Bogart, Hepburn, and Holden star in Billy Wilder's "Sabrina"

Sabrina (1954) is an American romantic comedy directed by Billy Wilder and starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden. The screenplay was by Wilder, Ernest Lehman, and Samuel A. Taylor. The supporting cast includes John Williams, Martha Hyer, Francis X. Bushman, Ellen Corby, and Nancy Kulp.

Sabrina Fairchild (Hepburn), the daughter of the Larrabee family’s chauffeur (Williams) has been in love with David Larrabee for as long as she can remember. David has been married three times and is the handsome, non-working playboy younger brother of the hard-working Linus (Bogart). Sabrina has lived at the Larrabee estate on Long Island her entire life. To David, she is still a little girl.

As a way to help her forget David, her father has arranged for her to attend the Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris. Before she is supposed to leave, she leaves her father a suicide note and proceeds to start all the cars in the garage in an effort to kill herself. Linus, who happens to walk by the garage and hearing all the car engines running, finds Sabrina about the pass out from the fumes. Linus saves Sabrina and brings her to her family’s apartment above the garage.

Sabrina goes to Paris and after completing her cooking course, she comes back to Long Island a sophisticated young woman who David doesn’t even recognize. David finds Sabrina enchanting but there’s one problem; he’s engaged to be married to socialite Elizabeth Tyson (Hyer).

What will happen to Sabrina? Will she find happiness with her childhood crush, David, or is there someone else who is a better match?

Billy Wilder (1906 - 2002) was an Austrian-born American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He won six Academy Awards for his writing and direction and was nominated twenty-one times over a career that spanned five decades. Wilder started his career as a writer, penning the screenplays for Ninotchka (1939), Ball of Fire (1942), Double Indemnity (1945), The Lost Weekend (1946), Sunset Boulevard (1951)  Boulevard (1951), Sabrina (1955), Some Like it Hot (1960), and The Apartment (1961). As a director, he won Academy Awards for directing The Lost Weekend (1946) and The Apartment (1961). Wilder directed fourteen different actors in Oscar-nominated roles. He is considered one of the most versatile directors from Hollywood’s Classical period.

Humphrey Bogart (1899 – 1957) was an American film and stage actor. He is one of the most famous and popular movie stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Nicknamed Bogie, the actor toiled in supporting roles in both A and B pictures for a decade before his breakout role as Roy Earle in High Sierra (1941). Many more film roles followed including The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), Key Largo (1948), and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). His career continued with good roles in films like In a Lonely Place (1950), The Caine Mutiny (1954), and Sabrina (1954) co-starring William Holden and Audrey Hepburn. Bogart died from cancer in 1957.

Audrey Hepburn and William Holden

Audrey Hepburn (1929 – 1993) was a British actress. Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her first starring role in Roman Holiday (1953), co-starring Gregory Peck. Peck predicted that Hepburn would be a big star during production and insisted that she receive equal screen building with him. Hepburn also starred on Broadway in Gigi and Ondine. Other film roles include Sabrina (1954), War and Peace (1955), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), My Fair Lady (1964), How to Steal a Million (1966), Wait Until Dark (1966), Two for the Road (1967). Besides her acting career, Hepburn was a fashion icon and a humanitarian working as Goodwill Ambassador with UNICEF.

William Holden (1918 - 1981) was an American actor and major movie star. He was one of the most bankable stars of the 1950s. Holden starred in some of the most popular and beloved films of all time including Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Stalag 17 for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Holden became a star with his very first role in Golden Boy (1939). He had lead roles in other popular films like Our Town (1940), and  I Wanted Wings (1941). World War II interrupted his career. Holden was a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force. After the war, he made some popular but forgettable films. It wasn’t after he collaborated with director Wilder on Sunset Boulevard that Holden’s popularity and stature in Hollywood grew to superstar status.

Sabina trivia

• Cary Grant was Wyler's first choice to play Linus. 
• Humphrey Bogart wanted his wife (Lauren Bacall) to play Sabrina.
• Bogart did not enjoy working with Hepburn and Holden. Bogart thought Hepburn was inexperienced.
• The script was being worked on as they filmed. Reportedly, one scene was written in the morning and shot that afternoon. Writer Ernest Lehman had a nervous breakdown during production.
• Hepburn was 24, Holden was 35, and Bogart was 53 during the film's production.
• Bogart was paid $300,000, Holden $150,000, and Hepburn $15,00.

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Bogart, Hepburn, and Holden

Discussion questions

1. Would you have rather seen Cary Grant in the role of Linus or did you think Humphrey Bogart was just right for the role? Joseph Cotten played Linus in Sabrina Fair, the play on which the movie is based. Can you see Cotten in the Bogart role?
2. Some critics think that William Holden was miscast as David; do you agree with the critics?
3. This was only Hepburn's second major film role. What did you make of her performance?
4. Do you think Lauren Bacall would have made a good Sabrina?
5. Did this film remind you of any other romantic comedies you've seen?