"Sabrina" (1954 & 1995) Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Harrison Ford, and Julia Ormond

Book Vs. Movie Sabrina Fair The 1953 Play Vs the 1954 & 1995 Movie Adaptations (Sabrina)  The Margos are feeling romance a little early this year so we are diving into the play Sabrina Fair which was the basis for two Sabrina movies. Written by Samuel A. Taylor, the original Broadway production starred Margaret Sullavan and Joseph Cotten as our mismatched lovebirds, Sabrina Fairchild and Linus Larrabee, who both live on a huge estate in Long Island but one stays in the “main house” and the other lives in ‘the little house next to the big house.”  Sabrina is the chauffeur’s daughter who comes home after working for five years in Paris for NATO (!) and is now trying to figure out what to do with her romantic status. At the age of 30, she has a Parisian rich fellow who wants to marry her. The younger brother of Linus, David Larrabee, was a huge crush of hers but his new affection for her has Linus competing for Sabrina because…guy stuff?  In the play, Sabrina is pragmatic on what is available to women in mid-20th Century America, and with her chauffeur father actually being on the chair of Larrabee’s business board--marrying Linus is just a smart move. It’s a witty, charming work, and no wonder Billy Wilder wanted to adapt it for his last film at Paramount.  The 1954 film stars Humphrey Bogart as Linus and hunk William Holden as party boy David with Audrey Hepburn serving as the titular character. Bogart was 54 (and apparently really grumpy about everything to do with the film) and Hepburn, 25, had just won an Academy Award for Roman Holiday. Wilder had this Sabrina go to Paris for two years to learn French cooking while she obsessed over David’s every move from afar. When she gets back, David wants to marry her (making her the fourth or fifth wife) and Linus woos her just to keep her from ruining some family deal with plastics. So, yay for them falling in love?  The 1995 version was directed by Sydney Pollack and written by Barbara Benedek & David Rayfiel with Harrison Ford playing Linus Larrabee and Julia Ormond