October 5, 1961: "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Premieres

October 5, 1961: Breakfast at Tiffany's premieres, directed by Blake Edwards, and based on the 1958 novella by Truman Capote.

Audrey Hepburn plays her most iconic role: Holly Golightly, a country girl turned Manhattan socialite. Between dating rich men, she dates another man in her building, Paul Varjak, played by George Peppard. Much of the book has to be altered due to the Hays Code: In it, Holly is an unashamed call girl, and Paul is gay. In the film, she's a "socialite," and Paul has confidence issues.

The movie is intensely criticized for Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Holly's landlord, Mr. Yunioshi, a terrible Japanese stereotype that would have been considered over-the-top even in a movie made during World War II. Rooney himself would eventually regret having played the role the way it was written.

In 1961, Breakfast at Tiffany's showed a New York that was still classic and magical. By 1969, Midnight Cowboy showed the City to have became a garish mess of crime and poverty. In 1976, Taxi Driver showed things as even worse, where what was once good had become crazy (including the titular Travis Bickle), and what was bad was irredeemable. Things bottomed out in 1981, with Fort Apache: The Bronx.

*

October 5, 1961 was a Thursday. Football was in midweek. The NBA and NHL seasons hadn't started yet. There was one score on this historic day: It was in Game 2 of the World Series. The Cincinnati Reds beat the New York Yankees, 6-2 at Yankee Stadium. Joey Jay outpitched Ralph Terry. Gordy Coleman hit a home run for the Reds, Yogi Berra for the Yanks. This would be the only World Series game won by the Reds between 1940 and 1970, as the Yankees won the Series in 5 games.