Paris, When It Sizzles

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Paris - When it Sizzles
Original film poster
Directed by	Richard Quine
Produced by	George Axelrod Richard Quine
Written by	Julien Duvivier (La fête à Henriette) Henri Jeanson (La fête à Henriette) George Axelrod (screenplay adaptation)
Starring	William Holden Audrey Hepburn
Music by	Nelson Riddle
Cinematography	Charles Lang Claude Renoir
Editing by	Archie Marshek
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	April 8, 1964
Running time	110 minutes (approx.)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4 million USD (estimated)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Paris - When it Sizzles is a 1964 romantic film comedy made by Richard Quine Productions and Charleston Productions and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Richard Quine and produced by Richard Quine and George Axelrod with John R. Coonan and Carter De Haven Jr. as associate producers. The screenplay was by George Axelrod based on the story and film La fête à Henriette by Julien Duvivier and Henri Jeanson. The music score was by Nelson Riddle, the cinematography by Charles Lang and Claude Renoir.

The film stars William Holden and Audrey Hepburn, with Grégoire Aslan, Raymond Bussières and Noel Coward. The film also features cameos by Marlene Dietrich, Mel Ferrer (Hepburn's real-life husband), and Tony Curtis.

[edit] Plot

The story concerns a veteran playboy screenwriter named Richard Benson (William Holden) who has been paid to write a screenplay for his boss, Mr. Alexander Myerheim (Noel Coward). Overly confident in his writing abilities, he puts off writing the screenplay until just two days before it is due. Gabrielle Simpson (Audrey Hepburn), a temp secretary hired by Benson to type the script, comes to Richard's hotel room where they are to spend the weekend. Richard and Gabrielle come up with various off-the-wall scenarios for his screenplay, called The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower. As the script unfolds, so does the romance between the two writers.

[edit] Notes

The film is a remake of the French film La fête à Henriette (1952), directed by Julien Duvivier.

According to several Hepburn biographies, the filming of Paris - When it Sizzles was chaotic, as Holden, who had had an affair with Hepburn during the making of Sabrina a decade earlier, attempted to rekindle romance with the now-married actress.

The movie was shot back-to-back with Charade, and in fact shared several locations (most notably a Punch and Judy-style puppet theatre in a park) with the earlier film.

In one scene, Holden's character remarks that the film-in-the-film could have a theme song by Frank Sinatra. Sinatra's voice is heard singing the laughable lyric, "The girl who stole the Eiffel Tower also stole my heart" over the fictional credit sequence.

In his first nutshell explanation of his plot, Benson references a cat in a rain-soaked alley while a couple shares a kiss, an obvious reference to the end of Hepburn's Breakfast at Tiffany's.