photo courtesy LIFE magazineResearch Question:
Using the films of Audrey Hepburn as a case study, how did the portrayal of women in film evolve over the 1950s and 1960s?
Hi and welcome to my blog!
This blog is a project made for the purpose of examining a historical research question on a topic concerning communication history. I have chosen to research Audrey Hepburn, an actress who rose to fame in the early 1950s, in order to reveal how her film roles evolved throughout the 1950s and 1960s and how that evolution compared to the portrayal of women on screen at the time. I am interested in this topic because I have been a fan of Audrey Hepburn's work since elementary school and am interested in how her roles in film throughout the 1950s and 1960s not only evolved, but also how they represented the modern woman of the time. I think it is an important topic to study because through Hepburn's films and the type of roles in which she starred, we in the present day can gain insight into the interests and ideals of people living at the time as well as into the changing portrayal of women on film.
I will approach this topic by examining eight of Hepburn's films beginning with her first film which was released in 1953 entitled "Roman Holiday," and ending with "Two For the Road," which was released in 1967 (scroll down for a complete list of primary sources). I will take a look at Hepburn's roles in all eight of these films and will analyze and compare them to her work over the years. Also, I will be interviewing my grandmother, Dorothy Shelton, who was an avid film goer in the 1950s and 60s and will provide insight into how women of the time viewed her as an actress and also into how her roles reflected real women at the time. To provide background and outside opinion on my topic, I will be utilizing two primary sources ("From Mae to Madonna" by June Sochen and "Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn") to understand how other researchers have interpreted Hepburn's roles and how they served to reflect American society at the time of their release (or perhaps did not).
But first, I would like to give you a brief overview of Audrey Hepburn's life.
photo courtesy Crown Publishing
Donald Spoto on Audrey Hepburn
Throughout his book, Spoto refers to Hepburn as a "real star," someone who is able to delight audiences while also staying true to who she really was as a person (Spoto 8). In his opinion, Hepburn used her life experiences to enhance her roles so, naturally, as her life progressed so did the depth of the characters in her films. For this reason, you can see a progression in her roles that not only reflects her growth as an actress, but also as a woman who was coming into her own in the public eye. He also cites many of her personal relationships as factors in her ability to evolve as an actress and assert herself with more strength and power on screen later in her career in films like "Two for the Road" and "Always" (Spoto 249). However, in the beginning of her career, her roles reflected her strength in overcoming a harsh childhood and her ability to use her imagination.
"She is a rapturously beautiful young woman, but there is no self-consciousness or vanity in her acting…Under the enchantment, a keen mind is at work.” - Brooks Atkins
Spoto uses this quote to describe Hepburn's appeal to the average movie goer who watched and loved her films. Spoto never fails to discount Hepburn's keen business sense and intelligence- something that all critics of Hepburn's work agree on. Spoto and many others credit Hepburn for building her popularity and star power amongst fans. She knew that by being herself she would be relatable, but by understanding that her image could be a marketing tool, she was able to heighten her popularity just by changing her hairstyle or clothing (Spoto 53).
In his analysis of Hepburn's roles and how they evolved, he generally describes her early roles as "lighthearted forays into fantasy and romance" (Spoto 82) and goes into great depth describing her darker and more serious roles that she began starring in in the late 1950s. He describes "The Nun's Story" as "her greatest achievement as an actress due to her ability to trust herself and use her personal experiences to enhance the role" (Spoto 161). It is here that Hepburn's roles became more serious and a greater reflection of reality. Many historians and film critics agree with Spoto's analysis and credit Hepburn's later films including "The Nun's Story" and "Two for the Road" as the roles that changed her from being a pretty face to a serious actress and career woman who understood herself and the trials of everyday women. Overall, Spoto sees Hepburn's roles over the 1950s and 1960s as an evolution from sprightly young woman to serious film star who was able to create a career that grew from lighthearted roles to those that matched her maturation as a woman and required great skill and dark emotion (Spoto 316). Many stars of her day including Marilyn Monroe and Katherine Hepburn made a name for themselves in more lighthearted roles and were not given much praise for their serious acting wfforts because they were not box office smashes. Often, such talent was not even appreciated until after a star's death, and in Hepburn's case, because her more lighthearted films were most popular amongst fans, her more serious and challenging roles were not recognized until late in her life and after her death.
Film actresses of the 1950s and 1960s were often portrayed on film as "ideals" of how a woman should look and act. This stereotype began to change at the end of the 1960s into something that resembled less of the female "saved by a man and his love" who was happy to be a wife and mother and into a more independent and open-minded individual that was strong and self-assured. Spoto argues that Audrey's roles do a good job of exemplifying this evolution and helped to explain the effect of the early stages of the women's liberation movement.
Applying June Sochen's Analysis of Women in Film to Audrey Hepburn
Although Sochen does not discuss Hepburn in her book "From Mae to Madonna," the three archetypical female models in film that she describes can be applied to Hepburn and her image on screen. Throughout all of her films, Hepburn can be classified as a "Mary" or woman who is innocent and child-like. Hepburn's characters are never sexual (like "The Eve") and her characters did not often depict her as a career woman (classified as "The Lillith"), instead her roles portrayed her as a sweet and charming girl that could be considered "the girl next door" (Sochen 11). Although her stylish and cutting edge looks often did not match the average American woman, her likability and charm coerced viewers into falling in love with her effortless and innocent sensibility.
Towards the end of Audrey's career, she did take on roles that represented "real life" women instead of Princesses or models, but they always followed the archetypical guidelines of a "Mary." Most film critics agree in their discussion of Hepburn that this added to her likability and charm because she did not seem threatening to women and they generally wanted her to succeed. Also, it fit the evolution of many female actors who are identified as "Mary's" because most of the women who were known for such roles were never seen outside of the innocent and child-like model. As you will see later through an interview with an avid film goer and Hepburn fan of the 1950s and 60s, some women appreciated her "Mary" status and "real" qualities.
Female stars of the 1950s and 60s often fit into one of these three roles, and Hepburn was no exception. Her "Mary" features and portrayal on screen matched many female stars of the day and served as juxtaposition to the seductresses and career women that also graced the screen. Although many actresses embodied aspects of two or three of the categories, Hepburn was generally always considered a "Mary," and other actresses of the time continued to embody the "Eve" or "Lillith" archetype for their entire career.
photo by Bob Willoughby
Research Methods
I will investigate eight of Audrey's roles throughout the 1950s and 1960s to examine how her roles evolved. Also, I will interview Dorothy Shelton, an avid film goer of the 1950s and 1960s who has seen all of Hepburn's films and can provide insight into how her roles changed and whether or not they reflected women of the time. This interview will be relevant because it will give information as to how things were during the time when her films premiered and whether Hepburn's films were seen as a reflection of women at the time or as an idealized portrayal of how women "should" be.
My primary sources are relevant to this research because I will be studying Audrey’s history of roles in film. By actually watching her films and analyzing the roles she played, I will be able to see first hand how her roles related to other female actresses on film at the time. I have chosen to study "Roman Holiday," "Sabrina" and "Funny Face" because they were Audrey’s first forays into major Hollywood motion pictures and they exemplify the type of blockbuster hits prevalent in the 1950’s. I am using "The Nun’s Story" as a source because it was the first film in which Audrey took on a more serious role and it represents women gaining empowerment at the end of the 1950’s. "Breakfast at Tiffany’s" is important to study because it was Audrey’s biggest hit and truly captured the look and feel that women wanted to emulate at the time. In addition, "My Fair Lady" and "How to Steal a Million" put Audrey in roles that were more challenging and it is in this time period that she became the top draw for production companies and came into her role as a true star and image of the ideal woman. Finally, "Two For the Road" is the film in which Audrey was given the most serious role of her career and not only did her performance replicate the position of women at the time, it solidified her as a style and fashion icon around the world.
I analyzed the primary and secondary book sources that I chose to study by watching Hepburn's films as well as reading film critiques about Hepburn's roles and how they evolved over the 1950s and 1960s. I also read Spoto's book "Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn" in order to understand how her roles evolved and how she viewed and affected her own stardom. Finally, I investigated a Columbia film student's analysis of Hepburn's evolution as an actress and compared her roles to Sochen's three archetypes of women in film. These two sources will help me to place Hepburn's roles in the context of the time and analyze how her roles represent the changing portrayal of women in film over the 1950s and 1960s.
Case Study of Selected Hepburn Films
photo courtesy Paramount Pictures
Roman Holiday, 1953
“Roman Holiday,” Hepburn’s first film, was deemed a huge success and won Hepburn an Academy Award for best actress. In the film, Hepburn plays the role of Princess Ann, a young girl who is dealing with the pressures of her royal duties and desperately seeks to be an “ordinary girl.” Throughout the film, Hepburn’s character meanders through Rome in an effort to blend in and leave her identity as a Princess behind. However, a young newspaper writer played by Gregory Peck discovers who she really is and decides to take her on a tour of the city and secretly photograph her with the help of his assistant in order to get the story of the year. Throughout the film, which is a lighthearted romantic comedy of sorts, Hepburn’s role consists of one that not many female viewers at the time could relate to. However, although she played a princess, her charm and elegance on screen won over audiences and left critics, fellow actors and fans wanting more from this emerging star. Her role in this film, like many of the early 1950s, was one that did not require a lot of acting skill or prowess, but was meant to carry on the cheerful and optimistic aim that pervaded many movies and feminine roles that resulted after World War II. Also, like many other female roles of the time, her character represented the quiet, cooperative and lonely girl who was merely searching for love and a strong man to make her life exciting and complete. This scene from the film depicts the carefree and comedic nature of the film that pervaded many movies of the early 1950s.
Overall, Hepburn’s role in this film related to the typical “Mary.” She was not sexualized or independent, but is continuously characterized as innocent and childlike. In the scene, you can see that her character is naïve and innocent; no one even seems to care that she is causing so much mischief throughout Rome. In a later scene, she even gets out of a traffic ticket because of her soft smile and innocent demeanor. Although some critics like Draski commend how Princess Ann "grows up" at the end of the film and accepts her fate, I felt it to be more of a forced ending that failed to alter her childlike persona throughout the film.
Sabrina, 1954
In Hepburn’s second film entitled “Sabrina,” her character embodies many of the characteristics of Cinderella. Hepburn plays a Chauffer’s daughter that returns from a trip to Europe to find that both of the eligible bachelors of the family for whom her father works have fallen in love with her. Her role in this film, much like Princess Ann in “Roman Holiday,” is that of a sweet and innocent girl who is swept off of her feet by romance. As a part of this heated love triangle, Hepburn’s character always remains virginal and pure; she is never portrayed as a woman who sparks sexual desire or temptation. In this film, Hepburn is saved from a life of poverty by the true love she finds with one of her millionaire suitors and this role exemplifies how much of Hepburn’s early career revolved around roles that were not only entertaining, but spoke to the theme that a woman’s main goal in life should be to find a man and settle down. After all, isn’t that what will bring happiness? An example of her naïveté and childlike innocence throughout the film is seen in this scene where Hepburn takes on French cooking.
Here, Hepburn embodies the sweet and innocent character that she became known for in the 1950s. Another scene that reflects her childlike character occurs about half way through the film when she is at a party and is offered some champagne. Keeping up with her innocent character, Sabrina replies, “No thank you, I had my share of wine in Paris and a good girl shouldn’t keeps away from the stuff.” Hepburn’s early forays into film always kept her in roles that followed such a theme.
Funny Face, 1957
Keeping with the sweet and innocent theme, “Funny Face” placed Hepburn in the role of a quiet and demur bookstore clerk who is swept up into the world of modeling by a scheming photographer played by Fred Astaire. By playing up her stark features and small frame, Astaire’s character is able to make her a star. In this film, Hepburn’s role required her to sing and dance—
Both talents that she had loved pursuing prior to her film career and was happy to take on again. Once again, Hepburn’s role required her to play the charming and unassuming girl who is wrought with good fortune after a man enters her life. Her role was by no means a reflection of the everyday 1950s woman, but her charm and likability made the film a success. In this scene, Hepburn is introduced to a life of fashion and modeling, something that many viewers could never imagine being a part of, but her sweet attitude and enchanting spirit leap off of the screen.
Here, Hepburn embodies the naïve and appreciative young woman for which she became most popular. Also, she submits willingly to the leading man that has swept her off her feet, and suddenly all of her dreams come true. In the final scene of the film, Hepburn’s white wedding gown and lighthearted song and dance with Fred Astaire reveal her virginal and pure portrayal throughout the film. Hepburn and Astaire finally confess their love for each other and all of her problems are solved. Not only can the audience see her sincerity, but the pure white gown and picturesque setting help to aid her portrayal of a charming and innocent “Mary” that both men and women can love and appreciate. The title of the film, “Funny Face,” even remarks that Hepburn’s face is not something to be desired sexually, but a cute and adorable feature that adds to her innocent charm.
The Nun's Story, 1959
It is in this film that Hepburn’s acting image is slightly altered. In “The Nun’s Story,” Hepburn plays Gabrielle Van Der Mal (Sister Luke), a young woman who chooses to join the local covenant against the wishes of her rich father. After living in the convent for some time, she finds that she has a hard time adjusting to life there and due to her excellence in academics she asks to be sent to the Congo to help missionaries and natives in the hospital there. Once she is finally sent, she meets a handsome doctor by the name of Dr. Fortunati and soon must grapple with feelings of affection for him, although it is forbidden. In this film, Hepburn takes on a role that portrays her as a woman of strong pride and morals that is unwilling to compromise her own beliefs and values for the sake of the church. It is in this role that Hepburn portrays a character that I would consider “real” and that actually depicts many of the characteristics of a real American woman, rather than an ideal. Another aspect of Hepburn’s role in this film that lent to her credibility as an actress was the fact that she is able to deal with social issues in the film (religion and the validity of WWII) and she actually grapples with many of the tough questions and unknowns that my grandmother expressed to me in her interview. Hepburn does a good job of highlighting her own inner turmoil and presenting it to the audience in a way that is relatable and understandable. In this role, Hepburn is portrayed as assertive and forthright, two things that she rarely depicted in earlier roles. One example of this attitude is apparent when she decides to disobey the orders of her superiors and tries to help a schizophrenic patient while in the Congo. Although the patient almost kills her, this scene exemplifies Hepburn’s take-charge nature in the film and her willingness to accept failure once her efforts to save the patient break down. Overall, this role was a departure for Hepburn in that she was able to leave behind the innocent and sweet charm that pervaded her earlier films and portray a woman that to me seemed more reminiscent of a true female rather
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1961
Perhaps Hepburn’s most famous film, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” has Hepburn playing Holly Golightly, a New York socialite who dreams of marrying rich and living the life of luxury without having to do anything to earn it. This role once again has Hepburn portraying a woman who is eager to find a life that will suit her expensive taste; however, throughout most of the film she is very independent and self-motivated. She is portrayed as a woman who is innocent and charming and knows very little of her affect on men. For example, she sees no problem with accepting money from men for “the powder room,” but then when they expect a sexual favor in reply, she simply does not understand why these men are angry with her when she refuses. Also, her naivety is exemplified by her weekly visits to the local prison to “visit” with a soon to be convicted mafia boss. When her costar played by George Peppard questions why she would be paid to tell him the weather report once a week (which we later learn is code being given to Holly by the mafia boss’ former assistant on the outside), she replies that he is curious about life outside prison and that he would never hurt a fly. Also, the woman that Hepburn portrays in this film, like many of her previous roles, is saved in the end by a man that accepts her for who she is and she is finally able to give up her gold digging ways in order to experience true love. Here, in the final scene of the movie, the viewer can see first hand that Hepburn is a sweet and innocent character that has good intentions and just needed a good man to convince her of her worth.
It is a man that is able to settle her down and make her realize her place. Hepburn gets “put in a cage” by love and this Hollywood ideal that love equals happiness is exemplified by the ending of this film. Don’t get me wrong, I love this film, but it seems that Peppard’s speech to Hepburn in this scene that describes how she is “already in a cage” due to her lack of purpose is basically saying, find a man and settle down and you will find the happiness and purpose you long for—as long as you aren’t just marrying for money.
My Fair Lady, 1964
In this high budget musical, Audrey Hepburn plays the role of Eliza Doolittle, an illiterate and unrefined street woman who is turned into a lady by a phonetics professor. Along the way, the professor falls in love with her but she soon leaves him once she finds out that he has taken all of the credit for her transformation and fails to acknowledge her efforts. In this film, Hepburn plays the cockney flower girl turned high society woman. This role is significant for Hepburn because it signified her place as a box office star that could bring in large crowds (www.imdb.com). Also, she won the role over Julie Andrews who had received high praise for her portrayal of the role on Broadway. The way Hepburn’s character is portrayed in this film, although a critique of American high society, also shows women as creatures that must be trained and coerced into ladies, often times by men. In one scene, Eliza bursts out at a horse race and is criticized for her boisterousness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kBNr3djnZM
URL must be posted due to youtube restictions
This is an example of how women were expected to act and furthers Hepburn’s role as an example of the “ideal” woman. Because a male phonetics professor is able to shape her into the fine woman that society expects, she can be seen as a desirable character who receives the love and adoration of most of the men she comes into contact with. Overall, this role established Hepburn as a star that could bring in big box office numbers and also served as a critical look at how high society views women and what makes them successful. This role compares with others in her career in that Hepburn exemplifies the ideal woman that men want (although in this film she must be turned into this archetype); quiet, demure, virginal and innocent. However, this film was created by director George Cuckor to be a commentary on high society and its faulty standards, while Hepburn’s other films, according to critic Donald Spoto, were unassuming examples of society’s expectations of women (Spoto 232).
How to Steal a Million, 1966 and
Two for the Road, 1967
I have chosen to lump my discussion of these two films together because not only were they both directed by two directors that Hepburn trusted: William Wyler and Stanley Donen, but they both attempted to portray Hepburn in a more modern sense. In “How to Steal a Million,” Hepburn plays a mod 60s woman who must avenge the theft of her father’s expensive art statue. She enlists the help of a society burglar played by Peter O’Toole and the two set out to steal the million dollar statue from a museum. Like Hepburn’s role in “The Nun’s Story,” her role in “How to Steal a Million” portrays her as an assertive and take-charge woman that is bold enough to take matters into her own hands. However, she also needs the cunning and smarts of a man to make her plan successful in this film. She is still the sweet and loyal “Mary” that audiences have come to expect, but this role presents her as a woman who is quite a bit more sexually aware, self assured and unafraid of breaking the law. Because this film portrays Hepburn’s character as being fairly independent (at least until O’Toole’s character must help pull off the heist), it is a departure from her earlier roles where she is always rescued by men and then is able to take action and find adventure and happiness through love. Here, she sets out on her own and seeks out the help of a man to do her dirty work. This role is one of those that actually portray a different facet of its female character other than submissive, pure and childlike—even though it once again fails to allow Hepburn’s character to do it on her own and find happiness without a male costar.
In “Two for the Road,” Hepburn plays another modish 60s woman who is having marital problems with her husband. After watching this film, I must admit that Hepburn’s character does represent a lot more of the real life characteristics that you would expect of women today, rather than just a submissive and virginal female role that she had been known for playing in the early 1950s. However, it was the film that I liked the least out of all those I have studied. In this film, she as a female is portrayed as selfish and needy, she is characterized as demanding too much from her husband and their marriage is plagued with infidelity. Because in this film Hepburn’s character actually has believable flaws, it made her portrayal seem more genuine and a greater reflection of how women truly behave and think. This role actually allowed Hepburn to depart from her childlike ways and delve into acting like a grown woman would. Also, her virginal and pure image of years past is challenged when there are multiple scenes that suggest that she and her male costar have a very healthy sexual relationship. She is seen as someone that men desire sexually rather than just as a good woman to bring home to mom. In this scene, Hepburn and O’Toole’s characters openly discuss divorce, a topic that would have been seriously discouraged in the 1950s.
This scene exemplifies how Hepburn’s roles have changed and also how such changes have affected how women are portrayed on screen. It is permissible for a woman to discuss divorce and discourse with her husband openly, rather than blindly submitting to his every whim. Also, her role has many facets that were often not portrayed in her earlier films, and she was even able to give a Hollywood example of a troubled marriage in which a couple must swallow their pride and accept that their marriage is flawed and imperfect unlike the movies often suggest.
Interview with Dorothy Shelton
As discussed earlier, I chose to interview my grandmother, Dorothy Shelton, because she was an avid filmgoer during the 1950s and 1960s. She is a relevant interview subject because she was a fan of Audrey Hepburn and saw many of her films in movie houses in the state of California when they were released. Because my grandfather was in the military, my grandmother had a lot of time to go to many movies during the time period and will be able to compare different actresses and actors as well as different genres that were popular at the time. By being able to elaborate on Hepburn’s roles and give me insight into how they related to other female stars at the time, my grandmother will be able to enhance my project.
Also, my grandmother has seen all of Hepburn’s films and in viewing them over a long period of time as her career developed she will be able to share with me how Hepburn’s roles evolved over the course of her career. Although my grandmother is only one person and will only be giving me one opinion, it will be helpful to see how she saw Hepburn’s roles changing over the course of the 1950s and 1960s and how things were for women at the time (in general). My interview with my grandmother is relevant to my project because it will aid me in understanding if Hepburn’s films were seen as a reflection of that time, or as an idealized portrayal of how women “should” be. Also, her insights into Hepburn’s roles will add to my critical analysis as well as the opinions of the writers of my secondary sources.
The Interview
Question: What were the images of women you remember being portrayed in the movies during the 50s and 60s?
Answer: I loved watching the characters played by Katherine Hepburn, Catherine O’Hara and Audrey Hepburn—classic women. I just liked the way they portrayed women and they were natural, I felt that they represented the way women actually looked and talked. They were very good actresses. It may not have been exactly realistic but it seemed that I could do what they do and I loved their fashions and sometimes tried to emulate them. The films of that time were grand (like “Gone with the Wind”) and somewhat realistic, but also were fun like Audrey Hepburn’s movies.
Q: What did you think of Audrey Hepburn as an actress?
A: I thought she was very real and down to earth. She was not overbearing or overly glamorous like some of the stars in the 1950’s. Well, except for "Breakfast at Tiffany’s," I guess. She fit that role and did a good job of portraying a socialite, but I liked her much more in roles were she seemed like someone I could relate to like her role in "Roman Holiday" or the way she played the chauffeur’s daughter in "Sabrina." I always looked up to her attitude and the way she portrayed herself on screen. She was always sweet and charming but she also exuded confidence and appeal, especially with her leading men. Even though I could not really relate to the situations her character was in, I was never jealous of her or hated her for having things that I didn’t and I felt that way about some of the movies I saw. Overall, I thought she was a really good actress and I had fun watching her— she had that likable star quality that people admired.
Q: Did women try to emulate the stars they saw in movies in regards to dress, attitude etc.?
A: They were good role models so I always was drawn to the way they acted and interacted with men especially. I loved seeing women like Katherine and Audrey interact with the male leads and also make their way in society because it was something that was new and interesting to me since I live in a smaller town and not in the “big city.”
Q: Were Hepburn’s films a good reflection of women at the time?
A: Not really, not for me at least. I don’t know if you can look at her role as a princess in "Roman Holiday" or as a book shop girl who gets rescued by love and a handsome man as realistic for an army wife, but her movies were always fun. I guess she played roles that were somewhat made up. They were like fantasies. That is probably why I liked them so much. Who wouldn’t want to be rescued from their mundane life and live happily ever after? The only film of hers that I really connected with and felt as though she portrayed women at the time correctly in was "Two for the Road." She really captured how hard it was for women at the time to try and uphold this ideal that love will save them but in the end if it doesn’t work out there is more to life than just getting married. I could relate to her even though she seemed to be better off than I was when it came to money and she did not have a large family to take care of. In most of her films I think the point of her roles was for entertainment and were more a look at what women should be rather than what position most of them were really in and how they handled it.
Q: How did Hepburn’s earliest movie roles (Princess Ann, Sabrina, Jo Stockton) differ from those later in her career (Eliza Doolittle, Nicole, Joanna)?
A: Well, in the beginning her roles seemed pretty out there. I definitely did not know any princesses or servants who became the belle of the ball or anything. They never really portrayed normal women (at least that I knew of). Her roles in the beginning seem to have been those of women who were in need of saving and most of the time it took a man to do it. Also, they all revolved around stories about love and how love was the answer to everything. At that time, women were expected to get married and have kids. It was a pretty idealized look at love and nothing very realistic like my life. I never saw a movie where two average people got married and had a family and that was it. There were always interesting circumstances and good clothing in her movies. That was another thing I liked about her films; she always dressed so well. I always thought maybe someday I could imitate her but let’s face it I had seven children and I definitely never had a body like hers. I’m sure there were women in New York and other places that could imitate her style and be more like her but it was more her attitude that struck me. Anyway, Later in her career she started taking on roles that were at times more grand like Eliza in "My Fair Lady" and I like that she was becoming popular enough to get those roles. Also, she started playing smart women who were more in control among the other characters in the movie, especially the men. In "How to Steal a Million" she does not just rely on the male lead, she does some of the work herself. Also, in "Two for the Road" the plot is not about a “happy ending” but is more about how relationships often end up and she held her own in that role as well. It seemed like she was getting better roles that were more challenging at the end.
Q: If her roles didn’t really reflect women at the time, why do you think they were popular?
A: I’m sure they were popular because they were fun and entertaining. We didn’t want to be reminded of our dull lives when we went to the movies. We wanted to see our favorite stars on adventures and in situations that we could never imagine. I like watching stars like Hepburn because they were women that I thought were pretty and capable of doing things that I was interested in. In the early 1950s we were still getting past World War II and people wanted light films for entertainment not anything too serious— at least that is how I felt. Most women at the time were mothers so it was hard to think of being anything but; however, it was nice to be able to escape to the movies and see women doing other things. Throughout the 1960s she came into her own as an actress and started taking on roles that were more challenging and somewhat more relatable. I think women liked how she was a trendsetter and also her happy-go-lucky attitude. Also, towards the end of the 1960s she made "Two for the Road" that really impressed me and like I said before, seemed to be the most relatable of her films. She made movies that were fun to look at and she just had a likable quality that everyone enjoyed.
Q: Why do you think Hepburn’s roles that unrealistically portrayed women were more popular than those that were more true to life?
A: I think that people went to the movies to be entertained and uplifted. Hepburn made a name for herself in charming and fun roles, so that is what people came to expect. When she started moving away from that norm, people had little interest in her movies. After the war (WWII), people wanted to escape from everyday life and be uplifted at the theater. We were looking for a positive experience to overshadow the hard times during the war. I appreciated Hepburn for her sweet and endearing nature, not because she did or did not represent a “real woman.” I wanted her to get the guy and find happiness. I guess I bought into the Hollywood glamorization of love and relationships. Hepburn’s roles, especially in her first three films, were lighthearted and made me happy. The later ones were often not as entertaining and she lost a lot of her spark. That is why I liked the early ones better. Also, the idea that you need to find a man and settle down was very much accepted at the time. I felt like all I needed to do was find love, and then everything would work out. In reality, you have to work very hard to make a relationship work and I felt like that ideal that the movies portrayed was misrepresented. But then again, who wants to go to a movie and feel depressed because everything is going wrong? I went to the movies to escape, and I guess I just came to expect that everything would look easy and that the guy would get the girl. Even in movies today the idea that "love conquers all" still exists.
Q: Do you think Hepburn’s roles related to other actresses of the time?
A: Well, many of the movies I liked the best were blockbuster films that were glamorous and fun. I would think that Hepburn’s roles related to a lot of actresses at the time because they were getting roles that were entertaining and a lot of them featured storylines of women being saved by men and the idea that true love conquered all. Most of the actresses of the time also had to be able to sing and dance due to the popularity of musicals and larger scale movies so Hepburn definitely fit that bill. Overall, I think she had roles that were like other stars of the day and were mostly just for fun and the viewers enjoyment.
Interview Summary
Throughout my interview with my grandma, it seemed to me that she really just was in awe of Hepburn and other actresses of her day. I asked her a lot of questions about different roles that Hepburn played and she kept repeating “she was so wonderful” and when I would ask why she liked them she would say, “well she was just a really good actress.” I asked her a few questions about women at the time and what their lives were like and she described mostly women who stayed home and had families. She and her family moved a few times during the time period I was studying and most of the time she knew other women who were mothers or were older members of her church that stayed at home and either raised families or did housework for their husbands. She did speak a little bit about “the women she heard about” who were focusing on careers and how that seemed very strange to her but also seemed exciting.
I asked my grandmother a lot of questions about specific Hepburn roles and what she though of them and many of the films released in the 1950s she described as “fun” and said that they “were her favorites because these were the roles that most reminded her of the golden age of cinema when movies were the most popular outing and you could go watch your favorite stars in a new movie all the time.” She talked a lot about how Hepburn was like the girl next door and she appreciated how deserving she seemed of the happiness she always found in her films. For the specific films I asked her about that were released in the 1960s, my grandmother appreciated the grand scale of "My Fair Lady" and she like that Hepburn seemed very smart and witty in "How to Steal a Million."
Towards the end of the interview, I asked her a if she thought that the portrayal of women in film changed over the course of the 1950s and 1960s and she said she is sure that it did but would need to go back and re-watch a lot of the films to say why. She did say though that she felt like the women on screen got smarter and she felt Hepburn as well as other actresses were able to take on roles that were less like a fairytale and more representative of real life. Overall, I really enjoyed talking to my grandmother and I thought she had some interesting insights.
By interviewing my grandma, I was able to understand Hepburn’s roles from someone who experienced them in the context for which they were created. Also, she was directly able to compare them to women’s roles at the time and help overcome my own present-day standards.
Conclusions
According to the films studied, it seems that Hepburn’s early films portrayed women as quiet, sweet and innocent creatures who acted more like children than grown women. Throughout the 1950s, the roles that Hepburn took on were those that furthered the idea that women are to find happiness through love and that they should rely on men to give them meaning and worth. At the end of the 1950s however, Hepburn’s role in “The Nun’s Story” began to challenge this idea by portraying her as an assertive young woman with the ability to create a successful life on her own. As seen through the study of a few of Hepburn’s films from the 1960s, her roles in this decade began to change and portrayed women as having a conscious and a brain that could often do things on their own accord, without the help of a male counterpart. Although she almost always was placed in roles that portrayed her as sweet and innocent, this casting began to change in the late 1960s and her image included a more sexual and independent air. As can be seen through this case study of eight of Hepburn’s films, the portrayal of women in film shifted over the course of the 1950s from sweet and innocent young woman to a more assertive and intelligent woman who did not necessarily need saving by a man in order to find success.
Through an interview with my grandmother, I was able to gain insight into one woman’s perspective about how Hepburn’s roles evolved over the course of the 1950s and 1960s and whether they were a realistic example of women during that time. She revealed that she felt Hepburn’s early roles were unrealistic and did not do a very good job of representing how women of the time acted or lived, but that she still enjoyed her attitude and persona on screen. She felt that her sweet and charming portrayals of princesses, models and high society women were entertaining and still enjoyed them even though she felt that she could not often relate to her situation or position in society. Also, she helped me to understand how the Hollywood ideal that love solves all of a woman’s problems was very much accepted throughout films in the 1950s and early 1960s and that this ideal lead to higher expectations for women when it comes to love that she believes still prevail today. Overall, her opinions helped add to my argument that Hepburn’s early films were portrayals of women that represented how women “should” be, while those later on in her career in the 1960s started to incorporate more realistic portrayals of women at the time.
In looking back at Draski, Spoto and Sochen and their how they analyzed Hepburn’s career and roles, all of their assertions seem to support the evidence that I found. All of their past research suggests that many of Hepburn’s early roles portrayed women as sweet, innocent and childlike ideals of how a woman should act and behave; in turn, all of these attributes allowed her characters to be desirable to men and aided in her ability to gain happiness. Draski commented on how Hepburn’s roles evolved over the course of the 1950s and 60s from childlike princess to an assertive nun to an independent and distressed wife. All of these roles show how the portrayal of women over the course of the two decades examined changed from an idealized portrayal of Sochen’s “Mary” to a more realistic woman whose marriage is troubled and whose problems cannot be solved simply through falling in love. Spoto refers to Hepburn’s roles as a good reflection of how cinema at the time viewed how women should be. In his book, he comments on how the studio system of the early 1950s produced films that were wholesome and lighthearted; they refrained from sexualized portrayals of women and tried not to deviate from the norm when it came to showing women who were overly powerful or independent (Spoto 245). As the years passed, standards were lightened which made room for more realistic portrayals of women and the relationships in which they were involved. Spoto attributes this to the fact that women were demanding more rights (the women's liberation movement was beginning) and even Hepburn was allowed more say in how her characters were portrayed (Spoto 262). According to these three sources, my analysis of how women were portrayed in the movies over the course of the 1950s and 1960s by using Audrey Hepburn’s films as a case study is correct; in looking at her films as an example, it can be seen that women were primarily portrayed as innocent and submissive in the 1950s, but throughout the 1960s they were able to gain parts that showed them as multi-faceted and opinionated human beings that can be independent and self-assured.
The conclusion that I have reached informs current communication issues because it is an example of how the entertainment industry portrays women through the media. In this case, it shows how one actress’ roles can be analyzed in order to dissect how her roles reflected societal ideals or rather realistic portrayals of women. For the most part, any actress, actor or decade could be studied in order to understand how a certain gender is portrayed on screen, and this analysis can lend to the understanding of societal expectations and also how the way women are portrayed on film lends to popularity and star power. Overall, my conclusion shows how cinema portrayed women at the time and can also be compared to current female stars and how their roles portray women in today’s American society.
By using Audrey Hepburn's films as a case study, I came to the conclusion that the portrayal of women in film evolved over the course of the 1950s and 1960s from portraying women as submissive, sweet and innocent to providing them with roles that allowed them to be portrayed as assertive, flawed and self-assured.
*Quotation marks were used in this blog to denote movie and book titles due to a lack of ability to underline sources
