Roman Holiday (1953)

Director: William Wyler
Story: Dalton Trumbo
Cast: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert 
Music: Georges Auric, Victor Young
Time: 118 minutes
Bottom-line: Peck’s and Hepburn’s performances make this a beautiful and classic rom-com  

  This is the movie that gave Audrey Hepburn a terrific, Oscar-winning start to her acting career, and which strengthened the career of Gregory Peck. William Wyler’s 1953 classic joints City Lights, Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, The West Side Story and other films as one of the greatest love stories of all time, and it is #4 in AFI’s list of the top 100 such films.

The story takes place in one day in Rome. Princess Ann (Hepburn) is taking a tour of several European capitals. When in Rome, she gets fed up of her tight schedule, and escapes from her residence to see Rome on her own. She is sedated, and so she falls asleep on a bench, where a reporter, Joe Bradley (Peck) meets her and takes her to his home. He is supposed to interview Princess Ann the next day, but he hasn’t met her yet. He oversleeps, and so lies to his boss about the interview. Joe’s boss tells him that the interview never took place as the Princess was ‘supposedly ill’. When Joe sees her photo in the paper, he is shocked and surprised. He decides to get an exclusive interview from her, for which his boss is willing to pay 5000 bucks. Joe offers to show Ann around Rome, but she declines the offer and goes off on her own. He calls his photographer, Irving Radovich (Albert) to tag along. The rest of the film is about whether Joe and Irving manage to get exclusive photos and answers from Ann, and whether Ann enjoys the day without being found.

Hepburn as Ann, and Peck as Joe

The story is not great… it is rather bland. The story tells what all Ann does in Rome, and how Joe and Irving follow her without her suspicion, making it more of an advertisement of the tourist attractions in Rome than a story. However, the ending of the film, like City Lights, is moving. The dialogues are funny and toward the end, they are also emotional. The story has a message though: that of unselfishness and sacrifice.

Peck as Joe and Albert as Irving

(The paragraph may contain spoilers) First Joe takes advantage of Ann and decides to use her only to get his 5000 dollars. As the day progresses, he still doesn’t care about what she thinks, but only does more and more things to get his exclusive interview. However, towards the end, he realizes his mistake and also Ann’s pitiable condition. She gets only one day to herself, and he almost ruins it by making that day into a questioning session. By the end he falls in love with her, and also decides to give Ann her day. On the other side, Irving has no interest on Ann, and he is determined to sell the photographs and make money. However, Joe’s attitude changes so much in that one day, that he does what is right, and not necessarily what is good for him. 

One famous still from the film: Joe's hand is bitten by the Mouth of Truth

The acting is terrific. As I said, there is not much of a story, and the film isn’t filled with slapstick comedy or anything. The laughs come from few incidents of slapstick comedy, and from few scenes of subtle humour. The dialogues are another source of comedy. But the real standout in the film is the performances of Peck, Hepburn and Albert. In Hepburn’s face you can see the joy and happiness a caged bird would feel when let free. In Peck’s expressions you can see a romantic look, initially mixed with little greed (as he wants the exclusive interview). Albert mainly gives the viewers something to laugh about, and among the characters, his role is the funniest. The scene at Rocca’s, when the three characters meet for the first time, is one of the funniest scenes in the film.

Another still from the film

Peck may be stone faced in other films, but in this film he plays a gentle and kind person, whose emotions go from greed to love all in one day. Hepburn has done extremely well. Her acting in the palace, when she is gets angry over her schedule; her acting when she talks to Joe under sedation and her overall acting throughout the film like that of a prisoner who has escaped from jail, is terrific. Moreover, Ann’s character is an innocent one. Hepburn’s expressions when she is oblivious to the plans of Irving and Joe to use her to their advantage, is initially funny, but as the story progresses, she acts in such a way that we feel sorry for Ann.

To conclude, William Wyler’s Roman Holiday should be watched to enjoy the laughs, but more importantly to appreciate the acting of the leads. It may not be as entertaining as Wyler’s bigger and more successful Ben-Hur, but in terms of acting and romance, Roman Holiday is one of the best in Hollywood history.

My Rating: 4/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 98%