Audrey Hepburn - L'Ange des Enfants

[LadyVero]

arrrrrrrrrragggggggggggggggggg!!!!!! I'M SOOOOOOOOOOO JELOULS !!!!!!! this isn't fair! oh how i wish i was in europe so could see this for my self! *sniff* i'm missing all the great flim favalable first i missed the clara bow in ucla then the rudy valitino in san fransico, and the audrey hepburn just takes the cake! anny one who is rich and in europe and a audrey hepburn fan better see this!*sniff* anyway thanks Varjak for the info. and sands my siter thinks that i spend to much time likeing audrey! lol althogoth my parents think this is healthy prabably becuse i want to dress like her and not dress like Britney Spears or didn't act like to days stars.

[Richard]

i'm rich (well, sort of - it's my name - lol), i'm in europe, i can afford to go, i can get time off work to go, but i got nobody to go with

[Mockingbird]

[artsiistra]

It warms the heart to see Audrey fans like Varjak and Mockingbird get to see the Audrey exhibit, and post what they saw for us to read. Thank you very much, it felt like I was there. I'm hoping the exhibit in Japan will one day make it to the U.S.

The closest thing we've had to an exhibit was the auction benefit in New York for the Children's hospital(s) about a year ago. The thought crossed my mind, but I never seriously tried to go there.

Here in Cleveland, they're showing My Fair Lady on the big screen as part of their classic film summer series. I'm sure the remastered version will look awesome on the big screen. I'd go, but I've seen enough of it on my new DVD....I'd like to see something new I guess.

[Varjak]

Thank you and it's a pleasure to do, despite driving to Amsterdam on crowded Dutch roads and expensive parking in Amsterdam. I just tried to make reservations for next Wednesday, but they told me Two for the Road was already sold out! #@%&*!!!! So I'm on the waitlist and I hope I'm just as lucky as Mockingbird was with Roman Holiday. Of course I've got TftR on DVD, but I had already planned dinner with a friend and then TftR, so we'll just go there and wait and see (I hope!). The Secret People, later that evening, wasnt sold out, so at least I can see one Audrey movie. I've never seen it before, I only know the pictures, so I'm looking forward to that, at least she'll have a bigger part than in N7L and MCB!

[Richard]

I hope you like Secret People at least Audrey gets to say more than just a few words in that one. Last night i watched Laughter in Paradise for the first time - which I enjoyed. It was quite a funny movie about a family who inherit some money from a practical joking relative - of course there is some strings attached - lol. As well as Audreys brief appearance (only slightly longer than in The Lavender Hill Mob) it also had George Cole (better known as Arthur Daley) and Hugh Griffiths (papa from HTSAM)

[Varjak]

Where's my avatar?? Where have some of the other avatars gone?? Who's stealing avatars?? How to steal an avatar??
I miss my avatar!!! (Strange word... avatar...)

---------------------------------------------------

I've got a new avatar, but what happened?

[Mockingbird]

I know that Flavio has added the avatars icerr made to the avatar gallery. Maybe something went wrong and some avatars like yours and Spellbound got deleted accidentaly.
I'll send a PM to him to ask him if he wants to fix this little problem.
Anyway, have a lot of fun on the 19th. I hope you can see TftR. Have fun.

[artsiistra]

I don't know what happened to all the avatars...I guess we'll have to update to icerr's new versions. My smiling Audrey is gone

Oh well, I've been thinking of updating to some new avatar. I'll be just boring gray for the time being

[artsiistra]

Varjak, I'm sure you'll luck out and get in to see TFTR. I wonder if the film looks any better than what's out on video or Japan's DVD version. Secret People should be good. Audrey has a bigger (leading?) role in the movie. At least you can see her peforming some ballet steps.

[Varjak]

Oh yes, we were lucky! There were many people on the waitinglist, but a lot of people didnt show up, so I could see TftR on wide screen and thats very wide indeed! I'd seen it a few times before, but this time I was really impressed: great dialogues, very real and both funny and tragic. You could see Audrey really enjoyed filming the early scenes, she's smiling all the time. And using the time changes ties everything very tight together. After a 20 minutes break they showed Secret People, a dark b/w political thriller that shows Audrey dancing most of the time. She's so young and beautiful! But she's allready so shining and allthough its a small part, I'm sure nobody would have remembered this movie if Audrey hadnt played a part in it!
Before I went to the filmmuseum I visited the movieshop again, last time I was there I had seen a Belgian magazine from 1954 with a picture of Audrey and her oscar on the cover, in colour! So: now its mine!

[Mockingbird]

Nice review. I'm happy you got a terrific day. You also got to see TftR. I guess luck was definitely on your side.
And you got this magazine. It has a nice cover.
Thanks for the review and the pic.

[Mockingbird]

Last week Thursday, the 19th, I went to the Filmmuseum to watch “Breakfast at Tiffany's”. I went by train and by tram. The tram stopped where I had to get out at 19h20. I was too late I think. The movie would begin within 10 minutes. I had to run. When I arrived I heard that the show was sold out. And to put your name on the waitlist was impossible too; the hall was full of people. I was a bit disappointed, why didn't I call to make reservations. This won't happen to me anymore. Then I thought: now I'm here, I can watch the documentaries completely and I don't have to worry about anything. First I read all the press cuttings carefully and watched pictures of her from several movies such as “Roman Holiday”, “Sabrina”, “Funny Face”, “The Children's Hour”, “Breakfast at Tiffany's”, “How to Steal a Million”, and others which I can't recall anymore. Then I watched the full interview of Henk van der Meyden with her. Not 80' long as I mentioned once, but 60'. The interview was made in 1983. I was just born. I stepped in when the interview was halfway. Thereafter I watched it from the beginning to the end. They talked about her career, how was she discovered, did you know she got the part of Gigi and Princess Anne in the same month? Other questions were: does she watch her movies, why did she refuse roles such as Anne Frank in “The Diary of Anne Frank”, Maria in “The West Side Story” and Maria in “The Sound of Music”. Other topics were her ‘man’ Robert, how did she meet him; her children Sean and Luca, her relation with Hubert de Givenchy, her views on life, is she an optimist or a pessimist, and many other things. I believe most of you know all these things, because you've read several biographies of her. I haven't yet. Next, I watched a tape about several fan books or scrapbooks of fans. One of them was from Hanneke Groenteman. The other fan, I can't recall anymore. They showed every page of the scrapbooks. There were a lot of pictures cut out of newspapers and magazines. After the fan books there was a documentary about her work for Unicef. I saw images from her in Somalia, other places too which I can't recall anymore, parts of her interview with Larry King and several speeches of her, for example at Brown University. Because I had to catch the last train at 22h30, I couldn't watch the whole documentary. I left the museum around 21h50.
A few weeks ago I asked your opinion about which movie you would go seeing if you had the chance to go. Most of you said “Funny Face”. Last week Saturday, the 21st, I called the Filmmuseum to make reservations for “Funny Face” for my mother, my brother and me. She, who answered the phone, told me it was sold out, but she was willing to put us on the waitlist and she said to me that they will start to ‘give away’ the not picked up reservations half an hour before the showing. I thought: if we arrive early, we will increase our chances to get our tickets. And so it happened. Last Monday, the 23rd, around 17h00, we left home. We had to go somewhere else before we really left for Amsterdam. We parked our car at the car park. Thereafter we arrived at the Filmmuseum at 21h15. While my mother and brother were looking at the press cuttings, the pictures and the documentary, I was waiting for my turn. Luck was at our side. At 21h45 we were sitting in the theatre. I told my mother that forum members recommended me this. It must be good. And you were all right. It was awesome. Audrey, Fred and Kay were great. I love all the songs. From “Funny Face” to “How Long Has This Been Going on?”, from “Bonjour, Paris!” to “On How to Be Lovely”. Marvellous! I love the scene when Jo walks down the stairs with her arms in the air. You can see Audrey had a lot of fun doing this film. Look at her smile during “Bonjour Paris!” and “On How to Be Lovely”. And not to forget, she really can dance. The “Basal Metabolism” was amazing. After the movie I asked my mother and brother which scene they found the funniest. My mother said the scene where Jo and Dick cause a disaster at the party, the décor falls and the fountain starts to spin around. My brother said the scene where a woman is yelling at a man, the man gives her a smack in the face and then she says “Je t’aime.” My funniest scene was when Dick was giving a performance with his jacket and his umbrella. I didn’t know you could do these things with an umbrella. I would better start to practice.
Last Thursday, the 26th, I called the Filmmuseum to make reservations for “My Fair Lady” and for “De Plantage”. I explain the latter later on. She, who answered the phone, said there still were tickets. I made reservations for one person. My father and mother couldn’t come with me and my brother wasn’t in the mood. Last Friday I went to the Filmmuseum by train and by tram. I arrived at 16h00 and was early. I picked up my reservation for “De Plantage”. I also bought a ticket for the exposition. I went immediately to the exposition. Varjak has told us everything about it before. He was very accurate and precise. I saw film posters, pictures, press cuttings, magazines, Audrey’s ballet shoes, the letter from Robert, the scrapbooks from Hanneke and co and many other things. I saw the computer with 104 different versions of “Moon River”. I also saw a letter from Audrey to her friend Sonya Gaskell. There were also a few portraits, made by a photographer, of which you will get to know more shortly. The 6 Givenchy outfits were beautiful. I could look at them for hours. Taking pictures wasn’t allowed. What a pity, but it’s understandable. In the room where the outfits were located, they were showing parts of the documentary “Gardens of the World” for which Audrey received an Emmy in 1993. I didn’t see it completely because of a lack of time. Her voice is so warm, kind and restful. You really can’t guess from which country she is when you hear her voice. I would call it International English and it’s so perfect.
At 17h00 “De Plantage” began. You translate it with ‘The Plantation’ or ‘The Estate’. It’s a program presented by Hanneke Groenteman, the person from the fan books and who was the main organizer of the exposition. She is an Audrey Hepburn fan from the very beginning. She went to “Roman Holiday” 15 times when it came out in the Netherlands for the first time in 1953. About the program now, it’s a kind of a talk show. There were also 3 guests who are also active in the movie world, 2 actors and a reviewer. They talked about when they first hear about Audrey, what they found of her, which their favourite scene was. I saw 3 scenes from 3 different movies. The favourite scene of the female reviewer was a scene from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” in which Holly is making herself ready, she’s brushing her teeth and putting her clothes on, searching for her shoes. The reviewer added to this that the character really becomes Audrey. The character could be anybody but she transforms to Audrey. A phoney? She’s a real phoney. The male actor chose a scene from “Roman Holiday” in which Princess Anne and Joe say goodbye to each other in the car. The actor added to this that Audrey played it very natural. He also said that she is very pure from the outside, but also from the inside. The female actor’s favourite scene was from “Love in the Afternoon” in which Ariane and mr. Flannagan are picnicking. She found Gary wooden and Audrey very relaxed. She pointed to the passage when he’s trying to get rid of the flower on his ear and the chicken bone. Conversely, Audrey throws the chain away undisturbed. Next, the reviewer told a story about when she met Audrey for the first time. It was in The Hague in a suite of a hotel of which I can’t recall the name anymore, in 1988. She had an interview with her. Afterwards Audrey asked her if she had any children. She said yes. Thereafter Audrey asked her if she had any pictures of her baby. She said yes and she showed them. Before she left, Audrey insisted to make a sandwich for her and her colleague, a photographer who was able to make more than 1 picture. More wasn’t allowed, but they made an exception because he was nervous when they entered the suite. The reviewer told he wasn’t nervous at all. He was just faking it. Eventually he made 3 pictures. At the exposition you can see these 3 pictures he made. A couple of days later, the baby received a postcard from Audrey. This is another proof of the kindness of Audrey. Then the audience could ask questions if they had any. The program ended with a scene from “Wait until Dark”. It’s a scene in which Susy kills Roat. I almost jumped up when Roat graps Susy’s ankle.
At 18h20 I bought my ticket for My Fair Lady. I had enough time, so I went back to the exposition. I made notes of the disposition of everything. If you want, I can put this picture online. It is only to give you an image of how the exposition does look like. I listened once more to other versions of “Moon River”. Then it was time to go to the theatre. The movie began at 19h14, almost a quarter too late, because of a problem with the projector. The subtitles have to be projected on the screen. They fixed it. They also announced that there would be a break, but that didn’t matter. It was worth it to wait. The film was overwhelming. Audrey and Rex were splendid. I love all the songs. My favourite songs are “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly”, “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “On the Street Where You Live”. Audrey looks astounding at the Ascot race and breathtaking when she’s at the Embassy ball. Eliza was very funny. Especially the way she talks and when she’s very mad at Higgins. He was very harsh on Eliza. But deep inside of him there is still something good. Thanks to Eliza, he gets through and finds himself. This is why I also love the song “I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face”. Pickering is a bit softer than Henry but he has a heart. He really cares for Eliza, although he might have forgotten her once when he’s triumphing and singing “You Did It” with Higgins. I found the jokes of Higgins very amusing. For example: when he’s saying to Pickering that Alfie is a born orator, because he uses alliterations and is very good at persuading people. The lyrics of “I’m an Ordinary Man” were very hilarious. I found it very regrettable that they had Audrey’s voice dubbed when she’s singing. She took singing lessons for this role. She practiced very hard. I saw the version of “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” performed by Audrey in her own voice. It wasn’t so bad. Not bad at all. It was a very mean thing to do having her voice dubbed. For the rest, the film was outstanding. After the movie I signed the guestbook of the exposition quickly, because I had to catch the last train home.

[sands]

Great post!! I cant wait to read more!

[Audrey Forever]

You wrote your trip in details. Thanks very much as I don't a chance to go to Holland.