This week's picks by Steven Rea

Audrey and Bill: A Romantic Biography of Audrey Hepburn and William Holden Edward Z. Epstein Running Press, 240 pp, $25 If the sparks flying between Audrey Hepburn and William Holden in 1954's Sabrina look convincingly real, perhaps it's because sparks were flying during production of the Billy Wilder romance (that also, of course, features Humphrey Bogart). Epstein combines thorough research, movie biz bios and backdrop and substantive gossip as he chronicles Holden and Hepburn's onscreen and offscreen affair, the paths that took them there, and what happened in its wake. Here's the author on the couple being discovered in clinch mode by Ernest Lehman: "Late one afternoon following the day's shooting, the beleaguered screenwriter entered Bill's dressing room without knocking, as was his habit, to drop off some scene changes. To his surprise, he found the two stars standing face-to-face, staring into each other's eyes with their hands clasped. Embarrassed, Lehman apologized and withdrew. He felt he had witnessed something deeply meaningful . . .."

Big Eyes Anchor Bay DVD, Blu-Ray and VOD, available Tuesday Pop surrealist Tim Burton finds his dream subjects: Walter and Margaret Keane, the husband-and-wife team whose portraits of saucer-eyed waifs and tearful clowns were the kitsch hit of the '60s. He claimed the images as his, but she really painted them, locked away like some Grimm Brothers unfortunate. Christoph Waltz and a great Amy Adams bring the couple to life in this wondrously strange true story about art and commerce, sexual oppression and intellectual property theft.

Umberto D. International House, 3701 Chestnut St. Thursday, 7 p.m. Admission $9, $7 for students, seniors. Vittorio De Sica's 1952 neo-realist gem stars Carlo Battisti as a cash-starved pensioner trying to hang on to his room, and his dignity, in the face of hard times and cruel authority. Just about the only thing saving him from suicide is his dog, but then, evicted from his boarding house and unable to find a safe place for his pet, well, things get dark, indeed. De Sica, of The Bicycle Thief and Two Women, counted Umberto D as his favorite.

And if you want a great DIY dog-themed double-bill, see White God at the Ritz Bourse after catching Umberto D and its plucky terrier at I-House.