Humphrey Bogart did not get along with either of his co-stars Audrey Hepburn or William Holden, whom he nicknamed "Smiling Jim". He also said that Hepburn was quite untalented and could not act.
Humphrey Bogart was a last minute replacement for Cary Grant. Bogart and William Holden couldn't stand each other. Bogart disapproved of Audrey Hepburn (he wanted his wife Lauren Bacall in the role), while Holden fell in love with her. Bogart got $300000, Holden got $150000, and Hepburn only $15000. Asked how he liked working with Hepburn, Bogart replied: "It's OK, if you don't mind to make 20 takes."
Billy Wilder's last film for Paramount Pictures before his contract ended in 1954.
Hubert de Givenchy originally thought he would be providing wardrobe for Katharine Hepburn, as he had never heard of Audrey Hepburn before they were introduced.
Although Edith Head won an Oscar for costume design, most of Audrey Hepburn's wardrobe was by Hubert de Givenchy. In fact, Hepburn chose her own clothes to wear from de Givenchy's collection. This was her first time working with the French designer, and he would become her costumer of choice for most of her career.
Co-stars Audrey Hepburn and William Holden fell in love during the making of this film, but Hepburn broke off the relationship on learning that Holden could not have children.
During production Billy Wilder was continuously working on the script. One day he asked Audrey Hepburn to feign illness so he would have enough time to finish the scene to be shot.
In addition to Billy Wilder's two mentions in the screenplay of his next project, The Seven Year Itch, there was also a line of dialogue that included the name of a film just written by Wilder's co-writer, Ernest Lehman - Executive Suite. Linus (Humphrey Bogart) uses the phrase in the sailboat scene with Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn).
Like Sunset Blvd., this film started production without a finished script. Ernest Lehman worked himself to exhaustion working on the script with Billy Wilder during production. One day, when Lehman did not have an extra copy of a scene rewrite to give to Humphrey Bogart, Bogart exploded. Wilder told his crew they would not film another foot of film until Bogart apologized to Lehman. Bogart invited Lehman to his dressing room and shooting eventually continued.
Many critics felt that Humphrey Bogart was miscast in the film, and that William Holden should have played Linus with a younger actor as David.
Originally titled "Sabrina Fair", the title was changed in the US so audiences wouldn't link it with highbrow stories like "Vanity Fair".
The estate on which the film was shot actually belonged to Paramount Pictures chairman Barney Balaban.
The original Broadway production of "Sabrina Fair" by Samuel A. Taylor opened at the National Theater on Novemeber 11, 1953 and ran for 318 performances.
The original title of "Sabrina Fair" was reinstated in the UK due to well known TV personality, Sabrina (real name Norma Sykes) who became an icon simply by appearing on The Arthur Askey Show. Askey, at little over 5 feet tall got huge laughs just by standing next to the statuesque Sabrina, whose substantial bosom became her trade mark, never spoke any lines. The film distributors thought the momentary stardom of the Rubenesque Sabrina in the UK would mislead British audiences.
The sports car driven by the brothers is a Nash-Healey.
The tugboat's name is Maude Larrabee (the matriarch of the family).
This was the second film in a row where Audrey Hepburn gets her hair cut as a symbol of maturity. The first was in Roman Holiday. It is also the first of four films in a row where she'd play a character romantically linked with a man old enough to be her father.
When Linus takes Sabrina to the theatre, they see the play "The Seven Year Itch", which was director/writer Billy Wilder's next movie project. The play is mentioned at least twice.