A look back at the career of a five-star Hollywood actress…
Timothy Knight’s 39-minute documentary Audrey Hepburn In The Movies takes movie fans on a whistle-stop tour of the British actress’ filmography. There’s a rush to pile through the early years so the film critic can focus on the good stuff, although to its credit the doc doesn’t linger as long as you might expect on My Fair Lady or Breakfast At Tiffany’s.
Still, there’s not much chatter about her bit parts in films such as Laughter In Paradise and The Lavender Hill Mob (which paid her way as a trainee ballerina), or her breakthrough role in the stage production of Gigi. The end of her career gets similar treatment, with her last three films – Bloodline, They All Laughed and Always – dashed off in just a few moments.
What we do get is a lot of trailer footage (with its laughably sexist and amazingly cheesy dialogue!) of hits such as Funny Face, Roman Holiday and Sabrina, linked together by snippets of Knight’s chat. Don’t expect too much hard-hitting insight, though, as the tagline “A celebratory documentary” sums up the reverence placed on one of Hollywood’s greatest stars.
Playing the entire documentary or selecting a specific movie from the menu will have the same result: the footage of Hepburn in action will have you reaching for her full-length films in your DVD library. On that basis, Audrey Hepburn In The Movies is a success. One for a rainy afternoon.
VERDICT: 6/10
Audrey Hepburn In The Movies is released on DVD by Wienerworld on 14 January 2013 and can be purchased from Amazon.
