I can’t think of an actress in film history with a higher approval rating thanAudrey Hepburn.Both on and off-screen, she lived up to her status as Hollywood’s princessto a degree that should be impossible for any mortal human to be capable of. In the 40 years that she was a working actress, Hepburn maintained good relations with most of Hollywood and rarely truly ruffled anybody’s feathers.Even when she did get into drama, it was never her fault, and she used her iron willpower to not stir the pot even worse. Such was the case when she made the easygoingromantic comedy classicSabrina, where it was allthe top talent around her who caused nothing but headaches.
‘Sabrina’ Stumbled Early With the Casting
When multi-talented geniusBilly Wilderset out to transformSabrina, the hit play about a young debutante (Hepburn) falling for two wealthy brothers, into a movie, he knew just who he wanted to flesh out the love triangle. Audrey had just become a huge star afterher Oscar win forRoman Holidaya year prior, andshe was a natural for the title role of the coquette-ish charmer witha stunning sense of fashion. For the two brothers, he wantedCary Grantfor the role of Linus, the crotchety business-minded, andWilliam Holdenfor the role of David, the heedless playboy. But Grant refused for unknown reasons, and soWilder turned toHumphrey Bogart, who may have fit the role a little too well. Where Grant could be effortlessly charming and quick-witted in romantic settings, Bogart had never done straight-up romantic comedy and only worked intragic romancesloaded with dark pathos. His miscasting would be the first of a series of dominoes that sawthe awkward tension on-screen be perfectly reflected in the behind-the-scenes tension between the three leads.
Humphrey Bogart Was a Grinch For No Good Reason
Quite frankly,most of the tension came from Humphrey Bogartbeing an ungodly grouchto everyone on set, but especially his co-stars and Wilder. Much like how Linus can’t stop ruining his own good fortune with his miserliness, Bogart couldn’t keep his numerous concerns and gripes to himself. Bogart resented that Wilder had wanted Grant, and was uncomfortable doing comedy as a romantic lead, and so he lashed out whenever he could.He constantly berated Wilder’snumerous script rewritesand claimed that his five-year-old daughter could write something better, even though Wilder rewrote it specifically to fit Bogart.He was irritated by acting with Hepburnbecause of her alleged propensity for requiring multiple takes, since he tended to nail his lines quickly and with little fuss.He especially loathed Holdenever since working with him on a filmback in 1939and found him to be dumb, phony, and overly machismo. Bogart suspected that Wilder preferred Holden over him, since Holden had starred in two of Wilder’s recent hits,Sunset BoulevardandStalag 17,and Bogart was prone to never forgetting the huge chip on his shoulder. But if brittle insecurity is what motivated Bogart’s side of the messiness, Holden’s side was motivated by the exact opposite: virulent attraction.
William Holden Caused Different Kinds of Headaches On and Off-Set
Much like when David first saw Sabrina, William Holden was immediately smitten with Audrey Hepburn when they first met. So much so thatthe two,by most accounts, more than likely had an affair, though they were never caught red-handed. It continued for the duration of the shoot and probably could have ended up in a proper marriage, were it not for one little detail.Holden was incapable of havingchildren, and Hepburn’s biggest dream in life was to havekids, so they had to break up. Hepburn was able to cut him cold turkey, but Holden never really got over his infatuation with her, which he readily admitted to for the rest of his (married) life.
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On a more work-related note, Holden’s busy schedule also created a major hurdle in the filming of Sabrina’s climactic decision. Because he had to jet off to start shootinga WWII filmcalledThe Bridges of Toko-Ri, he had to leave before Billy Wilder actually knew how he wanted the film to end.Wilder spent most of the production not knowing if he wanted Sabrina to end up with Linus or David, and Holden’s departure meant he had to write David out of the movie before Sabrina was able to make up her mind. Wilder was a brilliant writer who usually preferred to have every decision made fully under his control, and he had already fully rewritten the script enough that it had barely any relation to its vastly inferior play, yet he still hadn’t foreseen such a complication. How he resolved to fix that dilemma is up for you to discover, asSabrinahasrecently been added to Paramount+, and miraculously overcame its many hurdles to have aged relatively gracefully, thanks largely to Audrey Hepburn holding it all together.
