"notorious"

Here’s a film that’s never quite got its due in Alfred Hitchcock’s oeuvre, an atypical feature for “the Master,” which posed a difficult challenge: sustaining tension and intrigue in the most confined of spaces.

A Hollywood truism: some of the happiest sets yield some of the worst pictures, and vice versa. Billy Wilder’s “Sabrina” from 1954 is proof positive of the latter scenario. The plot in a nutshell: beautiful Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) returns from Paris after learning how to be a “sophisticated” lady, settling on the estate where her father works as chauffeur for the wealthy Larabee family. She immediately attracts the younger Larabee son, David (William Holden), a playboy already promised to a rich heiress. When David cancels his arranged marriage, his responsible older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) must woo Sabrina to force David’s hand. On screen, it appears even the notoriously gruff Bogie can’t help melting in front of the gamine Hepburn. In truth, Bogart wasn’t a fan of the newcomer. For starters, Bogie believed his wife, Lauren Bacall, should have won her part (I disagree, and so did Wilder). When asked how he liked working alongside the young Hepburn, Bogie replied, “It’s fine, if you don’t mind... 20 takes.” Ouch. In Hepburn’s biography, "Her Real Story," it’s written that Bogart would literally snarl during her close-ups.

Daniel Day-Lewis stands among the greatest living screen actors ever to grace the silver screen. His success is in no small part thanks to the other-worldly level of dedication he brings to his roles. In fact, Day-Lewis approaches method acting with a "method" all his own. That method can be more than a little off-putting for his co-workers. In “There Will Be Blood,” actor Kel O’Neill was halfway through the 60-day shoot when director Paul Thomas Anderson replaced him with Paul Dano, who played lead antagonist Eli Sunday. Why leave an obvious award-winning film filled with Oscar-winning actors and crew?   It seems Mr. Day-Lewis would not stop intimidating his on-screen nemesis between takes, staring him down and otherwise bullying the actor throughout the shoot. Nerves shot, O’Neill took a well-deserved rest cure. Day-Lewis would not (or could not) "turn off" his method, even between scenes – even when a fellow actor was driven to flee in his presence. It's as disturbing as it is impressive.