Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a bit of an anomaly. It’s a film that is frightened of its own material.

The reasons are manifold. Capote (who wrote the novella) wanted Marilyn Monroe for the part of Holly Golightly; the weed-smoking alcoholic prostitute who has a casual affair with a gigolo writer. The studio wanted Hepburn, whose image was less sexually overt and more dignified. Audrey’s prostitute needed to be enigmatic, so the more salacious material in the story was dropped. Meanwhile, her leading man, George Peppard, was uncomfortable with his character’s subservience to an older, successful woman (Patricia Neal). He didn’t want to be emasculated on screen, so the contentious relationship was pared down. Throw in director Blake Edwards (popular for…