Breakfast at Tiffany’s appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. I thought Breakfast presented a consistently decent picture.
Sharpness was pretty positive. Occasionally I found some minor softness in wider shots, but those instances occurred infrequently. Most of the movie looked well-defined and nicely delineated. I noticed no jagged edges or shimmering, and only a little light edge enhancement appeared. Print flaws stayed modest. The movie could be a bit grainy, and I also detected a few specks and marks.
Colors could be a bit pale, but they usually seemed good. Much of the movie featured clean, concise hues, though a certain gray tone made them a little flat. Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows seemed smooth and accurate. Although the transfer didn’t excel, it was very satisfying.
Often I don’t care for remixed multichannel soundtracks, but I rather liked the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The mix took the original mono – also on the DVD – and opened it up nicely. Music dominated the track, as the score presented effective stereo imaging.
We also got decent expansion of environmental elements. These never played a strong role in the movie, but they added a little life. Some minor panning occurred and the audio meshed together well. The surrounds contributed modest reinforcement but didn’t have much to do. Given the scope of the film, though, this wasn’t a problem.
Audio sounded surprisingly good. Speech was a smidgen thin but usually seemed crisp and distinctive. No issues with intelligibility or edginess occurred. Music was smooth and rich. The score appeared lively throughout the film and showed nice range. Again, effects were a minor aspect of the track, but they appeared clean and concise. I liked the 5.1 remix of Breakfast and thought it acted as a good option.
While the prior Breakfast DVD came with virtually no extras, this “Anniversary Edition” added quite a few pieces. We start with an audio commentary from producer Richard Shepherd. He provides a running, screen-specific affair. Shepherd touches on casting and performances, the choice of director, sets and locations, costumes, changes from the book, the music, and a mix of general production notes.
At best, Shepherd offers a mediocre discussion. His comments provide minor insights but don’t dig into the film with any great depth or gusto. Dead air crops up frequently, and the whole thing moves at a laggardly pace. Shepherd sounds like a nice guy and he does reveal some decent details, but I think we’d be better off hearing from him in a short interview rather than a nearly two-hour commentary.
We follow the commentary with a short documentary titled The Making of a Classic. The 16-minute and 13-second program mixes archival materials, movie shots, and interviews. We hear from Shepherd, director Blake Edwards, extras Fay McKenzie and Miriam Nelson, Audrey Hepburn’s companion Robert Wolders, Hepburn’s son Sean Ferrer, casting director Marvin Paige, and actor Patricia Neal. We learn about the movie’s progress from novella to movie, cast and characters, shooting the big party scene, Hepburn and “Moon River”, and the specifics of a few other sequences.
Despite the program’s title, it doesn’t act as a particularly strong overall glimpse at the production. A lot of the time it just talks about the greatness that was Audrey, and plenty of other gushy material appears. We get the usual dissent about the casting of Mickey Rooney, but otherwise this show is an appreciation of the film. That makes it gooey, but it does toss in a reasonable amount of information about the flick. Just expect a lot of sugar with that.
Next comes an eight-minute and 15-second featurette called It’s So Audrey: A Style Icon. This includes notes from Wolders, Shepherd, Ferrer, Audrey Style author Pamela Keogh, designer Cynthia Rowley and Elle Magazine beauty director Emily Dougherty. They discuss Hepburn’s on-screen style and her impact on fashion. Again, this means many remarks about her greatness and beauty. I’d prefer more substance about her image and less frothiness.
During the six-minute and four-second Brilliance in a Blue Box, we hear from Tiffany & Co. design director John Loring and jewelry historian Janet Zapata. They discuss the history of Tiffany’s and various aspects of the business. Part information, part commercial, this program only sporadically illuminates as the advertising side dominates. This is another missed opportunity, as it could have offered a more substantial examination of the company.
Finally, Audrey’s Letter to Tiffany runs two minutes, 29 seconds. Loring reads a preface Hepburn wrote for a book that commemorated the 150th anniversary of Tiffany’s. It’s moderately interesting at best.
In addition to the movie’s trailer, the DVD opens with some promos. We get ads for Elizabethtown and Titanic. These also appear in the disc’s Previews area.
I knew Breakfast at Tiffany’s would be tough to take in its first five minutes when I saw Mickey Rooney as a terrible Japanese caricature. Things didn’t improve a lot from there during this too long, too awkward and too disjointed film. The DVD offers good picture and audio plus some mediocre extras. Fans will probably feel satisfied with this fairly good DVD, but I can’t say the movie does anything positive for me.