Paris When it Sizzles or Drizzles? (1964)

I had wanted to watch Paris When It Sizzles (it was nicknamed “Paris When it Drizzles” by the cast and crew due to the terrible weather) for quite a while, mostly due to the fact that it’s one of only two movies that William Holden and Audrey Hepburn did together (the other one being Sabrina). I wanted to see what happened with a film where their characters did end up together. I also wanted to see if the chemistry still held between the two, given that their real-life romance had long since fizzled out after the inital sizzles (see what I did there?).

The reviews on this one are mixed, but I really enjoyed it and wanted to dive in further!

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Synopsis

The story revolves around a screenwriter, Richard, and a woman, Gabby, who he hires to be his secretary/typist. He has two days to finish a screenplay that he told the producer was practically done, but in reality, he hasn’t even started.

Gabby helps him brainstorm as she types, and we see the various starts, stops, and edits as they go along trying to write The Girl Who Stole the Eifel Tower. During the course of this, he draws inspiration from her past of coming to Paris to experience life and her impending Bastille Day plans with a male friend of hers. While they spend so much time together, Richard drinks a lot and they fall in love as well.

The Players

William Holden

I mention the drinking of the character because, unfortunately, this mirrors William Holden’s life at the time. He was having a hard time with booze, which caused problems throughout filming, especially with the schedule and budget. Because of his alcoholism, he was pretty sick. His addiction would not only lead to his own death, but the death of someone else.

I had a hard time with watching him down all the booze in the film knowing all of this. It made me feel bad for him. But, I will say that his acting was still amusing, and I liked the film. He and Audrey still had chemistry, which was definitely present during the filming of Sabrina in 1954 (8 years earlier as this was filmed in 1962, but not released until 1964).

He was apparently still harboring feelings for Audrey Hepburn, which I’ll get into a bit later.

Audrey Hepburn

Despite critics saying this is her worst film, I still enjoyed her portrayal of Gabby. I thought she did a great job with what she had, and she and William were interesting to watch.

She was married at this point, but took the part because she wanted to help Holden. She thought it could help his career slump if she was his costar. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much anyone could do to help him with his drinking problem.

Background Trivia

William and Audrey’s Previous Relationship

Things got hot and heavy between the two actors when they filmed Sabrina in 1954, but the relationship ended because William had had a vasectomy and Audrey had wanted children. You can tell during that film, that the chemistry was definitely there. It felt like to me that they had way more chemistry than her and Humphrey Bogart. Bogart really seemed to be kind of phoning it in that film.

I didn’t understand how the two of them got together. I suppose it made sense in the film, but the actors couldn’t make us feel it. It was probably due to the fact she was with a different costar at the time.

During this film, William still had feelings for Audrey, but by this time, she was married to Mel Ferrer, who makes a cameo in the film as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde during the masquerade party toward the end of the film.

Tony Curtis’ Cameo

I thought Tony was really funny as his addition of Gabby’s friend/police in the screenplay portion. He agreed to join in a guest role at the request of producer/writer George Axelrod when William had to be forced to go into a clinic mid-filming because of his drinking.

William Holden’s Off-Screen State/The Dracula Scene

This crazy scene about imagining the man in the story as a vampire was actually the last to be filmed. It was also shorter than originally intended because William had ran his Ferrari into a wall and had his arm in a splint.

Tragically, that incident foreshadows four years after filming when he was involved in an accident with another car that time where the other driver was killed. He had been drinking in this case as well, and was charged with vehicular manslaughter. Then, he was sentenced to an eight-month suspended prison sentence.

What if…?

William Holden could have been helped?

Sometimes it’s hard to think about the circumstances behind films because you find out things you wish weren’t the case. I experienced that with this one. I’m a fan of William Holden, but I didn’t know the extent of his problem until I dove into researching this film.

It’s too bad that he couldn’t be helped before the car accident that took someone’s life. It’s unfortunate that he couldn’t have gotten sober in general too because it eventually caused his death.

Final Thoughts

Even despite the issues with the filming and William, I recommend this one. It’s especially fun for me as a writer for the starts and stops of writing to be depicted. You have them editing in real time and the characters rewinding, which is both relatable and funny. I want to think of my characters doing this when I delete sections now!

Alternative History/Classic Film Era Novels

If you like alternative history or biographical/historical fiction, I write that as well under the pen name Dottie Fray and historical paranormal romance under Elvira Fray. With two books planned for next year, one biographical fiction entitled Planes and Promises and a paranormal romance to follow up Fang Me Tender called No Angel of His Own.