemed, was on vacation. [...] The task now was to forget, or at least deny [the horrors of the war]." [p.16] Alcohol, drugs and entertainment were the main options. For women, suddenly and forcibly removed from the jobs they had competently and successfully managed while the men were at war, marriage was also a "tonic" against anxiety. Gender lines "had to be reinstated and the American woman found herself alone at the sink, wondering how it all happened." [p.17] Television was a balm, with little portable sets that could be carried throughout the house, wherever chores needed to be done. And everything on the TV was a message written and packaged by men. The result: "the fifties woman was the single most vulnerable woman in American history to the grasp of prefab wholesale thought, and by extension, to the men who made it. The message of conformity poured in through every opening from the outside, making it impossible for her to shut it out without shutting out the world." [p.18] This was the key market for films, the bored housewife, and Audrey Hepburn was the perfect actress: she was eye candy for the husbands but didn't alienate the wives.

The main changes made by scriptwriter George Axelrod are, if I'm to be honest, the very things I like about Capote's novella - and yet I still enjoy the film. "He took out Capote's brittle edge and replaced it with soft-focus pluck. Out went the bitchy exchanges between Holly and Mag Wildwood. Out went her illegitimate pregnancy and miscarriage. Out went the scene when she saves the narrator from a rogue horse and out went her flight to Brazil with Jose and eventual disappearance in Africa. Anything of the know-how and resilience Capote instilled in his heroine was now out of step with the new Holly [...] Playing up the Tulip, Texas, girl was a good move, strategically speaking; not only did it cater to Audrey's screen personality, but as a discretionary precaution, it also would help the audience forget that their lead was turning tricks in her spare time." [p.88-9]

The difficulty of making Breakfast at Tiffany's into a film was chiefly caused by the censorship board, called the Production Code Administration. Anything sexually explicit was, of course, not allowed, but so was anything sexually implicit. The challenge was to make a film about a call girl that wasn't about sex. To get past the censors, Axelrod and director Blake Edwards turned Capote's novella into a romantic comedy with a traditional happy ending - heterosexual marriage - and appeased the censors by changing Capote's gay narrator into a straight man, albeit one who's a gigolo. It's interesting that the platonic friendship and love between the novella's heroine and narrator was changed into a romance - which leads to sex even if it doesn't show it - and that's more acceptable.

But despite all the changes, Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly was still a prefeminist role model. When the film came out in 1961, the second wave of feminism was really just a thought bubble, simmering in the wings. There was no contraceptive Pill, no "women's lib", no "bra burning". But here was a woman, Holly, who did things her way, did them for pleasure, and followed her own interests. She proved you could be sophisticated, attractive, chic - and at the end, so agreed many film critics, you didn't get the sense that the happy-ever-after was an 'ever after', that Hepburn and George Peppard's characters weren't going to have a lasting marriage. Not what you'd expect from a romance (though part of that impression could be because Hepburn and Peppard hated each other - it'd be hard to have convincing chemistry).

A lot has changed in the decades since Breakfast at Tiffany's, the film, was released. There have been great gains for women's rights and while there is no single source of these changes, the film helped reshape the idea of what it meant to be a woman in the minds of the average American housewife. This is important, because the average American housewife is the 'groundswell' needed for social change. And while the film is still a message by men, packaged by men, it is Audrey Hepburn, so Wasson argues, who delivered a potentially life-altering message to the masses. We might watch the movie now and be less than impressed, but in the context of how rigid, conformist and conservative society was at the time, it really is a breakthrough film.

Sam Wasson, in Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. has done a fantastic job of bringing the making of the film to life. Far from being a dry recount, he recreates conversations, fleshes out real-life historical figures into characters, and structured the book into short scenes within longer acts, so that as you read you get a sense of time and place, of the overlapping nature of events, decisions, conversations - all without becoming confusing or overwhelming. A pleasure to read.

[Mary Ronan Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book for my 10 Best of 2010 list. This is the story of the making of the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's and its part in Audrey Hepburn's career.

The book is full of anecdotes and detail. The Edith Head/Givenchy contretemps regarding what exactly Holly Golightly would wear (and who would get the credit.) The open cat call to cast the 12 or so cats who acted in the movie. The real story behind that hilarious party. The shooting at Tiffany's, and Audrey's being forced (forced) to wear the Schlumberger necklace with Tiffany's 128.54 carat (sic) yellow diamond. The alternative endings. The ufortunate choice of Micky Rooney to play the Japanese neighbor. And what Truman Capote really thought about the movie. We all know how disappointed he was that Marilyn Monroe didn't get to play Holly.

We won't go into the relationship between Patricia Neal and George Peppard on the set and off.

The book is the best of it's kind and I'm now off to find Sam Wasson's previous book: A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Edwards.

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book reads like a poorly written university essay. One where the student tried to be clever and failed.
The sections are divided up in ways that feel forced. Like the author was aiming for a screenplay like effect or maybe just trying to be cute.
It also does something a lot of non-fiction does now which is try to make it read like a novel. Look I'm all for making non-fiction more readable but I think it's a dangerous trend. You can say for example that Hepburn was nervous leaving her child to shoot the film but you can't say she was thinking it at this exact moment if you have no proof.
Thirdly I'm not sure the author made his argument that this film was the 'dawn of the modern woman'.
I feel like he wanted to write a film study and a deep work about film's impact on feminism but instead just ended up mangling both.

[Ignacio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parto de la base que me encanta la película, estoy enamorado de Audrey Hepburn desde que la vi y no he leído el libro de Capote. Desde este contexto, me ha encantado la sencillez de cómo Wasson se acerca a las dos historias detrás de Desayuno con diamantes: la más breve (la novela y la parte autobiográfica que tiene) y la relacionada con la adaptación. Este segundo relato, necesariamente más complejo y extenso, abarca la llegada de Hepburn al cine; su vínculo con Givenchy desde el rodaje de Sabrina; su manera de afrontar la interpretación; su subyugación a su marido, Mel Ferrer; el trabajo a destajo de Martin Jurow y Richard Shepherd por sacar la producción adelante; la escritura del guion por parte de George Axelrod; la música de Henry Mancini y cómo el Moonriver estuvo a punto de quedarse fuera...

En esta sucesión de vivencias, Wasson no da puntadas sin hilo y cada pequeño capítulo-episodio ayuda a desplegar la metamorfosis de la novela en lo que terminó siendo la película. Una obra transformadora a múltiples niveles, sobre todo generacional, pero también como culmen de una manera de hacer comedia; como mito a pesar de todas las dificultades y peculiaridades detrás de su concepción; como aldabonazo para su director. La visión que aporta sobre la película y su composición, pero también sobre lo que supone el cine como arte colaborativo, lo convierten en un texto revelador.

[Veronika Can · Rating 2 out of 5]

Prisipažinsiu.. visos knygos taip ir neperskaičiau, kai kur perverčiau lapus.. Daugybė filmų pavadinimų, kuriuos peržiūrėjus manau būtų įdomiau. Kas patiko, tai detalės apie autorių Truman Capote ir jo romaną, taip pat apie pačią aktorės Audrey Hepburn gyvenimą, kaip ji buvo pastebėta, apie jos šlovės viršūnę ir asmeninį gyvenimą. Kaip Marilyn Monroe atsisakė vaidmens filme "Pusryčiai pas Tifani". Apie įvaizdį, pasirinktas aprangą ir vietas filme. Detalių įdomių radau, bet kiekvienas puslapis tikrai nebuvo įdomus.

🖋️ Kino žvaigždės sukuriamos, jomis negimstama, ir jų tėvai yra ne jų tėvas ir motina, o ištisi legionai rašytojų, režisierių, kostiumininkų...
🖋️ ... marškinių tipo suknelė... "pakankamai aptempta, kad parodytų, jog esi moteris, ir pakankamai laisva, kad parodytų jog esi ledi".
🖋️ ...pati tai neturėdama, greitai pastebėdavo tai kituose.
🖋️ ... kūdikio praradimas jai reiškė, kad prarado ir galimybę "iš naujo perrašyti" visą, ką negero patyrė vaikystėje.
🖋️ ...ar ne malonu būti moterimi ir leisti vyrui pasirūpinti tuo, kuo reikia pasirūpinti.

[Karlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know me, even just a little , you know how much I love Audrey Hepburn and that my favorite movie of all time is "Breakfast at Tiffany's." It being the 50th anniversary I was thrilled to hear there was a book about to be released about the making of that movie. But this book was so much more than just a telling of how this movie came to be, it was about the American culture that surrounded this movie and what challenges that brought for the makers of this film. For instance, the LBD. In 1961, "good girls" did not wear black, especially in the movies. To put Audrey Hepburn, Hollywood's princess, in a slim fitting black dress was borderline controversial. But that one dress changed the way American women dressed forever, it would be hard to find a woman today who doesn't have that little black dress somewhere in her closet, I am sure I have several. And I wear black almost everyday in some form. I loved all the backstories about all aspects of this film; Capote's feelings, making a movie about a call girl without making it a movie about a call girl, the song "Moon River," and so much more.
If you love old black and white movies, love reading about how movies are made, or just want to read a fun book about how something like a movie can change American culture, I would highly recommend this book. And if you love Audrey Hepburn like I do, it is a must read.

[ShaunMS · Rating 3 out of 5]

The backstory of how first the novel and then the film Breakfast at Tiffany's came to be was an interesting read, and for those of us not in the know, the extensive dealmaking and ego-soothing that goes into making a film is entertaining and interesting as well.

This book wasn't what I was hoping, however. I was hoping for more "Dawn of the Modern Woman," but that aspect of the book was limited to the author's rather thin speculations, with little analysis or real historical context. Expecting something somewhat more intellectual from the suggestion that the book would explore the connection between the film, the actress, and the change in social mores in the early 60s, I was disappointed by its simplistic tone and People-magazine-level prose style. As a work of cultural analysis, I'd give it a D, though I suspect that isn't really what it was supposed to be, after all.

As a pastiche of interesting stories and interesting (if not very pleasant) personalities, however, the book works. I wouldn't have purchased it in hardcover for those qualities, but live and learn.

[Hermien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's, Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote and a bit of the film industry in general.

[Khrystyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about one of my favorite movies and everyone involved in making it happen. From Truman’s book and his desire for Marylin to be Holly, producers Jurow and Shepherd and their pitching Audrey, screenwriter George Axelrod and his adaptation of the book, Henry Mancini and his not so classic music, young Blake Edwards as not so obvious director, to mainly Audrey and her fear of playing Holly’s character.

To be honest, I’ve actually now have a little different point of view on the movie itself. Definitely need to re-watch it again!

"Breakfast at Tiffany’s" is perhaps one of Audrey Hepburn’s classier achievements. Her previous performances are beautifully embodied, but marked by intelligence, breeding and middle-class grace — all qualities already familiar to us in Audrey. But not Holly Golightly. She was an impostor. That’s why she’s a multilayered character — Audrey’s first.

"Breakfast at Tiffany’s" was different. It was one of the earliest pictures to ask us to be sympathetic toward a slightly immoral young woman. Movies were beginning to say that if you were imperfect, you didn’t have to be punished.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd make an excellent Mid-Century woman. I enjoy making meatloaf and deviled eggs and jell-o molds. I passionately watch The Dick Van Dyke Show, Ozzie and Harriett and Mad Men, longing for the times when women made cakes from scratch, cigarettes were smoked in front of children, people drank at every occasion (I love a good mixed drink in a perfectly shaped glass poured over perfectly shaped ice) and couples slept in separate beds, sometimes separate rooms. I understand that even Mad Men is a stylized version of this era, but I can't help it, I love the dresses, the food, the struggles and the imperfections of this time in American history.

Fifth Avenue, 5 AM by Sam Wasson encompasses that era with equal parts nostalgia and grit. It is the story of Audrey Hepburn and her reluctance to be the poster girl for Modern American women, her desire to be a mother, her failed relationships and, in the end, her willingness to accept herself in her imperfections. Audrey Hepburn is the reason why women wear little black dresses, but Holly Golightly (the heroine of Breakfast and Tiffany's) is the prototype of the modern female. Holly is the perfect combination of sex and femininity and, Wasson will tell you, she was the perfect bridge between June Cleaver and Marilyn Monroe.

Wasson deftly weaves touch tones of America into this tale. He describes how Hepburn helped revolutionize the fashion industry, making designer clothing appeal to the average working class woman. He talks about class, a smidgelette about race, fashion, the film industry, the music industry (where would the movie be without Mancini's "Moon River"?), gender, sexuality and Truman Capote (yes, Mr. Capote belongs in a class all his very own) and gives us enough information to know that he's in love with all of it and, yet, wants us to love it for ourselves not because he says so.

Everytime I picked up the book and began reading I was propelled back to a time of dualities; on one hand America's need to look and be picture perfect and, on the other hand, a nation who wanted to show it's true, unglossy, promicious self. I gotta tell you I love both sides. I also love that Wasson makes sure that his readers understand that it is Breakfast's at Tiffany's (the film more than the movie) that signifies our break from trying to be the perfect Land of Liberty.

I didn't realize I would identify with Audrey Hepburn so much. Her struggle to balance her personal desires to be a good wife and mother, with those of her husband and those of one of the first modern career women kept me reading just to see how she was going to succeed through /in-spite of it all.

Read this book. Be prepared to laugh and cry (OK, I didn't cry, but I did gasp a few times at the glorious story). Be prepared to hum "Moon River" in the shower. Be prepared to yearn for cigarettes and martinis and a time when everything was new and American was a blushing debutante.

Sidenote: Wasson interrupts my flow of reading a little too much with all of his topic headings for this to be a full 5 stars. Oh, and I also didn't like that he didn't have nice things to say about George Pippard. Who doesn't like Hannibal?

[Jenny McPhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holly Golighty Needs a New Dress

Sam Wasson’s Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman is a little black dress of a book: sleek, suggestive, and elegantly subversive. A delightful read full of gratifying anecdotes and provocative cameos of movie people and the glitterati -- Colette, Anita Loos, Gloria Vanderbilt and, of course, Truman Capote and his swans -- the book’s greatest strength lies in Wasson’s multi-stranded account of how a movie gets made. He divides the narrative into thematic ribbons -- costume, music, production, direction, the action both on set and off -- all colorfully woven around the book’s maypole: Audrey Hepburn.

Wearing a sublime black number designed by Hubert de Givenchy in the opening scene of the iconic film, Hepburn as Holly Golightly cinematically introduces 1960s women to a new way of seeing and being seen. The black dress is, writes Wasson, “the choice of someone who needs not to attract. Someone self-sufficient. Someone more distant, less knowable, and ultimately, mysterious. Powerful.” Leaving the pastels of the Doris Day set behind, Audrey Hepburn embodies the color black and its “charged intimations of power, sexual knowing and reversals of traditional passivity.” She creates a new kind of bombshell -- a woman who radically refuses to be defined by male desire, who values her independence above all, and represents a multilayered woman who isn’t punished for her sexual precocity.

Read the rest of my review at Bookslut http://www.bookslut.com/the_bombshell...

[Izzie Escobar · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book made me appreciate the artistry of filmmaking a lot more than i ever did. i adored the writing and the detail it made me feel like i was experiencing everything with these people. i love how the author talked a lot about this era of hollywood and how completely different it is nowadays. he writes with a certain nostalgia but it’s the kind of nostalgia that you don’t want to come back it belongs in that exact place in time which is what makes it special. lots of wit and snappy remarks in the writing as well which totally fits the vibe of the writer they chose to write the movie. of course he addressed the bad parts of hollywood but he also showed Audrey Hepburn and other stars as regular people with real problems even when they weren’t seen that way back then. i think this book has something for everyone whether you’re into fashion, like me, or film or 1950s glamorized hollywood or are just looking to learn something new. i had no idea how revolutionary “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was for feminism. “truly, for the first time, Audrey Hepburn played a woman—not a lovely one, but a real one—with all of her defects, desires, and unrefined human pains.” finishing this book felt like the opening scene: croissant in hand, head to toe givenchy, standing in front of tiffany’s at 5am when everything is quiet and still and you’re consumed with this feeling of serenity. i think this calls for a rewatch.

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Truman Capote sold the film rights of his novella 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' to Paramount Studios he did not realise what drama was to follow. For a start Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the film's heroine Holly Golightly, who was a young woman working in New York City as an expensive escort and who was searching for a rich, older man to marry. But Monroe's drama coach Lee Strasberg advised her that playing 'a prostitute' would be bad for her image and she turned the part down. The studio had by then engaged George Axelrod to 'tailor the screenplay for Monroe' but this was then not going to happen so the search was on for a replacement leading lady.

There was talk of such actresses as Shirley Maclaine, Rosemary Clooney, Jane Fonda, Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor, Sandra Dee and Debbie Reynolds but Maclaine had already signed a deal for a picture with MGM and the others were deemed not right for the part. Eventually the studio decided that they would go for Audrey Hepburn, even though she initially thought that she could not play the part.

Capote's view of the affair was 'Marilyn was always my first choice to play the girl, Holly Golightly. Paramount double-crossed me in every way and cast Audrey.' But what a good decision it turned out to be for Audrey, belying her initial worries, was nominated for, but did not win, the best actress award at the subsequent Oscar ceremony.

Cast opposite Audrey was George Peppard who director Blake Edwards, himself a late choice after others had either been not interested or were contracted elsewhere, initially liked working with and of whom he thought highly but as the film progressed his liking for the actor dissipated somewhat. But such petty squabbles and in-fighting that went on, and there were plenty of them, did not hinder the film and it was eventually nominated for, but did not win, the best adapted screenplay, although many changes had been made to the original novella, particularly in the area of the sexual content.

What the film did win was Oscars for the best score of a dramatic or comedy picture and for the best original song. The winners in these categories respectively were Henry Mancini and Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer for the song 'Moon River'. Ironically some of the production team wanted the song cut from the final movie but fortunately common sense prevailed. Mancini was thrilled to be chosen to write the score and when he wrote the music for 'Moon River' there was only one lyricist that he wanted and that was Johnny Mercer. And the collaboration worked excellently although at one time the song could have been called 'Blue River' - would it have made the same impact I wonder with that title?

Sam Wasson does an excellent job in bringing together all the strands of the story, beginning with plenty of background on Truman Capote's life followed by details of Audrey Hepburn's career to the point of being chosen for the role and of her romantic involvements, which saw her lose her first love to the pressure of the movie industry and then marry Mel Ferrer, who it seems was intensely jealous of her later success.

He relates interesting tit-bits about Mickey Rooney in his role as the Japanese gentleman I. Y. Yunioshi, about Buddy Ebsen as Holly's father, Doc Golightly and of the Mancini/Mercer collaboration. And he points out that, although Edith Head was acknowledged as the major domo of the costumes, it was actually Hubert de Givenchy who was directly responsible for Audrey's wardrobe and particularly for that Little black dress, which in the beginning of the film is cited as one of the most iconic items of clothing in the history of the 20th century and is, arguably, the most famous little black dress of all time.

And after it was all pulled together, 'in the can' and previewed, the reviews were enthusiastic with the New York Times stating, 'wholly captivating', Variety writing, 'surprisingly moving' and Brendan Gill in the New Yorker saying, 'Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of those odd works that if it were any better would be a lot worse [?] ... Millions of people are going to be enchanted with this picture.' He was not wrong in his latter view as 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' holds its allure to this day and Wasson's book is the sort of read that will entrench such thoughts in the minds of readers.

I must watch the film again. I will certainly see it in a different light, armed with all the interesting and entertaining background.

[James Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Legend fascinates us. We're eager to know more about the cultural milestones of our times and why they continue to influence and intrigue us. The 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's is such an event steeped in legend. Its beginnings as a Truman Capote novel are legendary itself because Capote worked hard at creating just the right amount of mysterious aura with which to cloak himself and his work. He thought his little novel about a Manhattan cafe society girl struck the perfect moral tone for the times and the film. Realistically, though, the Hollywood at the turn of the 1960s had to step carefully to avoid being too sexually suggestive. The movie and how it came to be made has become the legend surrounding the Holly Golightly story. The cultural impact can be felt today in feminine freedom and dress as well as every version of "Moon River" you've every heard on the radio, in an elevator, or sung absent-mindedly by someone you know. That's the subject of Wasson's book.

I was intrigued by the subtitle "...and the Dawn of the Modern Woman." I thought it, like many subtitles, a bold claim. Wasson wastes no time in explaining how Audrey Hepburn's gamine-like charm coupled with a romantic comedy screenplay toying with a new broadmindedness toward sexual freedom suggested a bad girl could also be a winner and an openly sexual life an acceptable goal. Hepburn gave the movie-going public a way women could live for and by their own code of interests. At the time there were two poles of womens' behavior: the virginal, easily-shocked Doris Day and the sexy, childlike Marilyn Monroe. Hepburn offered a little bit of both and made it possible for women to emulate her and fit themselves in that middle road. For the first time, women were shown that if they were imperfect they wouldn't be punished for it. Holly Golightly became the role model many women felt they needed.

Hepburn's influence was also felt in fashion. She favored the clothes of Hubert de Givenchy, the Paris designer. She'd worn his designs in an earlier film, Sabrina, for which she'd selected a rather plain black cocktail dress suiting her build and de-emphasizing what she felt were imperfections. For Breakfast at Tiffany's he outfitted her in the same look, nowhere better displayed than the iconic image of Holly enjoying her danish and coffee in front of Tiffany's window. Quickly becoming known as the little black dress, it inspired the fashion of the 60s and continues to do so today.

As always, a story such as this is informed by the many personalities making it up. The most grounded may have been Henry Mancini. At a time when movie music was being transformed from the lush and orchestral, Mancini clearly saw the tack he needed to take and sailed in that direction. The score he created with such confidence has become a classic. But, though the book never approaches anything like a tabloid tell-all, everyone else in Wasson's account is seen through some sort of pecularity, even Hepburn herself, who was vulnerable and conflicted in the role of Holly, good/bad girl. Some others--Capote, Edith Head, the costume designer--come off less well. But no one's assassinated. It's not that kind of book. Wasson's aim is to detail how this wonderful film came to us and how it's changed our lives. It's warmly told because he shares our affection for it. Reading his book will make you want to see Breakfast at Tiffany's again.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who can forget Audrey's little black dress?

Back in the 1950s, Hollywood had its good girls - Doris Day - and its bad girls - Marilyn Monroe. Once an actress was assigned to a persona, she was not to cross to the other side, or, heaven-forbid, skirt along the line between.

Breakfast at Tiffany's changed all of that. America's sweetheart, Audrey Hepburn, was about to shatter her mould and make her mark on American cinema history.

I watched all the old movies with my parents - Breakfast at Tiffany's, Funny Face, Pillow Talk, West Side Story, Cleopatra. I'm sure my dad wanted me to see as much of of Doris Day as I did Madonna growing up, hoping it would balance my image of women. There is something safe about watching a movie from the 1950s with your kids - the "fade to black" certainly helps. Funny, what seemed racy in 1961 was downright tame by 1980s standards. Breakfast at Tiffany's was at the start the silver screen revolution.

Sam Wasson's FIFTH AVENUE 5 A.M. gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how Breakfast at Tiffany's came to fruition, skirting around the censors, the drama involved in the casting, the questionable ending, and (in my eyes) the most significant fashion trend of all time.

There were parts of the book that were a bit slow, and the author was sometimes overly casual with the names of the players, I often had to refer to the "opening credits" at the front of the book to be sure to whom he was referring. It also helps if the reader has a basic knowledge of Audrey's biography to fully appreciate some of the references made.

As a girl that grew up watching Audrey Hepburn movies, I was glued to this book. Actresses like Audrey Hepburn, Liz Taylor, and Katherine Hepburn made me fall in love with the movies and the glamour that surrounds them. To get an inside look into one of the most iconic movies of all time was a treat.

The only thing I wish I could do was add more pictures...that makes me sound like a child, I know. There were some pictures in the book, but I had to go and watch the movie again instead. Still magical...but even more so this time!

[Beth Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sam Wasson writes in a gushy style about an obviously beloved movie. At times his prose is reminiscent of a chick lit novel, and that may be apropos since Breakfast at Tiffany's, the movie, could be considered a precursor of that genre.

The original novella was more bitter and cynical. It didn't sell New York City and its more modern lifestyle to the masses. It spoke to those who felt like outsiders. Wasson shows how the movie was crafted to appeal by watering down the more shocking or distasteful elements of the literary work while offering a hint of rebellion.

A similar sanitization would occur decades later with Candace Bushell's Sex and the City columns when it made the jump from the written page to the television screen. Stories that read jaded and sad were rewritten as fun post-feminist frolics, and its characters mores were made to match middle America's. Its characters were naughty just enough to seem inspirational just like the cinematic Holly Golightly.

Wasson leaves his readers to make their own contemporary comparisons. He's only interested in what immediately led to the film and its aftermath for key players.

I've enjoyed the movie, and I've read the novella, but I wasn't aware of what went on to get this film made. Wassons gives a good overview, but he's limned the story down to the most pertinent information. He doesn't show the love of obsessive and bitchy detail that Sam Staggs displays.

Wasson mixes straight history with scenes novelistic in style. If you do not want to read what Audrey Hepburn allegedly was thinking or feeling, then this is not the book for you. If you do not mind such scenes mixed with straight quotes lifted from other sources, then you won't be bothered.

All in all the book was a pleasant diversion just like the movie. If you love the film or the movies in general, then consider this book fitting for a beach read or a plane ride. It's that fast and light.

[Mind the Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

För något år sedan satt jag på Logan i Boston, med denna nyinköpta bok i ena handen och ett glas champagne i den andra. Så bör den läsas, inser jag nu.

När 50-tal blev 60-tal. Underrrubriken "the dawn of the modern woman" väckte sociologiska förhoppningar, men det är mer glitterati än genus. Vem kände vem, vem hade på sig vad, vilka lunchade eller jazzklubbade med vilka etc. etc.

Det sirliga språket stör och varför så melodramatisk ton, t.ex. "The cutting room floor is a graveyard." om det alternativa slutet. Överanvändningen av franska låneord har jag förstås ömt överseeende med: crème de la crème, cause célèbre, beau, chic, allure, élan, gamine, fracas, rendezvous, au moment, accoutrements...

Intressant att ta del av castingprocessen och föreställa sig hur (mycket sämre) filmen blivit med de andra föreslagna skådespelarna. Den fruktlösa jakten på en method acting cat. Det blev till slut många katter som fick spela Cat, eftersom katter ofta nöjer sig med att kunna ett trick.

En bokomslagsillustratör fick i uppdrag att designa filmaffischen:

"The art director told me that all they wanted was a single figure, just this girl standing, but with a cat over her shoulder, and that she would be holding her long cigarette holder. They sent me a few movie stills to work with and I said, 'Sure, why not?' [...] He told me they wanted to establish that Breakfast at Tiffany's was a movie about the city. They wanted a couple embracing with the skyline in the background, which they wanted to contrast with the elegance in the main figure of Audrey. But the main thing was the cat. They really wanted that cat in there."

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure why the author felt he had to legitimize this film study by connecting the movie to a sociological study, because the book succeeds best as a consideration of the difficulties in modifying a complicated novel into a seminal film. While the author's conclusions are mildly amusing, it is clear that his real love is in tracing the making of this movie by delineating the characters and lives of the major players and intertwining them with the actual real time making of the movie.

The reviews of this book were almost universally raves, with many of them starred reviews. Wasson has a real passion for film and a flair for descriptive writing that can take small moments and string them together into a vivid character study. Occasionally, however, I found the wriing a little too inclined to celeb-mag gushing.

Wasson's passion for film and the cinematic process is very evident in this book, particularly with regard to Capote (author of the novel) and director Blake Edwards. (He has in fact written a book about Edwards' films, A Splurch in the Kisser, 2009). It is fascinating to read that Marilyn Monroe was Capote's choice for Holly Golightly, and that Hepburn really didn't think this was her kind of film. Moon River, that iconic wanderer's ballad, almost didn't make it into the film, and Capote never liked the film.

While I found that the sociological premise alluded to in the title added little to the pleasures of the book, Wasson's admiration for both writer, director and the process of taking a difficult story from book to film makes this a pleasure to read for any film deviotee. Readers who aren't into film may not appreciate the finer points of this book.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the fastest reads I have done in a long time and I found it very interesting. I was glad to see that having read the novel I was not wrong in my assumptions of about the real activities of the central characters. ( I find it amusing that people still do not realise the true nature of Holly Golightlys profession as it is quite clear if you read the book. ) As a fan of the film I found the story of how it came to be made interesting and cannot honestly think that the original casting choices would have been any good in the roles.
I found the information on the hollywood machinations over the making of the film really interesting. And it was not until I read this book that I realised just why the 'little black dress' was such a daring choice for Holly to wear.
Sam Wessons writing about the film as social commentry of the time was interesting and although the book was not a weighty 'worthy' film book i found it a very interesting and satisfying read.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Amazon copy won't get here in time for book club, so Michele shamed me into downloading. I am a sucker.

First, not two hours after I downloaded this book to my iPhone, the UPS man arrived with my copy. Crap.

I LOVE books about movies and the entertainment industry, so this book was my type of thing. However, I wasn't crazy about Wasson's choppy paragraphs and sections, and he seemed to gloss over what, to me, would have been the most interesting parts - Audrey remains mainly a cipher, George Peppard was hated, but I would like more details and I could and would read a whole BOOK on what the always entertaining Truman Capote had to say about the movie and all its stars. So, it was entertaining, as far as it went, but it was a trifle. And the "dawn of the modern woman" part? There is a lot about how nobody wanted to play a "call girl" and two paragraphs about the founding of MS. magazine.