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Lot Essay
Hepburn wears an identical gown during one of the film's key sequences, as her character Reggie begins to realise the danger she has been drawn into following her husband's murder by his war-time accomplices, all of whom believe she is in possession of the quarter of a million dollars they stole from the U.S. government. Cary Grant as 'Peter Joshua' takes her out to Les Black Sheep Club to cheer her up, where she encounters, and is threatened by, the first of her husband's associates, Leopold W. Gideon during the comedic pass-the-orange-without-using-your-hands game. Anxiously she runs to a phone box, followed by a second accomplice, Tex Panthollow, who terrorises her with lit matches, flicking each one into her lap as they burn down. Returning to her hotel room, sporting a cropped jacket over the cocktail gown, she is faced with a third assailant, Herman Scobie, who lunges at her with his hooked hand.
A duplicate of this costume was sold Christie's South Kensington, 5 December, 2006, lot 113 (£153,600). As the skirt had been damaged with a small burn during the matches scene, it was sold to production manager James Ware after filming. It is normal practice for several examples of a star's key costume to be made and in the past, meticulous wardrobe records of the exact numbers were not kept. It is well known that Givenchy produced three copies of the quintessential little black dress for the opening scene of Breakfast At Tiffany's, for example.
Minor alterations have been made to the dress over the years in accordance with changes in fashion, as Hepburn's sons confirm that their mother continued to wear the gown on many occasions after the production. Audrey was photographed by Angelo Frontoni wearing the ensemble to a cocktail party at the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome on 13 March, 1964, held for winners of the David di Donatello Award. Audrey had won Best Foreign Actress for Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1962. Canvas tags to the interior would appear to be exhibition tags, written in the same hand as those in the feather dress at Lot 213, and may have been written on the occasion of the 2004-6 Japanese exhibition Timeless Audrey.
A duplicate of this costume was sold Christie's South Kensington, 5 December, 2006, lot 113 (£153,600). As the skirt had been damaged with a small burn during the matches scene, it was sold to production manager James Ware after filming. It is normal practice for several examples of a star's key costume to be made and in the past, meticulous wardrobe records of the exact numbers were not kept. It is well known that Givenchy produced three copies of the quintessential little black dress for the opening scene of Breakfast At Tiffany's, for example.
Minor alterations have been made to the dress over the years in accordance with changes in fashion, as Hepburn's sons confirm that their mother continued to wear the gown on many occasions after the production. Audrey was photographed by Angelo Frontoni wearing the ensemble to a cocktail party at the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome on 13 March, 1964, held for winners of the David di Donatello Award. Audrey had won Best Foreign Actress for Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1962. Canvas tags to the interior would appear to be exhibition tags, written in the same hand as those in the feather dress at Lot 213, and may have been written on the occasion of the 2004-6 Japanese exhibition Timeless Audrey.