Editing Breakfast at Tiffany's (film) (section)

==Production==
===Development===
After Paramount producers [[Martin Jurow]] and [[Richard Shepherd (producer)|Richard Shepherd]] optioned the film rights to Capote's novella, they hired [[Sumner Locke Elliott]] to write its screenplay. Although this was generally faithful to the source material, Jurow and Shepherd disliked it and he was replaced by [[George Axelrod]]. Axelrod, who previously made structural changes to the source material while [[The Seven Year Itch (play)|adapting]] ''[[The Seven Year Itch]]'' (1955), worked with Jurow and Shepherd to deviate from Capote's novella. This included altering its plot and tone to be a romantic comedy, replacing its unnamed gay narrator with a named, heterosexual male love interest, adding new characters, and reducing the gay subtext.<ref name="youtube.com">{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gs-l6yHKHY | title=How Breakfast at Tiffany's Turned into a Totally Different Movie &#124; Adapting a Classic | website=[[YouTube]] | date=August 31, 2021 }}</ref>

Capote wanted [[Marilyn Monroe]] to play Holly Golightly: he considered Monroe to best reflect the character,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/sep/05/breakfast-at-tiffanys-audrey-hepburn|title=Breakfast at Tiffany's: When Audrey Hepburn won Marilyn Monroe's role|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=September 4, 2009|access-date=December 26, 2023}}</ref> with Axelrod required to "tailor" the screenplay to accommodate Monroe. Monroe declined to star in the film, opting for ''[[The Misfits (1961 film)|The Misfits]]'' (1961), after theatre director [[Lee Strasberg]] advised her that playing a "lady of the evening" would be bad for her image.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/classic-movies/8032801/Breakfast-at-Tiffanys-50-years-on.html | title=Breakfast at Tiffany's: 50 years on | date=September 30, 2010 }}</ref> The role was then offered to [[Shirley MacLaine]], who turned it down in favor of starring in ''[[Two Loves]]'' (1961),<ref>{{cite news|last=Foerster|first=Jonathan|title=Shirley MacLaine isn't getting old, she's just advanced|date=9 February 2011|newspaper=[[Naples Daily News]]|url=http://archive.naplesnews.com/entertainment/shirley-maclaine-isnt-getting-old-shes-just-advanced-ep-392244535-334584291.html/|access-date=27 June 2017}}</ref> and [[Kim Novak]] also turned it down.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/new-again-kim-novak|title = New Again: Kim Novak|magazine=[[Interview (magazine)|Interview]]|date = February 15, 2012}}</ref>

Capote was angry at the studio's eventual decision, remarking, "Paramount double-crossed me in every way and cast Audrey".<ref name="Paris">{{cite book|last=Paris|first=Barry|title=Audrey Hepburn|publisher=[[Berkley Books]]|year=1996|isbn=978-0399140563}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vogue.com/article/audrey-hepburn-birthday-breakfast-at-tiffanys/ | title=Happy Birthday, Audrey Hepburn! 10 Things You Never Knew About _Breakfast at Tiffany'_s | date=May 4, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/breakfast-tiffanys-things/story?id=14666373|title='Breakfast at Tiffany's:' Five Things You Didn't Know|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=October 4, 2011|access-date=December 26, 2023}}</ref> Hepburn was hesitant to star in the film, citing difficulty playing an extroverted character.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/06/16/98540319.html?pageNumber=27 | title=AUDREY HEPBURN IS WARY ON ROLES; Director is More Vital to Star Than Movie's Script | newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-audrey-hepburn|title=5 Things You Didn't Know About Audrey Hepburn|magazine=[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]|date=October 1, 2016|access-date=December 26, 2023}}</ref> [[Steve McQueen]] was offered the role of Paul Varjak, but declined the offer due to being under contract with [[United Artists]],<ref>[https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/73079/18-hearty-facts-about-breakfast-tiffanys 18 Hearty Facts About 'Breakfast at Tiffany's']</ref> and [[Jack Lemmon]] was also approached, but was unavailable. [[Robert Wagner]] was also considered.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/22674/ | title=Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]]}}</ref>

The film's original director, [[John Frankenheimer]], worked with Axelrod for three months on the project before he was replaced by Edwards after Hepburn's agent requested a higher-profile director.<ref>Wasson, Sam ''Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's'' Aurum Press, 25 Sep 2011</ref> Edwards also supported Axelrod's changes to the novella, stating the changes made were for "audience approval".<ref name="youtube.com"/>

===Filming===
[[File:Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's.jpg|thumb|left|Hepburn outside the [[Tiffany & Co. flagship store]] during the film's opening sequence.]]
Filming began on Fifth Avenue outside the [[Tiffany & Co. flagship store]] on October 2, 1960.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gristwood|first=Sarah|title=Breakfast at Tiffany's: 50 Years On|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=30 September 2010|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/classic-movies/8032801/Breakfast-at-Tiffanys-50-years-on.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/classic-movies/8032801/Breakfast-at-Tiffanys-50-years-on.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Most of the exteriors were filmed in [[New York City]], and all of the interiors, except for portions set inside Tiffany & Co., were filmed on the [[Paramount Studios lot]] in Hollywood.<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054698/locations?ref_=ttfc_ql_5 | title =Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961): Filming and Production | website =imdb.com | access-date =2019-12-03}}</ref>

According to one report, the film's on-location opening sequence outside Tiffany & Co. was extremely difficult to shoot, due to issues related to crowd control, Hepburn's dislike of pastries, and an accident that nearly resulted in the [[electric shock|electrocution]] of a crew member. However, another report claims the sequence was captured rather quickly, owing to an unexpected lull in city traffic.<ref>[http://www.moviefone.com/2011/10/05/25-things-breakfast-at-tiffanys-anniversary/ 25 Things You May Not Know About 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160628205704/http://www.moviefone.com/2011/10/05/25-things-breakfast-at-tiffanys-anniversary/ |date=June 28, 2016 }} at moviefone.com, 5 Oct 2011</ref>

===Music===
{{main|Breakfast at Tiffany's: Music from the Motion Picture}}
{{quote box |width =33%| quote =  It took me time to figure out what Holly Golightly was all about. I don't drink much, but I was sipping and it came to me one night. I wrote [the song] in half an hour.|source=Henry Mancini on writing "[[Moon River]]".<ref name="timemusic" />}}

During the film, Hepburn sang the film's signature song, "[[Moon River]]", written by [[Henry Mancini]] and [[Johnny Mercer]]. The song was tailored to Hepburn's limited vocal range and its sequencing was inspired by songs she performed in ''[[Funny Face]]'' (1957).{{sfn|Spoto|2006|pp=204–05}} After the film's test preview in [[San Francisco]], Martin Rankin, Paramount's head of production, wanted "Moon River" replaced with music sung by somebody else. Shepherd claimed he and Jurow refused to replace it – a response attributed to Hepburn herself in another account.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Erwin | first1=Ellen |last2=Diamond | first2=Jessica Z. | title= The Audrey Hepburn Treasures| location=New York | publisher=[[Atria Books]]|date=October 2006| page=107 | isbn=978-0-7432-8986-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |people=Shepherd, Richard |title= Breakfast at Tiffany's – Anniversary Edition/Centennial Edition [[audio commentary]] |medium= DVD |publisher= Paramount |time= 25:20}}</ref>

According to ''Time'', Mancini "sets off [the] melodies with a walking bass, extends them with choral and string variations and varies them with the brisk sounds of [[jazz combo|combo jazz]]. "Moon River" is sobbed by a plaintive harmonica, repeated by strings, hummed and then sung by the chorus and finally resolved with the harmonica."<ref name="timemusic">{{cite magazine| url= http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,896253,00.html | archive-url= https://archive.today/20130204090906/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,896253,00.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= February 4, 2013 | title= Movies: Never Too Much Music| date= May 25, 1962 | magazine= [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | access-date=October 3, 2010}}</ref> The soundtrack featured a score composed and conducted by Mancini, with several unreleased musical compositions not featuring in the final film. One piece, "Carousel Cue", appears in a deleted scene, while another piece titled "Outtake 1" also appears in a deleted scene. In 2013, [[Intrada Records]] released the complete score in its original film performance: as with many soundtrack albums from the time period, the album initially released alongside the film was a re-recording.