To start out, I noticed that Sabrina does pass the Bechdel Test. There are two instances in particular that helped do this. The first was when David was dancing with his fiancé, Elizabeth. As soon as he caught sight of Sabrina, he bumped Elizabeth into the couple behind them, causing their champagne to spill on her dress. When this happened, Elizabeth and her friend had a brief exchange where her friend told her she would go help her clean off her dress. The next exchange is between David and Linus’ mother, Mrs. Larrabee, and Sabrina herself. Sabrina has just returned from culinary school in Paris and so Mrs. Larrabee invites her over for dinner so she can see what Sabrina has learned. These two scenes make Sabrina pass the Bechdel Test. I have to admit, I was rather surprised that it did pass. Due to the nature of the film being that women besides Sabrina are not prominently featured in a significant manner and the time period it was made in, I didn’t have high expectations for it passing the Bechdel Test in such blatant ways. And I must say I have never been happier to be proven wrong.
The three main men in this film, though still staying true to the mindset of the 1950s, I would argue that they respect and care about Sabrina. Let’s start with her father. Mr. Fairchild only wants what’s best for his daughter. He is concerned with the idea of her dating one of the rich men they work for, and is very firm when he tells her to move on from her feelings. He is really just responding how any dad and realist would in this situation. One thing that I really appreciated about Mr. Fairchild is that when he went to drop Sabrina off at the ferry he asked her if she’d be embarrassed if he cried. Not only was this moment touching, but the idea of crying is usually considered to not be very masculine. By breaking this anti masculine idea, that also helps break the idea of what is considered to be feminine which is a very positive thing.
I honestly don’t have much very positive or negative to say about David. He is definitely a womanizer, and perhaps doesn’t always have the most respect for women because of that, but that can come with the territory of being a playboy and he definitely fits into the stereotypes of the 1950s. All that being said, he clearly at least cares enough about his brother to let him be with Sabrina at the end of the film which makes him at least halfway decent. Though the fact that he would go through with a marriage to Elizabeth when he doesn’t love her, just for the sake of business is something that I take issue with.
As for Linus, he is your average businessman who is loyal to his family. Much of his actions throughout the film can be understood as him trying to do right by his father and business, however you can constantly see his internal struggle due to his emerging feelings for Sabrina. You can tell that he clearly cares about Sabrina very deeply by the end of the film. I have to admit though, I initially found him to be creepy when we first saw them interact on the tennis court. His repetition of the line “it’s all in the family” just made his dancing, drinking, and kissing Sabrina seem wrong to me. He did make up for it as the film continued though. Unlike David who ignored Elizabeth when she was talking to him, Linus cared to hear what Sabrina had to say. He also goes out of his way to show that he cares, like when he left her talking alone on the phone to go downstairs and see her in person to see what was wrong. She brought out a softer side in him which I thought was a very positive relationship to show because it showed how there was a real respect between them in the relationship, no one of them was more dominant than the other.
I would argue though, that the man who contributed to Sabrina’s transformation the most was Baron St. Fontanel. Fontanel was the man who went back to the culinary school to brush up on his souflé skills and met Sabrina, who he decided to take under his wing. It was after meeting him that her letters to her dad started to change. She started being less lovesick about David and more enamored in experiencing Paris. Baron St. Fontanel doesn’t call her silly for being in love, he simply helps her see that maybe this love isn’t the best thing for her.
To place Sabrina in context of 1954, it is set in a post-war world with the Vietnam War having come to an end. 1954 was also an important time for women with the first version of the Pill coming into play. This mean that women now had control over when they wanted to have children in order to focus on their careers or getting a degree. And interestingly enough, more women were in the workforce in 1954 than during the time of the war. It was a time of progress for women in a period where there were still certain ideals of what a woman’s place and role was and should be.
Sabrina was a very enjoyable movie whose representation of women and femininity is, overall, very solid. There is so much more I could say about it as a film, but unfortunately that would stray from the purpose of the blog. Audrey Hepburn most certainly does not disappoint in this love story that certainly still withstands the test of time. If you’re in the mood for a fun and clever romantic comedy, then Sabrina is definitely the movie you should watch.
Crowther, Bosley. "Screen: 'Sabrina' Bows at Criterion; Billy Wilder Produces and Directs Comedy." New York Times. New York Times, 23 Sept. 1954. Web. 4 May 2016.
"The Feminist Chronicles, 1953-1993 - 1954 - Feminist Majority Foundation." The Feminist Chronicles, 1953-1993 - 1954 - Feminist Majority Foundation. Feminist Majority Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 May 2016.
History.com Staff. "The 1950s." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 01 Jan. 2010. Web. 04 May 2016.
IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 04 May 2016.
"People & Events: The Pill and the Women's Liberation Movement." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 04 May 2016.
"The Year 1954 From The People History." What Happened in 1954 Inc. Pop Culture, Prices and Events. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2016.