Breakfast at Tiffany's - 3 Stars (Good) with Audrey Hepburn

Grace and Humility Personified

Hollywood's Most Perfect Actress Had 
Beauty, Fashion, Grace and Humility

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Was there ever an actress who combined these four timeless qualities—beauty, fashion, grace and humility—better than Audrey Hepburn?

I think not, especially when I see her again in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Even an actress who could come close (and I can think of none) would in no way match the humility of Audrey Hepburn. We shall not see another like her in our lifetime and by then the film industry may be on the way out when some newer, better technology unknown to us today arrives.

All the more reason to purchase her five most memorable movies in DVD now while they are still available.

First would be her Oscar winning Best Actress performance in Roman Holiday opposite Gregory Peck, which was also her first starring role in an American film.

The next four would be her Best Actress Oscar nominations for Sabrina, The Nun's Story, Wait Until Dark (one of the two scariest movies I have ever seen) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (the Oscar went to Sophia Loren for Two Women).

Breakfast at Tiffany's had two great assets, Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, the young New York socialite (we say socialite because this movie was released in 1961, 45 years ago), and Director Blake Edwards, whose deft, sensitive handling of Hepburn's character (a high-priced prostitute) could not have been done better.

Holly Golightly's beauty, sense of fashion and pure innocence prohibit me from thinking of her as a woman of the night. She is so inherently stylish. God has not made a woman that could wear clothes better than Audrey Hepburn.

She has Holly Golightly floating around in Givenchy gowns with matchless grace and glamour.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is based on Truman Capote's novel with the screenplay by George Axelrod, who also garnered an Oscar nomination.

Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) teamed up to win an Oscar for the Original Song "Moon River" while Mancini earned another Oscar as well as a Grammy for Best Musical Score.

The story line has the two romantic interests dependent upon others for financial support, Holly as a lady of the night and Paul Varjak (George Peppard), a wannabe writer who is kept by the married and wealthy Mrs. Failenson (Patricia Neal). Eventually Holly and Paul experience some personal growth and find love together.

There are matchless moments in this film that find places forever in your heart. One is Hepburn sitting on the fire escape plaintively singing "Moon River," especially when you remember that the theme of your high school senior prom was Moon River, and that you were with the girl you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. It is a rare opportunity to hear Hepburn sing in the movie.

She recorded singing vocals for her role as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady only to discover that professional "singing double" Marni Nixon had overdubbed all of her songs.

Hepburn was not nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in this film, but her love interest Rex Harrison won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Professor Henry Higgins.

The "little black dress" worn by Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's was designed by Givenchy and sold at Christie's auction this year (2006) for $920,000 with the proceeds going to aid underprivileged children in India. It was not the one worn by Hepburn in the movie.

The only two dresses she wore are now in the Givenchy archives and the Museum of Costume in Madrid, Spain.

In Audrey Hepburn's performance there are times when we are delighted by sweet innocence in a woman. You cannot imagine how difficult this is to find in today's world.

Audrey Hepburn became a beauty and fashion icon, and although she did enjoy fashion, she placed little importance on it, preferring casual and comfortable clothes away from the bright lights and cameras.

I do want to give Breakfast at Tiffany's an Excellent rating but cannot because of too many flaws in the film. I can easily give Audrey Hepburn an Excellent rating for her performance as Holly Golightly.



After 15 years as a highly successful actress Audrey Hepburn chose to lead a quieter life far away from Hollywood. She was married twice, first to actor Mel Ferrer and then to Italian doctor Andrea Dotti and had a son with each.

Hepburn was Belgian by birth and would grow up with her mother in The Netherlands, nearly starving to death during the Nazi occupation in World War II when the Dutch food and fuel supplies were cut off. Tragically, she suffered through watching her uncle and cousin being shot to death for being part of the Resistance movement.

She rose from the horrific atrocities of her youth to find fame and fortune in America and in the last four years of her life (1988 to 1992) became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund).

Only four months before her death from abdominal cancer she went on a mission to Somalia and was devastated to see the nightmare of famine and carnage.


Audrey Hepburn was the picture of beauty, fashion and grace but never for a minute let her success go to her head, and most certainly never led a Hollywood lifestyle of overblown debauchery so much in evidence in moviemaking and Tinseltown today.


See Breakfast at Tiffany's because Audrey Hepburn became an important contributor to our time and culture. She not only represented the best in professional growth but made her life a legacy with her personal growth. She was a model of grace and humility in a world with little of either.




Some details about the film (source Wikipedia):
Directed by: Blake Edwards
Produced by: Richard Shepherd and Martin Jurow
Written by: 1 - Screenplay: George Axelrod, 2 - Novella: Truman Capote
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen
Music by: Henry Mancini
Cinematography: Franz F. Planer
Editing by: Howard Smith
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release date(s): October 5, 1961
Running time: 115 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $2.5 million
Gross revenue: $14 million

Plot (source Wikipedia):
Early on a fall morning, a lone taxicab deposits Holly Golightly at the Tiffany's jewelry store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Holly eats a pastry and drinks coffee while admiring the window displays, then strolls home.
At her brownstone apartment building, Holly successfully fends off her date from the night before, who has been waiting in his car all night and is angry that she disappeared during their evening together. Holly then meets Paul Varjak, a new tenant. After feeding her nameless pet cat, Holly chats with Paul as she hurriedly prepares to visit Sing Sing prison, a weekly routine from which she earns $100 for an hour's conversation with Sally Tomato, an incarcerated mob boss. Holly does not seem to realize that she is passing coded messages for Sally's drug ring.

Outside the brownstone, Mrs. Failenson (referred to as "2E" throughout the film) arrives and is introduced as Paul's "decorator." Holly drops by to escape a drunken date and sees Mrs. Failenson leave money and kiss Paul goodbye. It is revealed that Paul is a writer who hasn't been published since 1956 and that Holly, at the age of 14, ran away from home with her brother Fred, who is in the army.

Paul attends a wild party at Holly's, where he is introduced to José da Silva Pereira, a handsome, rich Brazilian, and to Rusty Trawler, a pudgy, rich American. Paul also meets O. J. Berman, who is Holly's "agent." O.J. tells him about Holly's transformation from a country girl with a thick accent into a classy Manhattan socialite, but adds that she is a wild spirit, difficult to pin down, and still can't tell if she is "a phony."

Holly is accompanied by Paul to visit Sally at the Sing Sing prison. Back home, Paul can hear Holly singing "Moon River" from her windowsill. Mrs. Failenson rushes into Paul's apartment, worried about a strange man outside.

Paul is trailed by the man when he leaves the apartment. They confront one another in Central Park. The man introduces himself as Doc, claiming to be Holly's husband. He married her—real name Lula Mae Barnes—when she was turning 14 and explains that he has come to New York to take Holly back home to Texas, where he feels she rightly belongs. Holly later explains to Paul that the marriage was annulled. She puts a dejected Doc on a bus to Texas, but only after he warns her that he will no longer support her brother Fred, who is being released from the Army soon.



A partial screenshot of Audrey Hepburn from the film


At a bar, a drunken Holly explains her feeling of responsibility for Fred. She decides to marry Rusty Trawler for his money, but then discovers that Rusty has married someone else. Holly and Paul then spend a carefree, romantic day together, visiting the library and going to Tiffany's, where they have a cheap ring from a box of Cracker Jack engraved. They share a kiss when they arrive home, and it is implied that they spend the night together.

The next day, Paul informs Mrs. Failenson that he no longer needs her. But now, a money-hungry Holly plans to marry José, which angers Paul.

Holly and José return to her apartment one night and find a telegram notifying her of Fred's death. Holly trashes her apartment in grief and her behavior disturbs José.

Months pass. Paul has moved out of the brownstone. He is invited to dinner by Holly, who is leaving the next morning for Brazil. They suddenly are arrested by police in connection with Sally's drug ring. Holly spends the night in lock-up.

The next morning, Paul is waiting with a taxi when she is released from jail. He is in possession of both Cat and a letter from José, in which the rich Brazilian breaks off the relationship due to her headline-making arrest. An emotional Holly impulsively orders the driver to stop and she throws Cat out into the pouring rain.

Paul tells Holly what he thinks of her behavior and leaves the cab. Holly runs after him and together they find Cat and embrace.


Cast (source Wikipedia):
Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly
George Peppard as Paul Varjak
Patricia Neal as Mrs. Failenson/Emily Eustace (2E)
Buddy Ebsen as Doc
Martin Balsam as O.J. Berman
Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi
Alan Reed as Sally Tomato
Orangey as "Cat" (trained by Frank Inn)

Pardon Me, 

I Am Gushing Again About 

Hollywood's Incomparable Actress: 

Audrey Hepburn

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley


Like a lot of shoppers at supermarkets, I look at the magazine displays while waiting in line to check out. Recently I was thrilled to see a recent edition to LIFE's Great Photographers Series: Remembering Audrey 15 Years Later with photographs by Bob Willoughby.

In my review of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" I posed this question: Was there ever an actress who combined these four timeless qualities—beauty, fashion, grace and humility—better than Audrey Hepburn? My answer was simply, I think not.

You better believe I bought a copy of Remembering Audrey faster than a single heartbeat, and remain a better person for having done so.

Willoughby was born in Los Angeles—the city of the stars—and began taking pictures when he was 12. He was good, very good, and best described as a prodigy. In 1953, when he was 26, he would be assigned to photograph an upcoming soon to be actress, Audrey Hepburn. The result of their meeting would produce one of his most positive relationships, both as a photographer and a friend.

Willoughby pioneered the role of the "special" photographer to take formal publicity shots and candids of the stars Hollywood's publicity departments wanted to promote. He was credited by Popular Photography magazine as the man "who virtually invented the photojournalistic motion-picture still."

The images that you remember of James Dean, Frank Sinatra, Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn among dozens of others were mostly the work of Bob Willoughby. All of the major magazines of the day—LIFE, Look, Saturday Evening Post and Harper's Bazaar—published his work.

Willoughby's creations grace the exhibits in more than 500 museums in more than 50 countries around the world.

When first meeting Audrey, Willoughby said, "She took my hand and dazzled me with a smile that God designed to melt mortal men's hearts.

"The amazing instant contact she always made was a remarkable gift, and I know from talking to others that it was felt by all who met her."

Audrey had made a big impression with the studio brass in the 1953 William Wyler film "Roman Holiday". She won an Oscar for Best Actress as Princess Ann in her film debut playing opposite Gregory Peck.

In the next 15 years, she would be nominated for 4 Best Actress Oscars for her work as Sabrina Fairchild in "Sabrina" (1954), Sister Luke in "The Nun's Story" (1959), Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), and Susy Hendrix in "Wait Until Dark" (1967).

She also won a Golden Globe for Best Drama Actress in Roman Holiday and had an additional 6 Golden Globe nominations as Best Actress. Lesser known is the fact that Audrey was one of the few entertainers to have won an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony Award as well as an Oscar.

Bob Willoughby's formal and candid photographs of Audrey Hepburn will stand the test of time as some of the greatest ever taken of a woman and an actress. He said that Audrey never took a bad photograph, or even a mediocre one.

"She could sit next to an old ladder on the set and look terrific," said Willoughby. With designs by Hubert de Givenchy, the world's most smashing woman wore the world's most smashing fashions.

She became the most charming, disarming, altogether friendly and charismatic superstar ever to grace a Hollywood production. According to Willoughby, everyone liked Audrey and remained loyal to her. The best directors and the world's greatest designers sought to work with her.

It was said that all of her leading men fell in love with her, including Gregory Peck, William Holden, Anthony Perkins, Rex Harrison and Albert Finney.

When making "My Fair Lady" Audrey would not be recognized for her role as Eliza Doolittle. She had been promised that she could sing her songs in the film, but Marni Nixon was ultimately contracted to perform Eliza's vocals.

Julie Andrews had played the role of Eliza in the stage production of the Lerner and Loewe musical, but she lost the role to Audrey in the film. It was perhaps no accident that the Best Actress Oscar that year went to Julie Andrews for her role as Mary Poppins.

My Fair Lady cost $17 million to make in 1964, an astounding investment in its day. It became Warner Brothers highest-grossing film at the time, and would go on to earn 12 Oscar nominations and win 8 Oscars. Many film historians consider My Fair Lady to be the last great musical of Hollywood's studio era.

Audrey would marry twice and have a son by both Mel Ferrer, the actor/director, and Andrea Dotti, an Italian psychiatrist. She suffered 4 miscarriages during her 13-year marriage to Mel Ferrer.

In her early life, Audrey's parents would divorce and her mother took her and her two stepbrothers to London and then to the Netherlands, where her mother was a bona fide Dutch baroness. In 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands and the horror of war would surround her.

She danced in clandestine locations to raise money for the Dutch Resistance. One of her stepbrothers was sent to a German labor camp, and her uncle and one of her mother's cousins were shot and killed for participating in the Resistance.

The Germans seized food and fuel when the Netherlands was already suffering a winter famine. Audrey would suffer malnutrition, anemia and frequent bouts of depression. She was 10 years old when World War II started and remained fragile her entire life as a result of her wartime experience.

Some believe her final act in life was her best when she was named UNICEF's International Goodwill Ambassador in 1988. Audrey would travel around the world on 50+ missions to bring attention to the world's suffering children. The sight of children dying from hunger in distant lands was devastating; she had once been one of those children and survived.

"I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering," said Audrey. Despite being terribly ill herself, she continued to go on missions. She would die of colon cancer in 1993, four months before her 64th birthday. When she died, the world lost a great human being.

Bob Willoughby said it best: "She left those who came into contact with her better for having known her. I miss her to this day." Amen, Bob, amen.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven – 2 Stars (Average)

The Five People YouMeet in Heaven"
Is Difficult to Understand But Rewarding

For anyone who has read Mitch Albom's book Tuesdays With Morrie, it was axiomatic to read The Five People You Meet in Heaven and then see the movie.

Albom was asked why it took him so long between his first two books, he said "To be honest, I was a bit overwhelmed by Tuesdays' success. At first, nobody wanted to publish that book or talk much about it.

"Then, suddenly, all anyone wanted me to do was write a sequel. I knew I didn't want to do that. I said everything in that book that I had to say about the last class between Morrie and me. So I waited until something inspired me the way that book did. It just happened to take six years."


When asked if anything Morrie had said led to the story line of "Five People" he revealed the fact that "Morrie often told a story about waves, and how when they hit the shore they ceased to exist—unless you realized that, in truth, they weren't really waves at all, they were part of the ocean.


"Morrie saw himself that way, as part of something connected to a bigger humanity. In the Five People, I sort of explore that idea, that we are all connected to each other in ways we don't even realize, and that perhaps, when your life is over, you may find out all the other 'waves' in this big ocean that you affected without even knowing it."


These insights show the integrity and sensitivity of Mitch Albom, who also penned the movie script for his book. Albom works for the Detroit Free Press and is arguably one of best sportswriters in the United States. His work in "Five People" shows flashes of his pure writing talent.


The Five People You Meet in Heaven is the story of Eddie (Jon Voight), a simple man living a simple life as a maintenance man who has a regret and an ache in his heart.



He spends his entire life berating himself because he never left the amusement park to pursue his dream of becoming an engineer. He blames everyone but himself for not getting on in the world. This is his regret, and he feels that his life has been wasted.


Eddie dies on his 83rd birthday while trying to save a little girl from a falling cart in a roller coaster ride gone bad, and develops an ache in his heart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his as he tries to pull the girl away—and then nothing.


He dies not knowing if he saved the girl’s life or not.


He awakens in Heaven and is destined to meet five people, loved ones and distant strangers who form a thread in his life that when woven into a fabric explain the meaning of his life.


Each person shares with Eddie a lesson in life that he failed to learn on Earth.


Albom's writing skills shine through in these memorable quotes from the five characters:


Ruby: "Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that by hating someone we hurt them. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do to others, we also do to ourselves."


Blue Man: "There are no random acts. We are all connected. You can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind."


Blue Man: "In heaven, there is no judgment, but rather an opportunity to examine our lives—who we touched, the choices we made, and the consequences of those choices.


" Blue Man: "Strangers are family you have yet to come to know."


Marguerite (Eddie's wife who precedes him in death): "Lost love is still love, Eddie. It just takes a different form, that's all. You can't hold their hand, you can't tousle their hair. But when those senses weaken another one comes to life. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You hold it. You dance with it. Life has to end, Eddie. Love doesn't."


Be forewarned that The Five People You Meet in Heaven can and probably will bring tears to your eyes, and make your throat retract and become sore with tension. This is no movie for children of any age, adults can hardly deal with it and attempt to understand the subject matter and significance of its message.


This movie has an incredible ending that allows Eddie to finally understand the meaning of his life. I will not reveal the ending here, you must see the ending to earn its blessing.


This is an extremely complicated story, and the movie does not make the story any easier to understand and follow. It forces us to examine our existence here on earth; however, the story and the movie are worth the effort if you have any spiritual development.


The only other movie I have seen more complicated to understand is The Hours, which was far more miserable, depressing and dramatically overdone despite some serious Oscar attention (Best Actress Oscar for Nicole Kidman and 8 other nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director Stephen Daldry, Best Supporting Actor Ed Harris and Best Supporting Actress Julianne Moore).


Because of its complexity The Five People You Meet in Heaven earned little, if any, critical acclaim or accolades. This is why I write reviews. With no one to sing its praises, the voice of understanding goes silent. Silence is a void that is unbearable.


Perhaps Albom's effort falls short of reaching more people because he is a writer and not a philosopher. A writer like Albom can craft a beautiful sentence that a reader like me can appreciate. A philosopher can craft another sentence that immediately strikes a chord with nearly everyone.


Great poets often achieve this heartfelt effect, perhaps they are philosophers too.


I would have given The Five People You Meet in Heaven a 3 rating in a heartbeat (very high in my system) if it were not so difficult for viewers to digest and appreciate. I would see this movie again, and was a better person for having seen it the first time.


(Note from Mary-Ann: I have read the book and seen the film and I was very touched by it an even though I know I will have to read the book and watch the movie again before I completely understand all of it, it made me feel good nonetheless. If you are on a spiritual path you will love this film.)




Plot summary (source Wikipedia):
The story is about a simple man named Eddie. He is the Head of Maintenance at Ruby Pier, an amusement park along the seaside. Eddie is described as gruff and coarse in appearance, though somewhat warm towards the children who populate the pier. 
The story begins with Eddie's last day on Earth — his eighty-third birthday. As he goes about his everyday routine, a sudden scream near a tower drop ride alerts him to danger — one of the cars has come loose, suspended hundreds of feet in the air. As other workers rush to free the passengers of the ride, Eddie realizes that the cable that supports the car must have somehow come unraveled; he is right in this assumption, as weeks earlier, a young man accidentally lost his car keys in the ride, causing the cable to be husked like an ear of corn.

Eddie tries to warn his maintenance assistants not to release the brakes of the ride, but his voice is lost in the crowd so no one can hear his shouts. When the brakes are freed, the car comes hurtling toward the boardwalk. Eddie notices a little girl frozen in fear beneath the car; he dives to save her, and manages to push her out of the way - saving her life - though he himself fails to move and is killed by the falling cart.

Eddie finds himself transported to Heaven, which strangely looks like the Ruby Pier of his childhood. While there, he encounters a strange face: the Blue Man, or Joseph Corvelzchik, a "freak" in Ruby Pier's old freak show. The Blue Man explains that Heaven is not the Eden — like atmosphere often imagined; rather, it is a personal journey. Five different individuals are "appointed" to each new person in Heaven, and all visit them to learn one lesson and, in turn, discover their meaning and purpose in life. The Blue Man begins by telling his own story. He attained his “freak” status by using silver nitrate as treatment for his nerves and incontinence as a child, resulting in argyria. At first, he was shunned by all — until he was discovered by a traveling circus. He found happiness in being the "best freak" in the shows, and reveals that Ruby Pier is his own, personalized Heaven.

Eddie is intrigued by the Blue Man's tale, but wonders how the two are connected; he vaguely remembers seeing him as a child, growing up along Ruby Pier. The Blue Man explains that Eddie and his friends inadvertently killed him while playing a baseball game in the street — the Blue Man swerved to avoid hitting the children, which resulted in a heart attack. Eddie apologizes profusely and prepares to "pay" for his "sin" — but the Blue Man laughs and explains that he has no need for regret. He then teaches Eddie his lesson — all people are connected in some way, be it a close friendship or a simple bond. With this lesson passed on, the Blue Man moves on, his skin becoming "perfect" as Eddie is transported to his next stage of Heaven.

Eddie is transported to a war-torn battlefield, full of explosions and bones. He discovers a set of dog tags that bear his name, and painfully recalls his own war days, in the Philippines during World War II. A voice suddenly calls out to him — it is the Captain, Eddie's commanding officer and Second Person. The two talk, and Eddie remembers their horrid experiences. He and his men were captured by Japanese soldiers and held prisoner for some time; eventually, the group escaped and, in an act of retaliation, destroys the village that their enemies had built.
While burning the various huts to the ground, Eddie spotted a shadow in one of the buildings. He began to scream for whoever was inside the hut to emerge, nearly losing his mind after months of starvation and isolation. He pushed away his fellow soldiers as he prepared to enter the flaming hut. A sudden blast of pain in his leg stopped him from entering — this bullet wound warped Eddie's leg completely. The resulting depression and post-traumatic stress that this wound caused halted his life for a good deal of time, and he reveals that he never truly recovered spiritually or emotionally from the war.

The Captain reveals the truth of that night — it was he that shot Eddie to save his life. An enraged Eddie attacks the Captain viciously, until the officer reveals that while Eddie laid in the back of a convoy, unconscious, he stepped forward to look for more soldiers. The Captain accidentally stepped on a land mine, which killed him instantly. Eddie apologizes for his selfishness, but the Captain turns this into his lesson: sacrifice. He explains that all people make sacrifices and choices, and it is only the most painful of these choices that allows others to live. Eddie forgives the Captain, who reveals that his Heaven truly resembles an untouched Paradise before he, too, moves on.

Eddie is then taken to an isolated diner amidst snow-covered purple mountains. He notices that many of the restaurant's patrons have been injured, and that the man sitting in a corner booth is his father. He begins to scream out "Dad!", but a voice stops him. It is the voice of an elderly woman, who introduces herself by explaining her life. She was a waitress in a diner similar to the one before the pair, and reveals that she married a wealthy man named Emile who, in an act of love, built an amusement park for her to capture her youth forever. She is Ruby, the namesake of Ruby Pier. She has come to regret the park's existence, though, as it caught fire one night, burning almost everything to the ground. Emile's fortune was gone, and Ruby nursed him back to health, all the while wishing that her park had never been built.

As Ruby tells her tale, Eddie remembers his agonizing relationship with his father. The man was often drunk, and often hit Eddie and his brother Joe after bad nights. Eddie's father also never told his son that he loved or cared for him; the only praise Eddie ever received was when he fixed something broken on Ruby Pier. After the war, Eddie's father confused his son's depression and stress with weakness, and tried to abuse him again; Eddie resisted, and the two stopped speaking.

Ruby forces Eddie to confront the night that his father died. Mickey Shea, a maintenance worker at the pier and an alcoholic, had come to Eddie's home, drunk. While there, he tried to molest Eddie's mother. When Eddie's father arrived, Mickey ran into the rain-soaked night, eventually stumbling into the waters surrounding the pier. Though furious, Eddie's father dives into the ocean and saves Mickey; the resulting pneumonia killed him. Ruby explains that she knows this because Emile shared a hospital room with his father.

Ruby finally imparts her lesson on Eddie: anger is a terrible feeling that results in nothing but pain for all parties. She explains that her diner in Heaven is a reminder of a simpler time, and a haven for all those injured at Ruby Pier. She also urges Eddie to forgive his father, explaining that he cannot move on until he does so. Eddie confronts the old man, and breaks down emotionally as he utters two words: "It's fixed." Ruby nods to Eddie as she disappears into the night.

After leaving Ruby, Eddie moves through various wedding receptions in his next stage of heaven. At one of the weddings, he encounters a woman handing out chocolates “for the bitter and the sweet.” It is his wife, Marguerite. Eddie loved her from the moment they met, before the war broke out, and never cared for anyone as much as his wife. The two planned to adopt a child, as Marguerite was unable to bear them herself.

Marguerite explained that it is never easy to deal with the loss of a loved one, and nearly impossible to cope with the premature death of a spouse. Although life is finite, love is eternal, she says. Marguerite explains to Eddie that even after a loved one dies, the feeling of love lives on. In the absence of a physical connection, in heaven he finds himself in a sea of white, empty and silent. 
He hears the sounds of screaming children — the same sounds that have haunted his dreams ever since the day he escaped captivity in the Philippines. Upon investigating the source of these screams, he finds children playing peacefully in a river. They are screams of joy, not of horror. Amongst the children, he finds a young Filipino girl, Tala. It turns out that she was the shadow he saw in the burning hut. He was responsible for her death.
After hysterically screaming and sobbing, Eddie collapses before the little girl, who shares with him his final lesson. Eddie explains to her that he was sad because he feels as if he didn’t do anything meaningful with his life. To this, she responds by sharing with him his purpose on earth. “Children. You keep them safe. You make good for me. Is where you were supposed to be. Eddie Main-ten-ance.” (p. 191).

Before Eddie exits his final stage in heaven, Tala tells him that he did, in fact, successfully push the young girl to safety from the plummeting ride. Eddie is confused at first, telling Tala that he felt his arms pulling her, not pushing. It turns out that these arms belonged to Tala, who was pulling him into heaven, keeping him safe.

Eddie is then swept away and is brought back to the pier. He sees thousands of people, some dead, some yet to be born. They are all people whose lives Eddie had unknowingly saved by maintaining the park rides. Finally, he comes to a beautiful, young, Marguerite sitting on a Ferris wheel. He looks at the clouds forming into one word: Home.

The Pier returns as it did before after Eddie’s death. Dominguez carries on with Eddie's old maintenance job. Albom reiterates the idea that all lives are connected by revealing that the owner of the car key responsible for the ride malfunction, and in turn, Nicky is the great-grandson of Ruby. The girl Eddie saved, “Amy or Annie,” many years from now will see in her first stage in heaven as “a whiskered old man, with a linen cap and a crooked nose, who waited in a place called the Stardust Band Shell to share his part of the secret of heaven: that each affects the other and the other affects the next, and this world is full of stories, but the stories are all one.” (p. 196)


Characters (source Wikipedia):
Eddie
Since his days as a child, Ruby Pier was part of Eddie’s life. He played there every day as a child with his older brother and friends, and began working there as a teenager under the supervision of his father, who held Eddie’s position before his untimely death. After he returned from his stint in World War II he resumed his life at the pier, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Eddie underwent years of abuse from his father. It started with neglect, took a turn towards violence, and concluded with absolute silence. His father would beat him as a child in his drunken state, culminating one night shortly after Eddie returned from war. As his father took a swing at Eddie, drunk, Eddie resisted by grabbing his father’s fist, for which his father never spoke to him again. Eddie’s relationship with his parents became distant after that, living alone with his wife, Marguerite. A few years later, his father died of pneumonia. His mother did not react well, or even sanely. She seemed unable to cope with her husband’s death and entered a stage of denial, which necessitated Eddie’s permanent return to the apartment in which he grew up. From here he returned to working at the pier doing exactly what he was doing before he went off to war.

He lived the next few decades alone with Marguerite. They lived simply, their “deep but quiet” love (p. 156) getting them through the drudgery of their everyday life. Unfortunately, Marguerite could not bear children, prompting them to routinely discuss the prospect of adoption. Eddie’s standard response was “we’re too old.” Marguerite’s rebuttal was “what’s too old to a child?”
They enjoyed their marriage together without a hitch until Eddie’s 39th birthday, when they fought over the phone as Eddie called Marguerite from the track to tell her of his winnings. To reconcile, Marguerite decided to drive to the track and apologize. But, along the way, she was involved in a gruesome car crash that landed her in the hospital for several months. After she was released, doctors found that she had a brain tumor. Marguerite died a few years later.

Eddie lived the rest of his life in remote solitude, keeping his job at Ruby Pier to keep him busy. He hobbled around the pier on his titanium-filled knee, a constant reminder of his time spent fighting in World War II. It is here that he meets his ultimate end, and the reader follows him throughout his exploration of the afterlife.




The Blue Man
As a young boy, Eddie spent many summer days playing with his friends and older brother at Ruby Pier. While playing catch with his friends one afternoon, the baseball Eddie received for his most recent birthday is inadvertently thrown into the street. As Eddie scampers to retrieve it, he steps in front of a car. The driver, in a panic, swerves and narrowly avoids collision with one car then veers into an alley and crashes into the back of another car resulting in his death. Eddie escapes without a scratch.

In Eddie’s first stop in heaven, it is revealed that this was “The Blue Man,” or Joseph Corvelzchik. Joseph lived his life as an attraction in a freak show at Ruby Pier. He emigrated from Poland in 1894, and, like most immigrants of the time, struggled to get by financially. At the age of 10 he took a job working in a sweatshop sewing buttons onto coats. His father always told him to avoid eye contact with the foreman and to remain unnoticed. But, one day, he spills a pile of buttons all over the floor right in front of the foreman, who tells him that he is useless and must go. As his father pleads with the foreman to let him stay, Joseph soils himself in front of the foreman, his father, and the entire industry.
His father never forgave him. As the years passed, his nervousness and incontinence persisted, further humiliating him and disappointing his father. In an act of desperation, Joseph resorted to a primitive medicinal measure — drinking silver nitrate. As this, later considered to be poison, did not cure him of his ailments, he assumed he was not taking a high enough dosage. As he continued to ingest more and more silver nitrate, his skin began to change color (which he remedied by taking more silver nitrate), until eventually he was completely blue. He was left jobless after being fired from the sweatshop for scaring other workers. Eventually he found refuge with a group of carnival men, and his life as a “commodity” had begun. After traveling from carnival to carnival, he found permanent employment at Ruby Pier, where he was referred to as the best freak in the entire show. He lived above a sausage shop, playing cards at night with fellow circus performers and even occasionally Eddie’s father, earning his living by sitting in a cage all day, half dressed, as people walked by and stared in shock, awe, and sometimes, disgust.


He explains that when Eddie retrieved his ball from the street, although he was quite safe and sound, the Blue man wasn't. Eddie had given him a heart attack when he was driving due to a sudden halt and the Blue man was not mad at Eddie because of this, which confused Eddie. The Blue Man then taught Eddie his first lesson, that we are all somehow or another connected. Everything that we do affects what will happen to another. The Blue Man then tells him "Strangers are family you have yet to come to know", meaning that although they never met, what Eddie did affected his life from then on.
The Blue Man taught Eddie the following lesson: "There are no random acts; we are all connected."




The Captain
When Eddie was shipped off to the Philippines during World War II, “The Captain” became Eddie’s commanding officer. He was a few years older than Eddie and his fellow men and had spent his life in the military, as did three generations of his family before him. His stern demeanor and quick temper were his most noticeable attributes. He made a promise to his men: no man gets left behind.

The Captain is the second person Eddie meets in heaven. Here, it is revealed that he was the one who shot Eddie in the leg, crippling him for life. However, unbeknownst to Eddie, the captain was actually saving his life, as Eddie was about to run into a burning hut, thinking he saw the shape of a small child burning in the ruins. Shortly after saving Eddie, the captain steps on a land mine and is killed. His lesson was about sacrifices.
The Captain has taught Eddie the following lesson: "Sacrifice is the noblest thing you can do."



Ruby
As a young girl, Ruby worked at the Seaside Diner, a small diner neighboring what would become Ruby Pier that Eddie used to frequent before it was torn down years ago. She was a beauty back in those days, and as such turned down many men until a young businessman, Emile, sat down in her diner. Ruby did not have much money growing up, and as such was blown away by Emile’s monetary whimsicality. After sufficient courtship, Emile proposed to Ruby and she gleefully accepted. To capture her eternal youth and the everlasting happiness their marriage would undergo, Emile built an amusement park in her name: Ruby Pier.

Ruby, the third person he meets, goes on to tell Eddie about the near-complete destruction of Ruby Pier. For Independence Day, Emile hired extra workers and utilized fireworks to draw extra customers. However, some of the “roustabouts” were drinking one night and began setting off fireworks, causing a fire that almost burned the entire pier to the ground. In a frantic attempt to save his life’s work, Emile tried to extinguish the fire with buckets of water, and in the process was critically injured and ended up in the same hospital room with Eddie’s father. Because of this, she is able to recount to him his father’s final living moments to him. Ruby helps Eddie understand the importance of forgiveness.




Marguerite
Eddie met his wife, Marguerite, right before his 17th birthday. Having met her only once, he ran home to his older brother and proclaimed that one day she would be his wife. Although premature, this prediction turned out to be accurate. They wedded on the Christmas Eve following his return from the war, on the second floor of Sammy’s, a small Chinese restaurant. It was a simple wedding. Eddie used what little money he had from the army on their food (roasted chicken with Chinese vegetables) and entertainment (a man with an accordion).They had a happy, loving marriage even though they could not have children. They were planning to adopt a child until the events of Eddie's 39th birthday. That day he won $800 at the track and called Marguerite to tell her the good news. However, she did not respond positively. Out of spite Eddie put all his winnings on the next race. Marguerite attempted to drive to the track to apologize for yelling at him on his birthday and to convince him to stop betting. On her way there, a couple of drunken kids dropped whiskey bottles off the freeway that landed on her car. This caused her to get in a car crash that lacerated her liver and broke her arm. The cost of the medical bills and her health issues made them ineligible to adopt.

After that tragic event, Eddie and Marguerite's marriage changed. They often sat in silence that was permeated by sullen tension. As time passed, however, they were eventually able to overcome their emotional disconnection and became loving companions once again. However, only a few years later, Marguerite died of a brain tumor. She was the fourth person Eddie met.
Marguerite teaches Eddie that, even though she had died, their love never went away; it just took a different form. Until Marguerite teaches him this, Eddie had felt as though she had been taken from him too early and that their love was torn to pieces.




Tala
During the war, Eddie was held captive in the Philippines by a troop of Japanese soldiers. After he and his fellow captives were able to escape, he set fire to their barracks. As he watched a straw hut burn to the ground, he thought he saw the shape of a small child inside and thought he heard screaming. Unsure if what he saw was real or a hallucination, he tried to run into the burning hut to save the child but was stopped, shot in the leg by his captain, thus saving Eddie's life.
Eddie later finds out in the book that he was, in fact, not hallucinating. He finds out that the child's name was Tala and she explained to him that the hands he felt on his own were not Annie's but hers, guiding him to heaven. He arrived in 'her' heaven, and he had heard screams and terrible noises (as form his terrible dreams) and Eddie walked to the top of a hill to find a lush area near a river where he saw children screaming and playing, having fun, that was the noise of his dreams. Then he saw Tala, showing him to come down the hill, he suddenly appeared at the bottom of the hill and she said hi, but then Eddie had noticed that there was not an adult in sight or even a teenager! Then once Tala and Eddie had talked, Tala had forgiven Eddie, but she told him to "wash" her of the burns. When he rubbed a wet rock up and down on her burns, they disappeared. Tala then told Eddie that his job and his life kept children safe from harm.

Forrest Gump - 4 Stars (Excellent)

“Forrest Gump” Teaches Many Lessons, 

and Tom Hanks Earns Best Actor Oscar

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

"Forrest Gump" begins with a feather being lifted through the air by a breeze that brings it to the feet of Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), who is sitting at a bus stop in Savannah (GA). Gump picks it up and puts it in a "Curious George" children's book. He then begins to tell the story of his life to the first of several people who are waiting with him for the next bus.

Some of the people are great listeners and others are not, but make no mistake about it, Gump is a master storyteller. He is simple, unpretentious, honest, not bright and full of integrity. For such a humble person, his story is almost unbelievable.

Forrest wears braces on his legs to walk in childhood, eludes the bullies who taunt him, makes friends with Jenny (Robin Wright Penn) who he will pursue his entire life, meets Elvis Presley, meets three Presidents—John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, and receives the Congressional Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam, where he saves Lieutenant Dan (Gary Sinise) and loses his friend, Private "Bubba" (Mykelti Williamson).

At an anti-war rally in Washington, DC he briefly reunites with Jenny, whose life is a mess after searching for fame and pursuing a hippie lifestyle. Forrest starts a table tennis craze and becomes a nationally-known ping-pong whiz, using the money he earns to start a very successful shrimp boat business with Lt. Dan, who invests their money in Apple stock and both become wealthy in the process.

He then inspires people to jog, helps an entrepreneur create the smiley face stickers, and faces the loss of his mother (Sally Field), who tells him he must work out his own destiny. Through it all, Jenny and love eludes him. Forrest lived in turbulent times.

If you are dizzy just imagining all of this, so was I. After seeing Forrest Gump the first time I was appreciative of the film's merit, but overwhelmed by how one person could accomplish so much and be around so many famous people. After watching Forrest Gump 3 more times, I got over it and now only sing its praises.

Eventually Jenny sees Forrest running on television and writes him a letter to come see her. When he does, he discovers that Jenny has a son and is very sick. She asks Forrest to marry her, and soon after he does, she dies. He learns that he is the father of her child, and commits to raising him. When young Forrest gets on the bus for his first day of school, the white feather falls from the Curious George book he is carrying, is caught in the breeze and drifts skyward.

If you are wondering about the feather, it was real, but its performance in the movie was computer-based. The feather is important because it raises the question of whether we are all floating around accidental-like on a breeze, or if we each actually have a destiny. Forrest surmises that perhaps it is both.

Everything that happens to Forrest Gump is worth seeing, and much of what happens teaches us important lessons in life. This is a love story, a story of relationships and the story of one person in a very big world that is sometimes almost impossible to understand. All that is good and much that is bad is covered in the film.

To appreciate where Forrest Gump is coming from, learn from these memorable lines in the film:

1) Lieutenant Daniel Taylor: "Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?" Forrest Gump: "I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir."

2) Forrrest Gump: (describing Vietnam) "We was always taking long walks, and we was always looking for a guy named Charlie."

3) Jenny Curran: "Have you ever been with a girl, Forrest?" Forrest Gump: (nervously) "I sit next to them in my Home Economics class . . ."

4) Jenny Curran: "His name's Forrest." Forrest Gump: "Like me." Jenny Curran: "I named him after his daddy." Forrest Gump: "He got a daddy named Forrest, too?" Jenny Curran: "You're his daddy, Forrest."

5) Jenny Curran: "Do you ever dream, Forrest, about who you're gonna be?" Forrest Gump: "Who I'm gonna be?" Jenny Curran: "Yeah." Forrest Gump: "Aren't—aren't I going to be me?"

6) Forrest Gump: "I'm not a smart man . . . but I know what love is."

7) Forrest Gump: "Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." This line was voted 40th among the Top 100 Movie Quotes by the American Film Institute. In 2007, The AFI rated Forrest Gump as the 76th Greatest Movie of All Time.

8) Forrest Gump: "Stupid is as stupid does."

Tom Hanks patterned his accent after young Forrest (Michael Conner Humphreys, who actually talked that way).

Forrest Gump was an immensely successful film, with a production cost of $55 million and a worldwide gross of $677+ million. After its release in 1994, it became the fastest grossing Paramount film to reach the $100 million, $150 million and $200 million marks, and passed $250 million in 66 days.

Even more important, Forrest Gump won 6 Oscars at the Academy Awards—for Best Picture, Tom Hanks for Best Actor, Robert Zemeckis for Best Director, Eric Roth for Best Screenplay based on Winston Groom's novel, Arthur Schmidt for Best Film Editing, and Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum and Allen Hall for Best Visual Effects.

Forrest Gump also picked up another 7 Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Gary Sinise), Best Original Musical Score (Alan Silvestri), Best Set Decoration, Best Cinematography (Don Burgess), Best Makeup, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing.

Among its other 32 wins and 38 nominations were 7 Golden Globe nominations and wins for Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture.

As is true with just about any other award-winning production, many famous professionals passed on the opportunity to be part of the success. Terry Gilliam and Barry Sonnenfeld were offered the chance to direct the film. Bill Murray was considered for the role of Forrest, Chevy Chase turned down the role of Forrest, and three others turned down the role of Bubba—David Alan Grier, Dave Chappelle and Ice Cube.

Tom Hanks said that he would make the film only if all the events that took place were historically accurate. For example, when Gump calls to report the Watergate burglary, the security guard on duty answers the phone by saying, "Security, Frank Willis." Willis was the actual guard on duty that night who discovered the break-in that led to Richard Nixon's resignation from the Presidency.

Tom Hanks is one incredible, bankable actor. While Forrest Gump grossed $677 million and is far and away his biggest box office success, he has been involved in 19 other films grossing $100+ million, and he ranks 3rd among all actors appearing in films with $3.3 billion generated.

Forrest Gump was directed by Robert Zemeckis, with the screenplay written by Eric Roth based on Winston Groom's novel. I really liked Forrest Gump and I think you will too. If you have seen it before, revisit it again and relive the magic moments of hope, courage, patience, love, understanding and compassion—all of which give special meaning to our life.


Plot (source Wikipedia):
Forrest Gump, who is sitting at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia, tells the story of his life to a woman seated next to him. The listeners at the bus stop change regularly throughout his narration, each showing a different attitude ranging from disbelief and indifference to fascination and enthrallment.

On his first day of school, Forrest meets a girl named Jenny Curran, with whom he forms a strong friendship. Forrest and Jenny spend all their time together, and Jenny defends Forrest from school bullies. Despite his below-average intelligence quotient (IQ), Forrest's ability to run gets him a football scholarship at the University of Alabama, where he plays under the legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. After his college graduation, he enlists in the army, where he makes friends with a man named Bubba, who talks of nothing but his family shrimping business, and convinces Forrest to go into the business with him when the war is over, splitting the profits 50-50. They are sent to Vietnam and are both assigned to the 9th Infantry Division. During an ambush, Bubba is killed in action. Forrest ends up saving much of his platoon, including his platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Dan Taylor (known throughout the film as Lieutenant Dan), who loses both his legs as a result of injuries. Forrest repeatedly returns to the front line to retrieve several of his platoon members and carry them to safety one by one, actions which earn him a Medal of Honor for his heroism. While he is rewarded for his actions however Forrest is resented by Lieutenant Dan, who felt his destiny was to die gloriously in action, not to live on as a cripple. Forrest tells him of his plans to one day be a shrimping captain, and Lieutenant Dan responds with sarcasm, saying that if Forrest ever found himself captain, he would be his first mate.

While Forrest is in recovery for a shot to his buttocks, he discovers his uncanny ability for ping-pong, eventually gaining popularity and rising to celebrity status, and later playing ping-pong competitively against Chinese teams in ping pong diplomacy. He is subsequently promoted to sergeant. At an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C., Sergeant Gump is reunited with Jenny, who has been living a hippie counterculture lifestyle. Forrest witnesses Jenny being slapped across the face by her boyfriend and responds by attacking him, but Jenny convinces Forrest to leave him alone. They walk together all night talking before Jenny leaves on a bus in the morning. Jenny is later shown to be addicted to heroin and cocaine, while Forrest meets John Lennon on a talk show.

Returning home, Forrest is encouraged by his mother to endorse a company which makes ping-pong paddles, earning himself $25,000. Thinking of his promise to Bubba, he uses the money to buy a shrimping boat, which he names after Jenny. Lieutenant Dan, who is warming to Forrest joins him as his first mate, keeping his promises and although they initially have little success, Hurricane Carmen leaves theirs the only shrimping boat in operation, yielding immense catches. They use their income to buy an entire fleet of shrimp boats. Dan invests the money in Apple Computer and Forrest is left financially secure for the rest of his life, also donating half of the money to Bubba's family. After hearing that his mother is seriously ill he returns home to spend her remaining time with her.

One day, Jenny returns to visit Forrest and live with him in his family home, which he now owns. After they have lived together for some time he asks her to marry him. She declines, although later joins him in his room and spends the night with him, leaving the next morning before he wakes. Despondent at the fact that Jenny has left him yet again, Forrest elects to go for a run. He decides to keep running, eventually crossing the country several times over the course of three and a half years, becoming famous and accumulating a large following in the process.

In present-day, Forrest reveals that he is waiting at the bus stop because he received a letter from Jenny who, having seen him run on television, asks him to visit her. Once he is reunited with Jenny, she introduces him to his son, also named Forrest. Jenny tells Forrest she is suffering from a virus (likely HIV, though this is never definitively stated).[2][3][4] Together the three move back to Greenbow, Alabama. Jenny and Forrest finally marry but she dies soon afterwards. The film ends with father and son waiting for the school bus on little Forrest's first day of school.

Cast (source Wikipedia):
- Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump: though at an early age a doctor determines Forrest possesses an IQ of 75, he encounters many historical figures and events throughout his life. John Travolta was the original choice to play the title role, and admits passing on the role was a mistake.[5] Bill Murray was also considered for the role.[6] Hanks revealed that he signed onto the film after an hour and a half of reading the script.[7] He initially wanted to ease Gump's pronounced Southern accent, but was eventually persuaded by director Bob Zemeckis to portray the heavy accent stressed in the novel.[7] Michael Conner Humphreys portrayed the young Forrest Gump.
- Robin Wright Penn (credited as Robin Wright) as Jenny Curran: Gump's childhood friend who enters his life at various times in adulthood. Zemeckis reflected on Penn's portrayal of the role, "Robin exudes a kind of strength and, at the same time, a vulnerability. She doesn't bring any of her stardom to the role. You don't look at her on-screen and think that this is Robin Wright's interpretation of the character. She's a real chameleon."[8] Hanna R. Hall portrayed the young Jenny Curran.
- Gary Sinise as Dan Taylor: Gump's platoon leader during the Vietnam War. Although Gump saves his life in battle, his legs are amputated because of a severe injury, and he blames Forrest for robbing him of his destiny, as one of his direct ancestors had died in every previous American war, whereas he survived this war. After several years of depression, he later thanks Forrest and joins him in running the shrimping business.
- Mykelti Williamson as Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue: Gump's friend whom he meets upon joining the Army. Throughout filming, Williamson wore a lip attachment to create Bubba's protruding lip.[9] David Alan Grier, Ice Cube, and Dave Chappelle were all offered the role before turning it down.[6][10] Chappelle claimed he believed the film would be unsuccessful and has also admitted that he regrets not taking the role.[6]
- Sally Field as Mrs. Gump: Gump's mother who raises him after his father abandons them. Field reflected on the character, "She's a woman who loves her son unconditionally. ... A lot of her dialogue sounds like slogans, and that's just what she intends."[11]
- Haley Joel Osment as Forrest Gump, Jr.: Gump's and Curran's son. Osment was cast in the film after the casting director noticed him in a Pizza Hut commercial.[12]
- Peter Dobson as Elvis Presley: a house guest Gump encounters. Although Kurt Russell was uncredited, he provided the voiceover for Elvis Presley in the scene where Presley met Gump.[13]
- Dick Cavett as himself. Cavett played the 1970s version of himself, with make-up applied to make him appear younger. Consequently, Cavett is the only well-known figure in the film to play a cameo rather than be represented through the use of archival footage.[14]
- Sam Anderson as Principal Hancock: Gump's elementary school principal.
- Richard D'Alessandro as Abbie Hoffman
- Geoffrey Blake as Wesley
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Dorothy Harris
- Sonny Shroyer as Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant
- Grand L. Bush, Conor Kennelly, and Teddy Lane Jr. as the Black Panthers
- Bill Roberson as Fat Man on Bench