Roman Holiday
Director: William Wyler
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert Paramount Movies
Released in 1953, Roman Holiday is an all time Hollywood classic that introduced to the world the great acting talent and unforgettably beautiful face of Audrey Hepburn.
Shot entirely on locations of Rome and captured arrestingly in black and white, this delightful, bitter-sweet comedy by director William Wyler (Ben Hur, Funny Girl) tells the story of a young princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) arriving in Rome on a hectic European tour.
Wanting to escape from the maddeningly manicured royal life, the princess makes a quiet getaway at night from her palace to live a day as she wants, to do things that her young heart desires. While sleeping on a park bench, (with her senses clouded by the sedative injection that she had received earlier from palace doctor for nervous break-down!), she meets a gentleman Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) who gives her shelter for the night. Next day, this good fellow- an American newspaper reporter, realizes what a story he has got- a princess sleeping in his apartment! Keeping his own identity secret, he accepts the princess’s alias and entertains her for the whole day hoping to make big bucks out of the sensational revelation later. With a photographer friend (Eddie Albert) in toe, they frolic all around Rome, doing all the things she wanted to do. Love blossoms, only to end in the inevitable parting- fantasy losing out to reality!
A daughter of a British banker and a Dutch baroness, Audrey Hepburn was pure class in real life and with her endearing charm, poise and grace she looked a perfect blue-blooded royal on screen. One moment she is a princess who is weighed down by royal responsibilities, frustrated by constraining schedules, sick and tired of uttering phoney pleasantries; the next moment she is just a wide-eyed innocent youngster enjoying small pleasures in life. Her sleepy antics, her shock and horror at seeing Joe’s hand getting chewed off by the Mouth Of Truth statue and her relieved laughter on discovering the hoax, her silent sacrifice of love for duty and her transformation from an impetuous youth into a mature statesman- all these moments are fascinating to watch and no wonder, this performance worthily won her an Oscar as the best actress.
Tall, dark and handsome Gregory Peck and petite and pretty Audrey made a perfect couple on screen and the subtle silent romantic moments between the two were magical. Gregory- who was already an established star, not only willingly played a second fiddle to his newcomer heroine, but he even correctly predicted stardom and an Oscar for her! His dignified decency shone through that role and boy, weren’t his constant run-ins with his bumbling photographer friend funny!
If the princess had seen this movie, she would have definitely said (and meant!) in her politically correct clipped language- “Charmed! Delighted! Thank You!!”
Do You Know?
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‘Roman Holiday’ was nominated for 10 Oscars and finally won three.
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Actress Jean Simmons was the original choice to play the princess.
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Dalton Trumbo – the man who wrote the original screenplay was awarded Oscar for that only in 1993 and that too, after his death! Earlier his identity was kept secret as he was blacklisted by US government for his political views.
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The famous hand-chewing scene at Mouth of Truth statue was Gregory Peck’s on-the-spot, unscripted prank. It was inspired by TV comedian Red Skelton’s gag.
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The camera footage of Audrey Hepburn’s natural mannerisms, secretly shot after she had enacted the scene for her screen test finally got her the role.
Kesariya Balam
