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Sabrina (1954)
Reviewed on 2013 May 29
Here’s a fluffy romance that had the star power of Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. I liked it even better the second time I watched it.
Sabrina (Hepburn) lives with her father on an estate in Long Island, but she is no privileged girl. Her father is the chauffeur to the Larrabee family, a group with a net worth that would probably give Montgomery Burns a run for his money. The Larrabee brothers, David (Holden) and Linus (Bogart), seem to only have their name and wealth in common. Linus is the sober, level-headed one who doesn’t have an allergy to work; David is a lazy, flashy playboy.
David doesn’t notice the beautiful but not-yet-European-chic Sabrina; he’s too busy dancing with silly giggly debutants to pay attention to a pretty brunette chauffeur’s daughter. After all, he’s a Larrabee. In an effort to get him out of her head, Sabrina is sent away to cooking school in Paris. She comes back a sophisticated woman, and soon the Larrabee brothers are both interested in her.
There was a remake of this (in 1995), but it’s a pale imitation of the original. Once you can get past the idea of any woman pining that much over some knucklehead, it’s a very charming movie. I think all Audrey Hepburn had to do was bat her eyes and she was adorable, proving that charisma is grudgingly doled out to some and ladled over others. But you can’t begrudge her that: she was a lovely person and a great actress, and she shines as the smitten Sabrina. The cooking school sequences are very funny, and, may I add…Bogart. What more do we need?
Three chocolate morsels. A classic.
— Shukti
