Sabrina on DVD (1954)

The Lead Men Were Good Too!

Sparkie from BRISTOL, UK , 02/06/2005

'FORGET PRETTY WOMAN, FORGET MAID IN MANHATTEN, THIS FILM DID IT FIRST AND IT DID IT BETTER.

GET A BIG BAR OF CHOCOLATE, UNPLUG THE PHONE, AND SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FACE EVER CAPTURED ON FILM.' WHEN I READ THIS REVIEW I JUST HAD TO HIRE 'SABRINA FAIR' AND I'M VERY GLAD I DID.

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A romantic comedy that is actually funny!

A customer from Lincolnshire , 20/07/2004

The adjective 'RomCom' nowadays is synonymous with meaning 'it should be good but falls flat being neither one thing nor the other'. 'Sabrina' is both romantic and funny, in fact, hilarious. It meets both criteria and in that is one of the few films that does. What makes it great is the combination of hilarious screenplay thanks to Billy Wilder, superb direction, thanks to Billy Wilder, and some of the best comedy ACTING I've seen in a long time, thanks to Audrey Hepburn and, who would have thought, Humphrey Bogart! This film shows what a fantastic actor he is. Forget the remake (typical Rom Com), this is the real deal. It is intelligent, subtle, never insulting, an absolute joy to watch. I recommend it to anyone who has a sense of humour and who enjoys fine acting. Personally I think think this a better film than 7 year itch and Some like it Hot - both by Wilder. Go on, put it on your list - you won't be disappointed.

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Sabrina

SAI81 from Tonbridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 07/08/2005

Simply put Sabrina is one of the finest examples of Romantic comedy ever put on screen. The script, against the odds (Sabrina had a troubled development and the script pages were often being given to the actors fresh off the typewriter), sparkles with wit. There's nothing here that will be unexpected if you've ever seen a romantic comedy (barring, perhaps, a blackly comic scene where Sabrina attempts to kill herself) but that hardly matters when it is delivered in such charming fashion as it is here. Billy Wilder directs economically, nothing very showy, but the camera is also very mobile when it needs to be, useful as the film has relatively few locations and could easily have felt stagey were it not for his direction. As Sabrina Audrey Hepburn shines. As in Funny Face a few years later it is hard to reconcile her obvious and breathtaking beauty with the way she goes unnoticed in the early part of the film but this is hardly her fault. She shows excellent comic timing and great chemistry with Holden (no surprise there, they were having an affair) but most importantly she makes us fall in love with Sabrina. Bogart and Holden play well off one another, in fact their shared dialogue scenes are among the films funniest and Holden has a real aptitude for physical comedy. Yes the last few scenes are implausible, yes it's hard to picture Hepburn and Bogart as a couple but by that time you are so caught up in this wonderfully entertaining film that can't damage it. Romantic comedy is a much maligned genre and that's because, in recent years, it has lacked two things that Sabrina has in spades; romance and jokes.

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Moving

Bob791 from London , 23/02/2005

This is a black and white film, it is as stylish, moving and effective as its main star, Audrey Hepburn. It makes the remake look artificial and trite.

Moving viewing.

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Sabrina

SAI81 from Tonbridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 07/08/2005

Simply put Sabrina is one of the finest examples of Romantic comedy ever put on screen. The script, against the odds (Sabrina had a troubled development and the script pages were often being given to the actors fresh off the typewriter), sparkles with wit. There's nothing here that will be unexpected if you've ever seen a romantic comedy (barring, perhaps, a blackly comic scene where Sabrina attempts to kill herself) but that hardly matters when it is delivered in such charming fashion as it is here. Billy Wilder directs economically, nothing very showy, but the camera is also very mobile when it needs to be, useful as the film has relatively few locations and could easily have felt stagey were it not for his direction. As Sabrina Audrey Hepburn shines. As in Funny Face a few years later it is hard to reconcile her obvious and breathtaking beauty with the way she goes unnoticed in the early part of the film but this is hardly her fault. She shows excellent comic timing and great chemistry with Holden (no surprise there, they were having an affair) but most importantly she makes us fall in love with Sabrina. Bogart and Holden play well off one another, in fact their shared dialogue scenes are among the films funniest and Holden has a real aptitude for physical comedy. Yes the last few scenes are implausible, yes it's hard to picture Hepburn and Bogart as a couple but by that time you are so caught up in this wonderfully entertaining film that can't damage it. Romantic comedy is a much maligned genre and that's because, in recent years, it has lacked two things that Sabrina has in spades; romance and jokes.

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A romantic comedy that is actually funny!

A customer from Lincolnshire , 20/07/2004

The adjective 'RomCom' nowadays is synonymous with meaning 'it should be good but falls flat being neither one thing nor the other'. 'Sabrina' is both romantic and funny, in fact, hilarious. It meets both criteria and in that is one of the few films that does. What makes it great is the combination of hilarious screenplay thanks to Billy Wilder, superb direction, thanks to Billy Wilder, and some of the best comedy ACTING I've seen in a long time, thanks to Audrey Hepburn and, who would have thought, Humphrey Bogart! This film shows what a fantastic actor he is. Forget the remake (typical Rom Com), this is the real deal. It is intelligent, subtle, never insulting, an absolute joy to watch. I recommend it to anyone who has a sense of humour and who enjoys fine acting. Personally I think think this a better film than 7 year itch and Some like it Hot - both by Wilder. Go on, put it on your list - you won't be disappointed.

Read all highest rated reviews