Roman Holiday

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Roman Holiday
Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by	William Wyler
Produced by	William Wyler
Written by	Dalton Trumbo (story) Ian McLellan Hunter & John Dighton (screenplay)
Starring	Gregory Peck Audrey Hepburn Eddie Albert
Music by	Georges Auric Victor Young
Cinematography	Henri Alekan Franz Planer
Editing by	Robert Swink
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	August 27, 1953
Running time	118 min.
Language	English
Budget	$1,500,000 (est.)
IMDb profile

Roman Holiday is a 1953 romantic comedy. The film introduced American audiences to Belgian-born actress Audrey Hepburn, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Gregory Peck and Eddie Albert co-starred. The movie was directed and produced by William Wyler. It was written by John Dighton and, fronting for Hollywood blacklist author Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellan Hunter. (Trumbo's name was digitally restored to the film's credits when it was released on DVD in 2003.)

[edit] Plot

Princess Ann (Hepburn) is a royal princess of an unspecified country. She is on a widely publicized tour of several European capitals, including Rome. One night, she rebels against the strenuous demands of her official duties, where every minute of her time is scheduled. Her doctor gives her a sedative in order to help her sleep, but she secretly leaves her country's embassy and goes out alone to experience Rome.

The injection eventually takes effect and she falls asleep on a public bench where Joe Bradley (Peck), an expatriate American reporter, meets her, but does not recognize her. He offers her money so that she can take a taxi home, but "Anya Smith", as she calls herself, refuses to disclose where that is, saying that she should be taken to the Colosseum. Joe finally decides, for safety's sake, to let her spend the night in his apartment. He is amused by her regal manner, but less so when she appropriates his bed, leaving him the uncomfortable couch. The next morning, unable to rouse her, he goes to work.

His editor, Mr Hennessy (Hartley Power), asks him if he had covered the press conference with the princess. Joe lies, making up details of the alleged interview until Hennessy tells him that the princess had suddenly "fallen ill" and the conference had been canceled. Joe sees a picture of her and recognizes the young woman he had left sleeping in his apartment. Hennessy then threatens to fire him, and the two men end up making a bet that Joe can get an exclusive on the princess.

Joe realizes he is sitting on a windfall - an exclusive story about his unsuspecting guest. He offers to show Rome to Anya, but not before getting his photographer friend, Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert), to tag along to take pictures of her without her knowledge.

They spend the day seeing the sights, including the "Mouth of Truth". On a whim, she gets her hair cut short in a barbershop facing the famous Trevi Fountain. She shares with Joe her dream of living a normal life without her crushing responsibilities and restrictions. That night, at a dance on a boat, government agents finally track her down and try to escort her away, but a wild melee breaks out and Joe and Anya escape. Through all this, they gradually fall in love. However, Anya realizes that it cannot be. She finally bids farewell to Joe, without revealing her true identity, and returns to the embassy.

Joe, Irving and Ann in the final scene.

During the course of the day, Hennessy learns that the princess is missing, not ill as the embassy had claimed. He suspects that Joe knows where she is, and tries to get him to admit it, but Joe claims to know nothing about it. Knowing Joe's feelings for Anya, Irving reluctantly decides not to sell his photos.

The next day, Princess Ann appears at the delayed news conference, only to find Joe and Irving among the members of the press. Irving takes her picture with the same miniature cigarette lighter/camera he had used the previous day. He then presents her with the photographs he had taken that day, as a memento of her adventure. Joe lets her know, by allusion, that her secret is safe with them. She, in turn, works into her bland press conference statements a coded message of love and gratitude to Joe. She then departs, leaving Joe to linger for a while, contemplating what might have been.

[edit] Production

Audrey Hepburn breaks character during a practical joke Gregory Peck plays during filming of the "Mouth of Truth" sequence.

One of the most famous scenes in the movie is when Peck puts his hand into the "Mouth of Truth" (La Bocca della Verità), a stone face in Rome that legend says will bite your hand off if you tell a lie. In the film, when he pulls his hand out it is missing, causing Anya/Hepburn to scream. He then pops his hand out of his sleeve and laughs. Hepburn's shriek was not acting — Peck decided to pull a gag he had once seen Red Skelton do, and did not tell his co-star beforehand. (Source: An Evening with Gregory Peck, a series of retrospective lectures Peck gave in the years before his death, and Remembering Roman Holiday, a featurette on the 2002 DVD release.)

Shortly after Princess Ann and Joe Bradley meet, she quotes him some poetry and insists it is by Keats. He insists it is by Shelley, and they have a bit of an argument. The quote is in fact from Mary Shelley's play Proserpine.

The movie was filmed in Rome, on location, and at Cinecittà Studios.

[edit] Cast

Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn and Eddie Albert in a promotional photograph

• Gregory Peck as Joe Bradley. The role was originally written with Cary Grant in mind. However, Grant turned the role down, believing he was too old to play Hepburn's love interest. Later, the studio convinced Grant to play opposite Hepburn in Charade, where it became obvious that the chemistry between the two was as good as Grant had had with another Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn. However, Audrey Hepburn and Grant never appeared in another film together, although they became good friends and Grant considered her one of his favorite actresses to work with.
• Audrey Hepburn as Princess Ann ('Anya Smith'). A now-legendary screen test resulted in Hepburn being cast as Ann. After Hepburn performed a dignified, subdued scene from the film, the director called "cut", but the cameraman left the camera rolling, showing the young actress suddenly became animated as she chatted with the director. The candid footage won her the role; some of it was later included in the original theatrical trailer for the film, along with additional screen test footage showing Hepburn trying on some of Anya's costumes and even cutting her own hair (referring to a scene in the film where Anya gets a haircut). It is sometimes claimed that Roman Holiday was Hepburn's first American acting job. In fact, she appeared at least once on US television in 1952 — a CBS Television Workshop production of Rainy Day in Paradise Junction .
• Eddie Albert as Irving Radovich.
• Hartley Power as Mr. Hennessy, Bradley's editor.
• Harcourt Williams as the Ambassador of Princess Ann's country.
• Margaret Rawlings as Countess Vereberg, Ann's principal lady in waiting.
• Tullio Carminati as General Provno.
• Paolo Carlini as Mario Delani, the hairdresser who cuts Ann's hair.
• Claudio Ermelli as Giovanni, Bradley's landlord.
• Paola Borboni as Charwoman.
• Alfredo Rizzo as Cab driver.
• Laura Solari as Secretary.
• Gorella Gori as Shoe seller.
• Heinz Hindrich as Dr. Bonnachoven, Ann's doctor.
• John Horne as Master of Ceremonies.
• Andrea Esterhazy as Embassy staffer.
• Ugo De Pascale as Embassy staffer.
• Diane Lante as Lady in waiting.

[edit] Tributes

The film inspired the lyrics of Deep Blue Something's "Breakfast at Tiffany's", but the author, Todd David Pipes, thought that one of Hepburn's other films would make a better song title.^[1]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Award wins

• Academy Award for Best Actress (Audrey Hepburn)
• BAFTA Award for Best British Actress (Audrey Hepburn)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress — Drama (Audrey Hepburn)
• New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (Audrey Hepburn)
• Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White (Edith Head)
• Best Writing, Motion Picture Story (Ian McLellan Hunter and Dalton Trumbo)
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Comedy (Ian McLellan Hunter and John Dighton)

In 1999 the film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

[edit] Award nominations

• Academy Award for Best Picture
• BAFTA Award for Best Film from any source
• Best Director (William Wyler)
• DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (William Wyler)
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Eddie Albert)
• BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor — (Eddie Albert)
• BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor — (Gregory Peck)
• Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White (Hal Pereira & Walter H. Tyler)
• Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Franz Planer & Henri Alekan)
• Academy Award for Film Editing (Robert Swink)
• Best Writing, Screenplay (Ian McLellan Hunter & Dalton Trumbo)

[edit] Miscellaneous

Roman Holiday's DVD cover

In the 1970s, both Peck and Hepburn were approached with the idea of a sequel to Roman Holiday which would have seen Anya and Joe reunite; the idea never came to fruition. The original film was remade for television in 1987 with Tom Conti and Catherine Oxenberg in the roles originally played by Peck and Hepburn.

The film is also known for its Vespa footage, much praised by classic scooter enthusiasts the world over.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Rome
• Vespa

[edit] External links

• Roman Holiday at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] References

1. ^ British Hit Singles & Albums (Edition 18), Guinness World Records Limited