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An army of fans consider this Hepburn's signature role and in many ways it is, even if she overcame miscasting to portray it. Based on a rather biting novella by Truman Capote, he (somewhat surprisingly) wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the role. The casting of Hepburn couldn't be more different, yet she made it her own and in the process created an icon that is every bit as lasting as Marilyn's skirt-over-the-subway-grate or Bette Davis's off-the-shoulder, chain-smoking Margo Channing. She plays an offbeat, effortlessly sophisticated party girl in New York City who subsists on the favors of various rich men. Though her livelihood couldn't be more tasteless, somehow Hepburn's presence adds a sheen of innocence and sweetness to it. When blocked writer Peppard moves in upstairs ("kept" by married socialite Neal), the two find themselves developing a friendship which eventually begins to turn into love. But since they are both people who use their bodies to earn their keep and are heavily dependent on others, the chances of their relationship lasting are slim at best. To read the above synopsis, one would expect a gritty, vulgar film. However, in director Blake Edwards' hands and with Hepburn floating around in exquisite Givenchy gowns, the movie is a candy box of color, style, humor and romance.

Even when she's hungover or just getting home from an all-nighter (as in the famous opening scene), Hepburn strikes a graceful and glamorous figure. In fact, it's when she's trying to act disoriented or disheveled that her performance is at it's weakest. It's as if she was so inherently stylish that she had to try (too) hard to present anything else! She does a very fine job with the role, even if the character's past is nothing short of preposterous. Peppard comes off as blandly attractive, but wooden. His arrogance regarding his role (fiercely protecting the traditional leading man image) not only undercut his own performance, but also slighted that of Neal's who was diminished as a result. However, sentimental filmgoers probably prefer his more heroic approach and Neal would certainly recoup her losses, earning an Oscar a short time later for "Hud". The most controversial aspect of the film is Rooney's portrayal of an Asian man who lives above Hepburn and who is awakened at all hours by her lifestyle. Whether or not one is offended by the over-the-top stereotype of the buck teeth and slant eyes, the role is not funny anyway! It's all way too forced and obvious, with his pratfalls in sight long before they occur. (A lamp exists RIGHT over his bed for the express purpose of giving him something to hit his head on continuously. Move it, already!) There are many memorable moments in the film including a sequence of Hepburn and Peppard doing things they've never done before, Hepburn sitting on the fire escape plaintively singing the Oscar-winning song "Moon River" (which is used throughout the film by master composer Henry Mancini) and wacky party scene (a prelude to Edwards' "The Party"?) in which all sorts of outre things take place including the cry "Timber!" when a tipsy guest begins to collapse. There's a surprising frankness, for the time, regarding Peppard and Neal's relationship. It seems to be one of the earliest Hollywood films in which the leading man is implied to be nude under the covers in his bed. The film is not without its flaws. Some of the dialogue is annoyingly indulgent and the storyline is fairly patchy (with a tacked on ending.) Still, with the sparkling presence of Hepburn (in some mind-blowing hats and costumes) and the slick work of Edwards, it is easy entertainment.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is a mostly charming film which serves as a wonderful showcase for the great Audrey Hepburn. In her portrayal of Holly Golightly Hepburn created one of the most iconic characters in film history. This is a memorable film and it's Hepburn who makes it so. She is at the center of everything that goes on in the film and you can't help but be charmed by Holly Golightly. The movie has its flaws, most notably one incredibly unfortunate casting decision, but all these years later it is rightly remembered fondly by most who have had the pleasure of seeing it.

Holly Golightly makes her living as an escort, but it's not as unseemly as it might seem. What she really is more than anything else is an extroverted Manhattan socialite around whom all kinds of craziness swirls. That craziness is best typified in a famous party scene in Holly's apartment. There are so many people crammed into Holly's little apartment, there's so much going on that you don't even know where to look. But inevitably the eye is drawn back to Holly herself. The character has such style and charisma, as of course does the actress playing her. Everyone remembers the famous black dress but the beauty and elegance of Audrey Hepburn shine through no matter what Holly Golightly's wearing. Heck, she could wear a sheet and make it seem elegant. In fact she does. And that sums up Holly Golightly rather nicely. Beautiful, charming, engaging...and more than a touch eccentric.

It's Audrey's movie through and through and she is never anything less than wonderful in her performance. Playing opposite her in the key male role is George Peppard and he at times comes across as being a little wooden, maybe somewhat dull. But perhaps his character is just suffering in comparison to Holly Golightly who is many things, dull certainly not one of them. Buddy Ebsen has a small role but an important one as it is his character who provides some insight into who Holly really is, or at least who she used to be. We come to learn that Holly has pretty much reinvented herself and there are some wistful moments as we see why she may have felt the need to do so. There will be some roadblocks thrown up in the way of Holly's seemingly blissful existence and as she confronts these obstacles there are times where you know she's doing the wrong thing. But you love her anyway and just hold out hope she'll get it right in the end. That's the irresistible charm of Audrey Hepburn working its magic.

It must be said that for all its charm the film does have one serious black mark against it. Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Holly's bucktoothed, slant-eyed stereotyped Japanese neighbor Mr. Yunioshi is absolutely appalling. It's the type of thing you'd expect from a film made in the 1920s. By 1961 you would have hoped people would have known better. Apparently not. Every time this character appears on the screen you can't help but cringe. The character takes you out of the movie watching experience entirely. You don't see him as a character named Mr. Yunioshi, all you see is Mickey Rooney in hideous yellowface makeup. Awful. And for a character meant to serve as comic relief, even had an Asian actor been cast there is no way around the fact that the character is just not funny at all. It's the one major flaw in a film which, while maybe not an all-time classic, is certainly charming and enjoyable throughout. And as a showcase for the talents and elegance of Audrey Hepburn it could not work any better.

This film is an amazing achievement for Audrey Hepburn. The part was clearly written for Marilyn Monroe. (To think of Hepburn as a backwoods girl is absurd.) Monroe would have made a meal of this and it would have been her signature role. But she was in the midst of her emotional troubles at this time and the role was given to a very different actress in Hepburn who produced a very different Holly Golightly. And yet she did it so well that it became HER signature role instead. It's not unusual for an actor to make a role his own such that you can't picture someone else in the role even thought there are actually many who could have played it. But to take a role intended specifically for another, one for which one does not appear suited, and make that your own…well, that's a great acting achievement. It certainly is Audrey Hepburn's greatest role, a performance with many more complexities than any other she ever gave.

It's also a fabulous film. I love beauty emerging form contradiction, like a rhapsody emerging from apparently unrelated themes and musical noises. Here we have something that is at times a wacky comedy, a breezy romance and yet is full of depth and drama. So many things have happened and we have been introduced to so many characters at the end, it's amazing they all fit together. I also like the bravery of doing a story about two people who are basically prostitutes in 1961. It's daring yet there's nothing sleazy about he film because it concentrates on who these people are as people- what they are, not what they do.

And the film has the most eclectic cast I can imagine. Romantic heroine Audrey Hepburn. Method actor George Peppard. Sleek man-killer Patricia Neal. Actor's actor Martin Balsam. Old reliable Buddy Ebsen, just before he hammed it up as Jed Clampett, playing a subtle and touching version of the same thing. Mickey Rooney provides the only jarring note with his scenery chewing performance as the Japanese landlord, something we could surely have done without. Did you know that Audrey's gangster sugar daddy is played by Alan Reed, the voice of Fred Flintstone? And don't forget John McGiver's delicate turn as the clerk at Tiffany's.

You can debate the virtues of a film into the night. What really counts in the end is: Does it stay in the memory vividly years later? Would you like to watch it again? And when you watch it again, does it take you back to when you first saw it? Breakfast at Tiffany's certainly does. It will always be the prize in the cracker-jack box.

A lot has been said about this film, so I won't repeat too much of it. I just thought the following points stood out for me as wonderful:

-The telephone Holly keeps in a suitcase so she won't hear it. Holly. Ahhhh... Holly. Like some kind of female opposite of James Bond (stick with me here), men all want her, women all want to be her. We need to see *more* eccentric women in leading roles, as opposed to the dull boring stodge of overpaid 'sex symbols' like Julia Roberts or Nicole Kidman who can be pretty or serious but never interesting.

-George Peppard in his finest role, and brilliant it is too. It's a real shock to my generation that has been more accustomed to seeing him tragically underused on trash like the A-Team. It made me want to see more of his early films, and wonder what happened in the intervening years (alcohol, apparently :-( ). An icon of male sensitivity, and there are few enough of them around too.

-That chap who sells them the telephone dialler in Tiffany's. A tiny role that achieves its aims perfectly and makes life seem better, which is what you want really.

Many have said Tiffany's is too saccharine and cheerful, but I think it actually hits the perfect balance of cynicism and sentiment. There are moments of intense depression (which people often forget) as well as hopeful optimism, and these two working together are what make the film so uplifting and memorable.

Even now 57 years after its original release, Breakfast At Tiffany's remains a charming love story between two hustlers of sorts. Audrey Hepburn is not the Holy Golightly that Truman Capote intended, she couldn't be but she was Audrey Hepburn in all of her 1961 glory. Amazing how it still works that Audrey Hepbun touch. George Peppard is gorgeous but impenetrable. Mickey Rooney, unforgivable. Henry Mancini, opportune but. strangely enough the character that fascinated me the most in my latest viewing is Patricia Neal. I would love to see a full movie about that woman. She exudes sensuality and smartness. Blake Edwards concocts a lighter fare from Capote's book and as it happens, it's still very much alive and surprisingly relevant.