Paris When It Sizzles

William Holden and Audrey Hepburn, icons of Hollywood's Golden Age, make a dynamic and dazzling pair of movie lovers and movie-lovers in Richard Quine's cheeky romantic comedy Paris When It Sizzles. "Famous international wit" Richard Benson (Holden), is a gadabout film scribe facing writer's block and a fast-approaching deadline for his sold pitch The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower. Enter, Gabrielle Simpson (Hepburn), an enchanting assistant who is sent to type up his final draft, but soon becomes its inspiration. Over the course of a steamy weekend in his Parisian apartment, they go on a string of wild adventures, via their screenplay's doppelgangers. In the film-within-a-film, Holden and Hepburn maraud through various daffy backdrops only to succumb to "that ultimate and inevitable moment, the final earth-moving, studio rent-paying, theater-filling, popcorn-selling kiss." Holden and Hepburn's onscreen chemistry is utterly sublime, making for a romance that's warmly whimsical. Moreover, this spirited comedy is an absolute delight for fans of classic Hollywood cinema, as it's filled with allusions and playful parodies of a variety of genres (from Western to horror to espionage thriller) and peppered with celebrity cameos, including an uncredited Tony Curtis, who presents a hysterical performance as a bitterly undervalued supporting player.