Paris When It Sizzles

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Paris When It Sizzles is an unusual screwball comedy to say the least. Whether it works is another matter, but the premise and humor are interesting enough to make it enjoyable. The basic problem with the film is its two stars: William Holden and Audrey Hepburn hardly sizzle with onscreen chemistry, and Hepburn's character, Miss Simpson, falls far too easily into the hands of Holden's drunken screen writer. However, the story is an interesting play on the typical Hollywood romance, with two plotlines running in parallel to each other. Holden's Richard Benson has only two days to finish a script for an enigmatic producer (Noel Coward). Hepburn's Miss Simpson is drafted in as the typist and as the script is dictated it manifests itself on the screen, allowing the two lead characters to play out any number of romantic stories. It's the cameo appearances in the imaginary world that really steal the show, with the blink-and-you'll-miss-it last screen appearance by Marlene Dietrich, as well as Tony Curtis having fun with his own screen persona. Not one of Hepburn or Holden's best, but worth a look purely for the interesting slant on the mechanical nature of Hollywood's romances. --Nikki Disney

Customer Reviews:

Nonsensical Star Vehicle.......2007-08-06

Saying a movie isn't a complete travesty is hardly an endorsement. There are some clever bits and pieces scattered here and there but there is no coherent narrative. The script is just a mishmash of silly playacting scenes based on movie cliches and a completely contrived eleventh hour romance. An excuse to reunite big stars. Around the time Holden plays Dracula and literally chases Hepburn around Frankenstein's lab room, I wanted to step on the set and yell cut, cancel production, apologize and send everyone home. Alas, the movie goes on...and on.

Holden and Hepburn had had an affair during the making of Sabrina, a film I like but do not love the way many do, ten years earlier. He professed his love for her but she told him she didn't feel the same way. They didn't see each other for ten years until they agreed to make this movie. Alas, he was still in love with her and she was still not in love with him. Adding to this, both had spouses on set and Holden drank like a fish during the entire filming. No surprise Hepburn called this the least pleasant filming experience of her entire career. The painful awkwardness on the set must have been indescribable.

Hepburn also didn't care for the film's silliness. She was right to have her doubts. The silliness just doesn't work because neither Holden or Hepburn did silly. Holden did sardonic very well in several movies (Sunset Blvd., Bridge on the River Kwai, Stalag 17) but was not naturally a comedic actor. Hepburn was charming and light in a European way but didn't do cutesy-poo or goofy very well. Her successful comedies (Charade, Funny Face, My Fair lady) are smart & sophisticated. Here we see her doe-eyed and running all over the place like a looney tunes character.

Unless you are like me and will sit through any movie once, there's really no reason to see this. Both Holden and Hepburn made many great movies far more worthy of your time. I'd rather watch Sabrina 10 times than PWIS ever again.

It's silly, but it still sizzles..........2007-08-03

Admittedly, this is neither Holden's nor Hepburn's premiere work. However, there is still some good writing in this film. Clever dialogue manifesting itself best in the recurring bit about the "liar and a thief suit" garners laughs fromk me and my family every time we watch this film. Some great campiness and send-ups of movie and book genres; and Tony Curtis making fun of Marlon Brando's acting style is classic.... It's not a perfect movie, but it certainly delivers in the humor department.

idea with possibilities wasted.......2007-07-26

The screenwriter had no idea how to write a comedy. Add to that casting a dramatic actor (Holden) to play a comic part, and you end up with a flop. With a comic actor (like, say, Tony Randall) and with a comic script, this could have been a very funny movie. Compare this movie with "Delirious (John Candy)" and you'll see what I mean.

The purpose of this story by two Frenchmen seemed to be to show how much they hated American movies. Every movie from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s is lampooned. But satire does not succeed when the satirist hates his subject so much that he can't be funny about it.

The enjoyable parts are the appearances by other stars: Marlene Dietrich, Fred Astaire (singing only), Frank Sinatra (singing a couple of lines), Tony Curtis hamming it up, Mel Ferrar, and Noel Coward (the only comedian of the lot).

Hepburn is given almost nothing to do and has no opportunity to save this picture. Holden tries hard, very hard, but he just doesn't know how to be funny.

Not Enough Sizzle.......2007-07-25

I think the title of my review says it all. The movie was hard to watch and did not do Audrey justice. I'm a fan of hers but that was not enough to get me into this movie.

Overly Broad Farce Doesn't Show Off Hepburn or Holden in the Best Light.......2007-04-08

Even though this 1964 comedy is not a complete misfire, this is not remotely my favorite movie of either Audrey Hepburn or William Holden. A decade after their initial coupling in Billy Wilder's class-conscious romantic soufflé, "Sabrina", the two stars are re-teamed under the far more heavy-handed direction of Richard Quine in an overly contrived, intermittently funny screenplay by George Axelrod. The result feels like the old-style French farce upon which it is based but with the artificial veneer of 1960's Hollywood studio product (even though it was filmed primarily on Paris sound stages). That's a shame since Hepburn and Holden can be game farceurs when properly motivated, but here they are unfortunately made to play more broadly than usual with an over-reliance on their screen personas.

The frothy plot centers on aging Hollywood screenwriter Richard Benson, who is holed up in Paris attempting to beat the deadline set forth by big-time producer Alexander Meyerheim to finish his latest screenplay. Benson has to hand in the completed script in two days, but the problem is that he hasn't even started since he has been busy boozing and womanizing in typical alpha-male fashion. He hires impressionable Gabrielle Simpson as his live-in secretary and becomes inspired to write the aptly named "The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower" (complete with an opening theme from Frank Sinatra). The rest of the movie goes back and forth between the reality of the impending deadline at Richard's apartment and the fantasy scenes of the screenplay coming to life.

There is no suspense as to how it will end, but it does have its charms with some silly spy-caper turns and cameo appearances by Marlene Dietrich in a walk-on, Noel Coward as Meyerheim, and a particularly amusing Tony Curtis as Gabrielle's Method-style actor boyfriend. At 110 minutes, the movie feels overlong, and the film is visually hamstrung by phony backdrops and studio sets typical of the period. Right between "Charade" and "My Fair Lady", Hepburn is never less than charming here, while Holden keeps his innate hamminess in check. However, neither seems especially challenged by the comic proceedings. The only extra on the 2001 DVD is the original theatrical trailer.

Audrey Hepburn 5-Pack (Funny Face - SCE, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday, Sabrina - 1954, Paris When it Sizzles)

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Your sunny funny face

Audrey Hepburn 5-Pack (Funny Face - SCE, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday, Sabrina - 1954, Paris When it Sizzles)
Starring: Audrey Hepburn
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000RZGIPY
Release Date: 2007-10-02

Customer Reviews:

Your sunny funny face.......2007-06-20

Audrey Hepburn was -- and remains -- the perfect illustration of elegance and sophistication in Hollywood. A lot of actresses have tried to imitate her look, but they couldn't manage the same grace and skill, both onscreen and off.

And the "Audrey Hepburn Five Pac" brings together five of the films that helped shape that image, including her three top starmaking roles. Okay, they're not her most impressive. But even when they're uneven ("Paris When It Sizzles"), her movies are charming, sweet and just a little bit quirky.

Bored young Princess Ann (Hepburn) goes on a "Roman Holiday," when she has a bad reaction to a sedative. She wanders straight into struggling American journalist Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck). When he realizes she's the missing princess, he takes her on a fun vacation in Rome, with his pal taking photos for a hit article. Yet he's also falling in love with Ann... and she's torn between love and duty.

"Sabrina" (Hepburn) is the daughter of the chauffeur at the palatial Larabee estate, and is in love with the ne'er-do-well second son, David (William Holden). After a stint at a cooking school, where she gains sophistication and confidence, she returns to enthrall David. But since his brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) has arranged a business marriage for David, Linus starts to woo Sabrina instead... and falls for her as well.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is a daily ritual for Holly Golightly, a social butterfly. When kept man Paul Varjak (George Peppard) moves into a nearby apartment, he is instantly enchanted by the ditzy, sweet-natured Holly. But for all Holly's fun, Paul starts to realize that all is not well with her. As Holly's life starts to deteriorate, Paul sets out to show her what her life will be like without real love.

"Funny Face" becomes a concern for a fashion photographer Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) who is assisting a fashion queen with the new "pink" look and the intellectual model look. After a disastrous shoot at a boho bookstore, Avery is struck by the owner Jo's (Hepburn) look, and convinces her to become their newest model -- and she only agrees to get to Paris so she can meet her favorite philosopher. But she's also falling in love with Dick and her modelling career.

"Paris When It Sizzles" features Richard Benson (William Holden), a laconic playboy screenwriter, who procrastinated on his forthcoming script until just a few days before the deadline. So he hurriedly hires a secretary, Gabrielle (Hepburn) to help him come up with an idea and write it -- except that all they can come up with, as they fall in love, are all sorts of completely bizarre scenarios.

Yes, they are all romantic comedies, completely unrelated except that all of them have Audrey Hepburn. But all three are fun, well-written ("You can't live here! I live here!" "Hi, neighbor!"), and taking place in chic apartments, palatial mansions, Parisian runways, and the streets of Rome. And each has a theme: love that doesn't come easy, whether the problem is one of the people involved, parents or just different personalities.

There's also slapstick comedy (David injuring his butt on champagne glasses), and more sophisticated comedy (like when Anna and Joe pretend that they were speeding on their way to get married). And Hepburn provides plenty of it, such as her crazy club dance or her encounter with a vampire.

Unlike many actresses, Hepburn's best-known roles were NOT all alike, nor were they all carbon copies of her -- we have wistful bohemians, party girls, timid teens, and chained-back princesses. Even when we shouldn't really like the characters, she gave them warmth, sensitivity and likability that can't be faked. And she could be very funny too -- it's hard not to laugh when Holly yells "Timber!", as a drunken guest keels over.

The Audrey Hepburn Five Pack clusters five of Hepburn's most chic, charming movies, for those are just falling in love, or who appreciate a good romantic comedy. Charming, cute and sweet.

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Paris When It Sizzles

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000RKTO64

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This is a PAL Region 2 DVD.

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