Audrey Hepburn, Billy Wilder, Hubert de Givenchy, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, Charles Lang. With names like that attached to a project, do you even need a movie? Fortunately we got one. A great one! Sabrina is a charming and moonlit romantic comedy from two masters of the genre. Billy Wilder and Audrey Hepburn. It's essentially a retelling of the classic Cinderella story. The girl who is poor but falls in love with a prince and is made over beautifully to get his attention. There's no wicked step-sisters in Sabrina and no-magical faerie God-mother, but who cares. Hepburn is Sabrina the daughter of a chauffeur to a rich family named the Larrabee's. The Larrabee patriarch has two sons played by Bogart and Holden. Bogart is the older and more business savvy brother. He is realistic and practical and regards the family's name and fortune with the utmost care and regard. This is contrary to Holden who is more of a careless playboy seeking fun and women in life. He's been married three times, always falling in love or at least confusing lust with love. Hepburn at the start of the film is desperately in love with Holden and watches him at a ball from up in the tree under the moonlight. To help her get over her crush she is sent to refining school in Paris where see learns how to cook, speak, and dress. Basically she becomes a lady. What emerges is a swan from the ugly duckling and for the first time Holden sees her and falls in love. However time has passed and Sabrina doesn't exactly feel the same way anymore. Plus Bogart expresses his own interest in the elfin' and glamorous chauffeur's daughter. Watching all this play out in such a romantic and funny way is pure cinema. All the elements come together in this film. Hepburn looks magnificent in Hubert de Givenchy's gowns and dresses. The scenes on the racquetball court are whimsical and absolutely priceless. Frederick Hollander's musical score is breathtaking and haunting, sending the audience far away from their problems and allowing them to become completely involved in the characters and story. Really to tell the truth there isn't much plot, but the story is good because it's so simple. Sabrina isn't a complicated movie at all, nor is it very in depth in exploring what true love is. But at the heart it's a faerie tale. It doesn't need to be realistic or profound. If you're looking for answers about the true nature of love and self-sacrifice then you won't find any in Sabrina. However if you're looking to be swept off your feet and taken to a far away place where naive, blind, and moonstruck romantic love are the rule then this is the movie for you.
