As part of A MONTH of VALENTINES (series):

Sabrina (1954) 113 minutes

A year after she made her American debut with Roman Holiday, Audrey Hepburn would star in one of her most iconic roles as Sabrina, the lovelorn chauffeur’s daughter who has grown up in the shadow of the wealthy Larabee family of Glen Coe. When Sabrina returns home from cooking school in Paris bedecked in Givenchy and brimming with élan, she immediately catches the eye of William Holden’s playboy son. A May/August romance begins, much to the chagrin of the Larabees, as their plans to marry off Holden as part of a business deal are thrown into jeopardy. Older workaholic brother Humphrey Bogart steps in, feigning interest in Sabrina with a May/October relationship in the hope of breaking her heart just enough to send her back to Paris.

If the premise sounds a bit jaded, that has everything to do with director Billy Wilder, an Austrian émigré who had a knack for mixing the cynical with the sparkling while eliciting superb performances from his actors. The result is a heartfelt classic, with love finding a way in spite of the best laid schemes.

BE ADVISED--This film is UNRATED, with smoking, drinking, mild profanity, sexual innuendo, a half-hearted suicide attempt, less-than-honorable maneuvering involving both Hepburn and Bogart, and all the hazards to be expected with putting champagne glasses in one’s back pockets.