Through fashionable Paris in the footsteps of Audrey Hepburn
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by Philippa Campsie in Paris
04 Feb 2015
80min
 2mi
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Number 2 Avenue Montaigne
The building at 2 Avenue Montaigne appears briefly in "Funny Face," which paired Audrey Hepburn with Fred Astaire. He plays a photographer. She plays a shy bookstore clerk who is transformed into a radiant model by an energetic fashion magazine editor. She comes to Paris with the photographer and the editor, and at one point arrives at this address late for a fashion parade. You'll notice that this building, too, houses some of the offices for Givenchy, along with those of other fashion houses.
"Funny Face" had some real-world origins. Fred Astaire's character, called Dick Avery, is based on the photographer Richard Avedon. The editor of the woman's magazine is modelled on the legendary Diana Vreeland of Vogue. In the film, the editor is played by Kay Thompson, a nightclub singer who also wrote a series of books about "Eloise," a mischievous six-year-old girl. "Eloise in Paris" revisits many of the locations used in the film "Funny Face."
Despite its well-known stars, and music by George Gershwin, the film flopped when it was released in 1957. It was successfully re-released in 1964, after Audrey's success in "My Fair Lady." There is one big difference between the two films. In "Funny Face," Audrey's sang her own songs, but in "My Fair Lady," her songs were dubbed.
1mi
30min
