History Main / BreakfastAtTiffanys

* ''Literature/BreakfastAtTiffanys'', novella by Truman Capote
* ''Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys'', film starring Audrey Hepburn (loosely based on the novella)

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/audrey-hepburn-breakfast-at-tiffanys_1992.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:AudreyHepburn as Holly Golightly.]]

''Breakfast at Tiffany's'' is a 1958 novella by Truman Capote which was filmed in 1961.

The original novella is about a [[AuthorAvatar nameless gay writer's]] friendship with Holly Golightly, a bicurious, borderline HookerWithAHeartOfGold. The story was a touching meditation on the varying nature of love, and how people of disparate backgrounds can form unconventional family groups.

In TheFilmOfTheBook, AudreyHepburn [[AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame wears a fabulous Givenchy dress and holds a cigarette in a holder]]. In this version Holly probably isn't a hooker (though she does seek out wealthy men to have flings with), and the gay writer is now a straight gigolo--or something close to it--named Paul Varjak who has a tumultuous relationship with Holly.

Not to be confused with the song of the same name, by [[OneHitWonder Deep Blue Something]].
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!!Tropes:

* ADogNamedDog: Holly's cat is named...Cat. (she states that "The way I see it I haven't got the right to give him [a name]")
* ActorAllusion: Paul's "decorator" says to him "well, love has found Andy Hardy." Andy Hardy was a T.V. character portrayed by Mickey Rooney who plays Mr. Yunioshi.
* AffectionateNickname: Holly first calls Paul "Fred" after her brother, whom Paul reminds her of.
* AsianSpeekeeEngrish: Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in the movie follows this.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: ''You'' try sleeping not only in full, perfect makeup with your hair done up, but also with a sleeping mask on.
** Or running through the rain while crying. Then again, she ''is'' Audrey Hepburn.
* BeehiveHairdo: Holly even sleeps with her hair up.
* BlitheSpirit: Holly, naturally.
* ChekhovsGun: The moment you see Paul getting a ring from a Cracker Jack box, you know it'll be important.
* CompensatedDating: What Holly does in the movie.
** GoldDigger: Once she gets tired of it, Holly aims for this. Unfortunadely one (which was broke to begin with) gets married, and another gives up once she's arrested.
* DemotedToExtra: Mag Wildwood is cut down to just another colorful extra during the party scene in the film.
* DidNotGetTheGirl: In the book, it's stated right off the bat that it had been years since the main character had ever seen or heard from Holly, and that she may well be somewhere in Africa at this point, and apparently the cat she threw out found a new home. Among the many changes, the movie averts it for a happy ending.
* EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry: Though Holly somehow thinks she's too young to wear diamonds without being "tacky".
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: For a film in which the two lead characters are more-or-less prostitutes, it's remarkably roundabout in its approach to sexuality.
* HappyRain: The final kiss between Paul and Holly takes place in a torrential downpour.
* HeroicBreakdown: Holly, after knowing [[spoiler:her brother died. And also after TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.]]
* KickTheDog: When Holly abandons her cat in an alley, it's the ultimate sign that she's selling out for a soulless life of luxury. [[spoiler: And going back to find him is her redemption.]]
* LittleBlackDress: The current trope image.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Holly in the film.
* MayDecemberRomance: Holly's husband was much, much older than her, and had several kids before marrying her. Holly was still a teenager when they got married, and it sounds like their marriage was relatively innocent, with her doing nothing but sitting around at home all day.
* MeaningfulName: What better surname than "Golightly" could there be for a free-spirited ditz with an unserious approach to life?
** Noted in the book with her hanging a sign on her door whenever she was out, "Golightly traveling".
* MostWritersAreWriters: Paul is a writer who has not had anything published in five years since writing a book of vignettes titled Nine Lives.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Holly, about one minute after abandoning Cat in the rain.
* NaiveEverygirl: Holly is kind of smart... but not enough to notice she's been helping the drug dealing activities of the convict she often visits.
--> [[SpySpeak "Snow flurries expected this weekend in New Orleans."]] Isn't that just the weirdest? I bet they haven't had snow in New Orleans for a million years. I don't know how he thinks them up.
* PrecisionFStrike: Holly, when abandoning her cat. Doubly precise considering the meticulousness of Truman Capote's prose.
* {{Qipao}}: In the film version, the two Chinese girls who show up at the party both wear qipaos.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Paul to Holly, in the penultimate scene of the film.
* RedemptionInTheRain: The climax of the film.
* RomanticFalseLead: Jose (the movie, mostly).
* SleepMask: Holly has one.
* SmokingIsGlamorous
* SpySpeak: Sally's "weather reports" which Holly passes forward.
* {{Timber}}: Holly screams this as a woman passes out.
* {{Yellowface}}: Mickey Rooney's role as the buck-toothed stereotype-Japanese Mr. Yunioshi is a notorious example.

* FakeNationality: Audrey herself is a FakeAmerican, though her foreign accent is explained as a result of speech lessons. In the movie the accent is so she can casually pass herself off as a FakeBrit, to make her more marketable as an aspiring actress. Then of course there's Mickey Rooney's [[EthnicScrappy unfortunate turn as Holly's Japanese neighbor]]...

* HeyItsThatVoice: In the movie Sally Tomato was played by Alan Reed -- the voice of [[TheFlintstones Fred Flintstone]].
* [[IconicCharacters Iconic Character]]: Any "hip" store is likely to have a poster or a painting of Holly alongside those of MarilynMonroe, JamesDean, etc.

* PlayingAgainstType: Audrey Hepburn as a call girl? Wait... YASSS!

* DidNotGetTheGirl: In the book, it's stated right off the bat that it had been years since the main character had ever seen or heard from Holly, and that she may well be somewhere in Africa at this point, and apparently the cat she threw out found a new home.
* EnjoKosai: What Holly does in the movie.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Holly's cat is named...Cat.

* ActorAllusion: Paul's "decorator" says to him "well, love has found Andy Hardy." Andy Hardy was a T.V. character portrayed by Mickey Rooney who plays Mr. Yunioshi

* SugarWiki/TheLittleBlackDress

* PlayingAgainstType: Audrey Hepburn as a call girl? Wait... [[AndTheFandomRejoiced YASSS!]]

The original is a 1958 novella by Truman Capote about a [[AuthorAvatar nameless gay writer's]] friendship with Holly Golightly, a bicurious, borderline HookerWithAHeartOfGold. The story was a touching meditation on the varying nature of love, and how people of disparate backgrounds can form unconventional family groups.

Later it was adapted into that famous movie where AudreyHepburn [[AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame wears a fabulous Givenchy dress and holds a cigarette in a holder]]. In this version Holly probably isn't a hooker (though she does seek out wealthy men to have flings with), and the gay writer is now a straight gigolo--or something close to it--named Paul Varjak who has a tumultuous relationship with Holly.

!!''BreakfastAtTiffanys'' provides examples of:

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/audrey-hepburn-breakfast-at-tiffanys_1992.jpg
[[caption-width:250:AudreyHepburn as Holly Golightly.]]

Later it was adapted into that famous movie where AudreyHepburn [[AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame wears a fabulous Givenchy dress and holds a cigarette in a holder]]. In this version Holly probably isn't a hooker (though she does seek out wealthy men to have flings with), and the gay writer is now a straight gigilo--or something close to it--named Paul Varjak who has a tumultuous relationship with Holly.

* BreakawayPopHit: most people have no idea that the song Moon River was actually ''made'' for this movie.
** However, you could hardly say that the film has fallen into obscurity.

* LesYay: Holly Golightly and Mag Wildwood in the story.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: John Frankenheimer was the original director, and had cast Capote's personal choice MarilynMonroe as Holly. But Marilyn's agent convinced her [[ItWillNeverCatchOn it was a bad move]], and when Hepburn was cast, she told the studio to pay off Frankenheimer, and cast someone she was more familiar with, Blake Edwards.

Later it was adapted into that famous movie where AudreyHepburn wears a fabulous Givenchy dress and holds a cigarette in a holder. In this version Holly probably isn't a hooker (though she does seek out wealthy men to have flings with), and the gay writer is now a straight gigilo--or something close to it--named Paul Varjak who has a tumultuous relationship with Holly.

* IAmNotShazam: "Tiffany's" is a jewelry store--there's no character named "Tiffany" in this film.

Later it was adapted into that famous movie where AudreyHepburn wears a fabulous Givenchy dress and holds a cigarette in a holder. In this version Holly probably isn't a hooker (though she does seek out wealthy men to have flings with), and the gay writer is now a straight guy namedPaul Varjak who has a tumultuous relationship with Holly.

Later it was adapted into that famous movie where AudreyHepburn wears a fabulous Givenchy dress and holds a cigarette in a holder. In this version Holly probably isn't a hooker (though she does seek out wealthy men to have flings with), and the gay writer is now a heterosexual borderline gigolo named Paul Varjak who eventually sweeps Holly off her feet and into a decent world of heteronormative bliss.

Not to be confused with the song of the same name, by Deep Blue Something.

The original is a 1958 novella by TrumanCapote about a [[AuthorAvatar nameless gay writer's]] friendship with Holly Golightly, a bicurious, borderline HookerWithAHeartOfGold. The story was a touching meditation on the varying nature of love, and how people of disparate backgrounds can form unconventional family groups.

The original is a novella by TrumanCapote about a [[AuthorAvatar nameless gay writer's]] friendship with Holly Golightly, a bicurious, borderline HookerWithAHeartOfGold. The story was a touching meditation on the varying nature of love, and how people of disparate backgrounds can form unconventional family groups.

* DoesNotGetTheGirl: In the book, it's stated right off the bat that it had been years since the main character had ever seen or heard from Holly, and that she may well be somewhere in Africa at this point, and apparently the cat she threw out found a new home.