Happy Half Century, Holly Golightly

It's been 50 years since filmgoers were first introduced to the elegant, elfin Audrey Hepburn as the quirky call girl in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

It's Hollywood legend that Truman Capote wanted blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe to play the part, and as the AP reminisces, Marilyn might well had been more suited to the book's original dark undertones.

But the movie, with its pasted-on happy ending, created its own charm without completely losing the darker threads of the tale, and endures despite its detour from Capote's vision. (I just wish there was some way to retrofit Mickey Rooney's cringe-inducing portrayal of Holly's Japanese neighbor. After 50 years, it's the only part of the movie that really needs a face-lift.)

A tourist poses next to a startling likeness in the Shanghai Madame Tussauds/by China Photos,Getty Images