Roman Holiday is a 1953 romantic comedy film directed and produced by William Wyler (Funny Girl, Ben-Hur, The Big Country, and The Desperate Hours). It was written by Dalton Trumbo (Papillon, The Horsemen, Spartacus, and Johnny Got His Gun), Ian McLellan Hunter (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Eye Witness, and The Adventures of Robin Hood), & John Dighton (The Devil's Disciple, Champagne Charlie, & The Next of Kin). It was produced by Robert Wyler (Detective Story, The Heiress, and Anybody Here Seen Kelly?). It was nominated for 10 Oscars and it won 3 during the Academy Awards. The budget was $1.5 million and it ended up grossing $12 million worldwide at the box office!!!!
Ann (played by: Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's, My Fair Lady, Charade, and Sabrina), a crown princess from an unnamed European nation is on a state visit to Rome. She becomes frustrated with her tightly scheduled life and secretly leaves her country's embassy. The delayed effect of a sedative makes her fall asleep on a bench, where Joe Bradley (played by: Gregory Peck from The Omen, Cape Fear, To Kill a Mockingbird, and How the West Was Won), an expatriate reporter for the "American News Service" finds her without recognizing who she is. Thinking that she is intoxicated, Joe lets her spend the night in his apartment. The next morning, Joe gives his editor, Mr. Hennessy (played by: Hartley Power from Island in the Sun, Dead of Night, and Living Dangerously) false details of his attendance at the princess' press conference.
When Hennessy informs him that the event had been cancelled and shows him a news item about the princess' "sudden illness". He realizes who is asleep in his apartment. Seeing an opportunity, Joe privately calls his photographer friend Irving Radovich (played by: Eddie Albert from Spider-Man: The Animated Series, The Twilight Zone, and Green Acres) to ask him to secretly take pictures. Hennessy offers to pay $5000 for the article and exclusive interview with the princess. He bets Joe $500 that he won't be able to get it. She leaves his place to enjoy her newfound freedom. Joe starts to follow her and "accidentally" meets Ann on the Spanish Steps. This time, he convinces her to spend the day with him. That night, at a dance on a boat that her barber had invited her to, government agents called in by the embassy spot Ann and try to forcibly take her away. Joe, Irving, and the barber rush in to save her from the abductors. Joe is falls into the river & Ann jumps in to save him. They swim across & kiss as they sit shivering on the riverbank. Both of them are still hiding their true identities from each other. What will happen next for the two strangers????
Roman Holiday is one of the best romantic comedies and films from the 50's of all time. You fall in love with Ann just like Joe is in the movie. Audrey Hepburn gives a performance of a lifetime in Roman Holiday and she deserved winning the Oscar for this performance. Audrey Hepburn was so classy and beautiful, a true leading lady when it came to Hollywood. I love the innocence of her character. She discovers so much about herself in a such short amount of time. She had a few small roles before this but nothing major. This is one of the greatest debuts ever when it comes to movies. Gregory Peck honestly never gave a bad performance in his entire career and he was a great counterpart to Hepburn in this. The con man that falls for his work. Their chemistry is one of the greatest love connections in cinema history. The supporting cast was really good but the two leads just brought everything to a whole new level. You couldn't keep your eyes off them and it just building up as time went on. I've always heard about this one but I didn't check it out until I got the original Paramount Presents release. I was sleeping on it and I hope others will give it more attention after this home video resurrection. They try so hard in the sub-genre but this one was effortless and felt so natural with everything. After all these years, it still holds up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Ann (played by: Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's, My Fair Lady, Charade, and Sabrina), a crown princess from an unnamed European nation is on a state visit to Rome. She becomes frustrated with her tightly scheduled life and secretly leaves her country's embassy. The delayed effect of a sedative makes her fall asleep on a bench, where Joe Bradley (played by: Gregory Peck from The Omen, Cape Fear, To Kill a Mockingbird, and How the West Was Won), an expatriate reporter for the "American News Service" finds her without recognizing who she is. Thinking that she is intoxicated, Joe lets her spend the night in his apartment. The next morning, Joe gives his editor, Mr. Hennessy (played by: Hartley Power from Island in the Sun, Dead of Night, and Living Dangerously) false details of his attendance at the princess' press conference.
When Hennessy informs him that the event had been cancelled and shows him a news item about the princess' "sudden illness". He realizes who is asleep in his apartment. Seeing an opportunity, Joe privately calls his photographer friend Irving Radovich (played by: Eddie Albert from Spider-Man: The Animated Series, The Twilight Zone, and Green Acres) to ask him to secretly take pictures. Hennessy offers to pay $5000 for the article and exclusive interview with the princess. He bets Joe $500 that he won't be able to get it. She leaves his place to enjoy her newfound freedom. Joe starts to follow her and "accidentally" meets Ann on the Spanish Steps. This time, he convinces her to spend the day with him. That night, at a dance on a boat that her barber had invited her to, government agents called in by the embassy spot Ann and try to forcibly take her away. Joe, Irving, and the barber rush in to save her from the abductors. Joe is falls into the river & Ann jumps in to save him. They swim across & kiss as they sit shivering on the riverbank. Both of them are still hiding their true identities from each other. What will happen next for the two strangers????
Roman Holiday is one of the best romantic comedies and films from the 50's of all time. You fall in love with Ann just like Joe is in the movie. Audrey Hepburn gives a performance of a lifetime in Roman Holiday and she deserved winning the Oscar for this performance. Audrey Hepburn was so classy and beautiful, a true leading lady when it came to Hollywood. I love the innocence of her character. She discovers so much about herself in a such short amount of time. She had a few small roles before this but nothing major. This is one of the greatest debuts ever when it comes to movies. Gregory Peck honestly never gave a bad performance in his entire career and he was a great counterpart to Hepburn in this. The con man that falls for his work. Their chemistry is one of the greatest love connections in cinema history. The supporting cast was really good but the two leads just brought everything to a whole new level. You couldn't keep your eyes off them and it just building up as time went on. I've always heard about this one but I didn't check it out until I got the original Paramount Presents release. I was sleeping on it and I hope others will give it more attention after this home video resurrection. They try so hard in the sub-genre but this one was effortless and felt so natural with everything. After all these years, it still holds up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!