Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Show Notes:
Breakfast at Tiffany's, the film, was released in 1961 and based on the Truman Capote novella of the same name. In this episode, Julia discusses the differences between the two and her relationship with both.
Book Riot Article mentioned in the episode
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Transcript:
Julia: Welcome to Jelly Pop's Book Club, where we read book to screen adaptations and compare them to their screen counterparts. I'm your host, Julia Washington, and today we are diving into Breakfast at Tiffany's. I first encountered the Audrey Hepburn movie as a preteen and distinctly remember how we drove to the movie rental specifically to rent this film.
Julia: My family regularly did family film night, but this one never made it into our rotation. There was this one rental place called Hollywood Video, and when it first opened, it was huge Each area was decorated as the movie genre. It was really freaking cool. I loved this spot because unlike Blockbuster, you had true blue film nerds working there and the entire place felt magical with the genre corresponding decor.
Julia: I honestly can't remember how old I was when I first saw this film, but I was old enough for it, but young enough for it to feel glamorous, to be completely raptured by Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly. Years later, shortly after graduating high school, I discovered the Truman Capote novel. Of the same name.
Julia: And I was shocked to learn that the 1961 classic was based on a book. I was even more shocked when I read that book.
Julia: I'm going to read the author bio that is in my copy of Breakfast and Tiffany's. It's really good. And honestly, I don't see the point in writing something new when this is pretty perfect. So I have the 1994 modern library edition of Breakfast At Tiffany's, a short novella and three stories. And this is the author bio they have written about Truman Capote.
Julia: Truman Capote was born Truman Streckfus Persons on September 30th, 1924 in New Orleans. His early years were affected by an unsettled family life. He was turned over to the care of his mother's family in Monroeville, Alabama. His father was imprisoned for fraud. His parents divorced and then fought a bitter custody battle over Truman.
Julia: Eventually he moved to New York city to live with his mother and her second husband, a Cuban businessman whose name he adopted. The young Capote got a job as a copy boy at the New Yorker in the early 1940s. But was fired for inadvertently offending Robert Frost. Talk about a claim to fame moment. The publication of his early stories in Harper's bazaar established his literary reputation when he was in his twenties and his novels, other voices, other rooms, 1948, a Gothic coming of age story that Capote described as an attempt to exercise demons and the grass harp, 1951, A gentler fantasy rooted in his Alabama years consolidated his precocious fame.
Julia: From the start of his career, Capote associated himself with a wide range of writers and artists, high society figures, and international celebrities, gaining frequent media attention for his exuberant social life. He collected his stories in A Tree of Night, 1941, 1949, and published the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Julia: 1958, but devoted his energies increasingly to the stage, adapting the grass harp into a play, and writing the musical House of Flowers, which was 1954, and to journalism of which the earliest examples were. Local color, 1950 and the Muses are herd. 1956, he made a brief foyer into the movies to write the screenplay for.
Julia: John Hudson's Beat the Devil. 1954. Capote's interests in the murder of the family in Kansas led to the prolonged investigation that provided the basis for In Cold Blood, which was 1966, his most successful and acclaimed book. By treating a real life event with fictional techniques, Capote intended to create a new synthesis, something both immaculately Factual and a work of art.
Julia: However, its genre was defined from the moment it began to appear in serialized form in the New Yorker. The book exerted a fascination among a wider readership than Capote's writing had ever attracted before. The abundantly publicized masked ball at the Plaza Hotel, with which he celebrated the completion of In Cold Blood, was an iconic event of the 1960s, and for a time, Capote was a constant presence on television and in magazines, even trying his hand at movie acting in Murder by Death.
Julia: He worked for many years on Answered Prayers and ultimately unfinished novel that was intended to be the distillation of everything he had observed in his life among the rich and famous. An excerpt from it. Published in Esquire in 1975, appalled many of Capote's wealthy friends for its revelation of intimate secrets.
Julia: And he found himself excluded from the world he had once dominated. In his later years, he published two collections of fiction and essays, The Dog's Bark, 1973 and Music for Chameleons, 1980. He died on August 25th, 1984, after years of problems with drugs and alcohol. I always find it really interesting when I learn about having been alive at a time when somebody who is prolific and sort of historical has been alive.
Julia: I was born in 1984. Truman Capote died in 1984. There was a handful of months where we existed on the planet at the same time. And that just blows my mind, especially because when I think of the context of like my existence, when I think of Truman Capote, I don't think the 1980s. Okay, so let's get into our themes.
Julia: Some of the themes I picked up in both the film and the book are Identity vs. Freedom and Stability vs. Freedom. In the book, we never learn the narrator's real name. He is issued the nickname Fred by Holly. Fred is her brother, and the narrator reminds Holly of him. Further still, Holly herself has gone through a name change.
Julia: Additionally, characters within the story have names that are defining qualities. Meg Wildwood, for example, is wild, as well as from an area of Arkansas with a similar name. The lack of the narrator's identity demonstrates he feels as though he's an outsider. Holly's name change is an escape from her old self.
Julia: OJ Berman's comment about Holly being a phony and, and his subsequent Observations of her brings us back to identity. Stability versus freedom is another theme that was strong for me. Holly thinks she wants stability because she's eager to marry Jose, but her life story is full of anecdotes where her need to be free is at the root.
Julia: She doesn't want to feel caged or trapped. She wants autonomy of herself, but given the era, Female autonomy isn't as easily achieved without a financial benefactor of some sort. Hence the perception that she is an escort. Holly is quick to escape when her freedom is threatened. In the novel, Holly and the narrator exchange Christmas gifts.
Julia: Holly's gift to the narrator is a birdcage. The narrator gives her the medal. Of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travel, an item purchased from Tiffany's, but we'll get more into that in a little bit. For those who haven't read the book, you might be surprised to learn that it takes place during World War II.
Julia: The narrator is never named, like we mentioned. We just know him as a writer living in the same building as Holly. Unlike the film, though, there is no older woman supporting our nameless narrator, who is considerably older. older than Holly. But before we get too far into the comparison, I need to add Capote used racial slurs throughout the book.
Julia: While we know 1959 wasn't an enlightened year for racial equity and equality, the extensive use of certain derogatory terms was a bit surprising considering how much praise this novella has received over the years. As I mentioned, the story takes place during World War II, whereas the movie is clearly set in the modern 1960s.
Julia: Holly in the novella is a fresh 20 years of age, and while I can't really find confirmation that the intention was to make her older for the film, we just assume that's true with casting Audrey Hepburn, who was 32 at the time of its release. So the main points of the movie... Are all in the book, the narrator moves in and becomes friends with Holly.
Julia: Holly hosts a party where we meet a collection of interesting characters. The neighbor is a Japanese photographer. Holly visits Sally Tomato and issues the weather report. Fred and Holly spend the. The day together doing various New York type activities and demonstrating why they love New York. Docko lightly shows up looking for Holly.
Julia: The real Fred does die. Holly is going to marry the Brazilian. Holly is arrested and wants to flee the country. Dumping the cat into the alley, but here's the differences with each. As I mentioned earlier, we never meet the narrator by name. He's only ever referred to as Fred in the film. We know him as a well kept writer of a wealthy woman.
Julia: Whose real name is Paul Varjac, who has written a novel and is currently experiencing. writer's block. In the party scene, we meet Rusty Trawler, OJ Berman, and a whole host of others, including Mag Wildwood, who eventually becomes Holly's roommate in the book. The neighbor that gets the most screen time is you, is Mr.
Julia: And he is an egregious stereotypical representation of someone from Japan. In the book, the scene in the movie where she rings his bell incessantly to be let into the building and he scolds her and then she comforts him by saying, I might let you take those photos is almost exact. Let me read it for you.
Julia: It happens very early in the book as well. Okay,
Julia: here we go. And remember, our narrator of the book is the unnamed writer, so it is from his perspective. One night, it was long past 12, I woke up at the sound of Mr. Yi calling down the stairs since he lived on the top floor, his.
Julia: Oh, darling, I am sorry. I lost the goddamn key. You cannot go on ringing my bell. You must please, please have yourself a key made. But I lose them all. I work, I have to sleep, Mr. You Know She shouted. But always you are ringing my bell. Oh, don't be angry, you dear little man. I won't do it again. And if you promise not to be angry, her voice was coming nearer.
Julia: She was climbing the stairs. I might let you take those pictures we mentioned. By now I'd left my bed and opened the door an inch. I could hear Mr. You Know, she's silence. Here, because it was accompanied by an audible change of breath. When, he said, the girl laughed. Oh, sometime. She answered slurring the word.
Julia: Anytime, he said, and closed the door. I mean, that's almost exact. But the neighbor, who we know nothing about from the movie, is Madame Spinella, who plays a part in Holly's takedown from the law. Another lost character is Jobelle. The owner of the bar, the narrator and Holly frequent throughout the entire novella, as I mentioned, since the book is primarily through the recollection of the narrator, we never see Holly visit Sally Tomato, but we do witness the narrator and Holly discussing her visitations and having concerns.
Julia: When the narrator and Holly spend the day in New York, there are a few changes, mainly the crackerjacked ring, visiting Tiffany's, and the library. The pair end the day by stealing a pair of masks from Woolworths, rather than a five a dime. I thought the movie version was a bit more entertaining than in the book.
Julia: The symbolism of Tiffany's is stronger in the film, versus the symbolism of the narrator giving Holly the St. Christopher's medal. from Tiffany's. Doc O'Lightly is nearly the same. The details are changed for the movie since the book takes place during World War II. For example, Holly and Doc married in 1938 when Lula Mae was going on 14.
Julia: Which is Holly's original name. The scene where the narrator escorts Holly to the train station and the dialogue between Holly and the narrator is incredibly similar. It's not exact, but it's very, very close. The real Fred dies during the war, World War II, overseas and not stateside. His death ultimately ends Holly calling her neighbor Fred.
Julia: After Rusty Trawler Mary's Meg Wildwood. We learn that Holly and Jose plan to marry and move to Brazil. His role is slightly changed from the book to the film. After Fred's death, Holly becomes more subdued. She entertains less and we eventually learned she's pregnant. So once our narrator learns that Holly is engaged and moving to Brazil, they decide to ride horses.
Julia: While Holly's horse goes a little bit wild, then she gets arrested for her connection with Sally and is hospitalized for some time. Once she's released from the hospital, she's determined to still leave the country. She recruits the narrator to pack for her because her apartment is clearly being watched and they stop at the bar for a final farewell.
Julia: At this point, while Holly is route to the airport, she changes into a black dress. She does dump the cat into an alley and manages to escape. to Rio. So I want to read that scene for you where Holly is, you know, determined to leave and she sort of dumps the cat. I also want to add that Joe the bartender hires a chauffeured car for Holly to take to the airport to catch her flight to Rio.
Julia: The Carey's chauffeur was a worldly specimen who accepted our slapdash luggage most civilly and remained rock faced when, as the limousine swished uptown through a lessening rain, Holly stripped off her clothes, the riding costume she had never had a chance to substitute, and struggled into a slim black dress.
Julia: We didn't talk. Talk could have only led to argument. And also, Holly seemed too preoccupied for conversation. She hummed to herself, swigged Brandy. She leaned constantly forward to peer out the window as if she were hunting an address. Or I decided taking a last impression of a scene she wanted to remember.
Julia: It was neither of these, but this stop here. She ordered the driver and we pulled to the curb of a street in Spanish Harlem as savage and. Garish, a moody neighborhood garlanded with poster portraits of movie stars and Madonnas. Sidewalk litterings of fruit rind and rotted newspaper were hurled about by the wind, for the wind still boomed.
Julia: Though the rain had hushed and there were bursts of blue in the sky, Holly stepped out of the car. She took the cat with her. cradling him. She scratched his head and asked, what do you think this ought to be the right kind of place for a tough guy like you garbage cans, rats galore, plenty of cat bums to gang around with.
Julia: So scram, she said, dropping him. And when he did not move away, instead raised his thug face and questioned her with yellowish pirate eyes. She stamped her foot. I said, beat it. He rubbed against her leg. I said, fuck off. She shouted, then jumped back in the car, slammed the door and go. She told the driver, go, go.
Julia: I was stunned. Well, you are you are a bitch. We traveled a block before she replied. I told you we just met by the river one day. That's all independence. Both of us. We never made each other any promises. We never, she said, and her voice collapsed. A tick. An invalid whiteness seized her face. The car had paused for a traffic light.
Julia: Then she had the door open. She was running down the street and I ran after her, but the cat was not at the corner where he'd been left. There was no one, nothing on the street except a urinating drunk and two Negro nuns hurting a file of. Sweet singing children. Other children emerged from doorways and ladies leaned over their windowsills to watch as Holly darted up and down the block, ran back and forth chanting, You!
Julia: Cat! Where are you? Here, Cat! She kept it up until a bumpy skinned boy came forward, dangling scruff of its neck. You wants a nice kitty, miss? Gimme a dollar. The limousine had followed us. Now Holly let me sear her toward it. At the door, she hesitated. She looked past me, past the boy still offering his cat.
Julia: Half a dollar, two bits maybe? Two bits ain't much. And she shuddered. She had to grip my arm to stand up. Oh, Jesus God, we did belong together. We did belong to each other. He was mine. Then I made her a promise. I said I'd come back to find her cat. I'll take care of him, too. I promise. She smiled that cheerless new pinch of a smile.
Julia: But what about me? She whispered and shivered again. I'm very scared, Buster. Yes, at last. Because it could go on forever. Not knowing what's yours until you've thrown it away. The mean reds, they're nothing. That fat woman, she nothing. This though, my mouth so dry, if my life depended on it, I couldn't spit.
Julia: She stepped in the car, sank in her seat. Sorry, driver. Let's go.
Julia: As you can tell from that excerpt from the book, The movie and the book are very different tones when it comes to language in some cases as well. The only racially disgusting thing that transferred from the book to the movie is the representation of Mr. Unish Unishio. I am a little disappointed though that they didn't bring in Madame Spinella because she was quite the character and I think would have added an interesting dynamic.
Julia: Let's get into our trivia for this movie slash book. Marilyn Monroe is who Truman Capote originally wanted to play Holly Golightly. And given Holly's description in the book, it makes sense. It was then offered to Shirley MacLaine and Kim Novak. Steve McQueen was even considered for the role of Paul Varjac, but wasn't able to do it as he was under contract for the TV show Wanted Dead or Alive.
Julia: In the film, it's never explained why Holly is wearing a bedsheet at her cocktail party. An earlier scene established she had been taking a bath and had to improvise a gown on the spur of the moment. That scene was cut. But it was featured in a Life magazine pictorial shortly before the film was released, and that's another element that's slightly true to the book.
Julia: So Capote was not thrilled about the casting of Audrey Hepburn in this film because Capote's Holly is blonde. And I think the actress. Who is cast really changes the presentation of Holly. Could you imagine Marilyn Monroe playing Holly Golightly? While Marilyn has done a lot of serious films and has had serious roles, consider all the roles that she's had where she has been sort of this Sex bot bombshell type of character.
Julia: It kind of leaves me to wonder, did Truman Capote write Breakfast at Tiffany's always with Marilyn Monroe in mind as Holly Golightly? Like, did he fashion Holly Golightly after her just a smidge? And if you know anything about Marilyn's story. It might be a viable theory.
Julia: There's a really fun article from book riot that goes into detail about what Capote thought about the film adaptation stating quote, aside from one drunken incident in which Patricia Snell, Blake Edwards, first wife recalled that Capote told her he was. Thrilled with the result of her husband's work. He spent the rest of his life trashing breakfast at Tiffany's film adaptation and an interview years later, when asked what he thought was wrong with the film version, he replied.
Julia: Oh God, just everything. He referred to it as the most miscast film he'd ever seen and that it made him want to throw up, particularly the one element that just about everyone can agree did not age well about Breakfast at Tiffany's. Is Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi. Capote also called Edwards a lousy director and bad mouthed George Axelrod's script, claiming that they had offered him the job of writing the script, but he had turned it down.
Julia: Always one for inventive fictions. Capote was never offered that job as Paramount wanted someone who wouldn't fight their changes, end quote, which makes sense because he is so close to the story that I could imagine it would have never gotten finished. Another fun trivia fact is that Capote wasn't thrilled that they changed the movie to a love story.
Julia: Because, as we mentioned, Holly flees the country, never to be heard from again. And in the movie, she ends up with Paul Varjack, and we are all in love, and everybody loves...
Julia: Like many people, I grew up romanticizing this movie, and while there are articles upon articles ad nauseum about how Mickey Rooney playing Mr. Yunioshi is a harmful portrayal, which, honestly, I agree, I do think there is an elegance and beauty to this film. Removing the overt racism, Holly is yet another woman who is trapped in a system.
Julia: In the book, she possesses internalized misogyny herself. She's a character written by a man in the 1950s. And yes, while I know it was known that Capote was gay, there's still this underlying hatred towards women in this novel. Whether you see Holly as a woman who is beautiful, charismatic, and craves freedom, or is a symbol of men's fantasies, Breakfast at Tiffany's Doesn't really hold up in a few ways.
Julia: And while I'm not suggesting a remake, because heavens knows actresses like Audrey Hepburn don't truly exist in the same way, it's hard to imagine this story existing outside of a time that is mid 20th century. It would be nice to see Holly's character though through the lens of a female writer who maybe understands the fear of being trapped and also without any of the racism.
Julia: Like I would just love to see a story without any of the blatant racism in it. It'd be great. I'm also not arguing for modern day understandings to be inserted into a period piece. I'm suggesting that this story can exist without the overt racism and homophobia. Yes, there is homophobia in this book from a gay man and a conversation with some family members who were alive at the time of the release of the 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's film.
Julia: They had commented that even for 1961, Mickey Rooney's portrayal was offensive. I think. Those of us who are seeing this Time period through history books or movies who didn't live in that era can miss the nuance. As we know, sometimes art isn't reflective of what's going on, but rather what studio execs want.
Julia: And in this case, as Capote commented, he wasn't thrilled with the adaptation, and we'll never know fully why, because I couldn't really find anything written down with specifics other than the Marilyn Monroe, um, casting. Or other than the casting, rather. Maybe I'm missing the entire point of this book, and it is something profound, and I'm too distracted by the language.
Julia: Is it like the idea that Catcher in the Rye is profound and Salinger is brilliant? Is it that? Is that it? Plus, when O. J. Berman calls Holly a phony, all I could think about was how obsessed Holden is with everyone. Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye is with everyone being a phony. So it's the 1950s and everyone is now obsessed with the idea of authenticity, but instead we're calling it being a phony.
Julia: That was my takeaway about that. Either way. I think after reading this book three times, it might be time to retire it. But then again, Where will we be in 10 years culturally and socially? I first read this book at 19 years old and it was, I am embarrassed to say, rather enlightening. In my defense though, if we need one, I was a 19 year old who had never lived anywhere but my hometown and my world was very, very small.
Julia: I read it again at 29 and gleaned a little bit more and felt a little differently reading it at 39. I'm just tired of reading books about women written by men. Like I'm not in the phase in life where this is enjoyable. If you've read breakfast at Tiffany's, I'm honestly dying to know. You can find me on Instagram at the Julia Washington.
Julia: Shelly pops book club is an independently run podcast. It is written, edited, and produced. All the things by me, your host, and we are completely, it's just me, a team of one. I'm doing it. You're welcome. If you love this episode or have thoughts about it, send it to your bookish or movie loving friends and discuss.
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Julia: I'm into it Okay back to those of you who enjoy the show every month. We host a live book club. You can join us But by joining us on Patreon, just go to patreon. com slash Julia Washington and click the jelly pops book club only tier. And again, if you have thoughts about breakfast at Tiffany's, the book, the film, find me.
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