REVIEW: Roman Holiday (1953)

Title: Roman Holiday
Release Year: 1953
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Cast: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn and Eddie Albert
Plot: A princess, bored, stressed and overworked, escapes her guardians and accidentally ends up in a newsagent's flat. She then decides to live as a school girl, for a chance to live as a normal person for a day but what she doesn't know is that the newsagent knows her real identity.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review: I watched this when I was in my early teens I think with Rasmia. It was my first Gregory Peck film and I thought he was dreamy...still do hehe.
Thousands of years later, Rasha and I bought the DVD and watched it again.

This is one of the funniest films I've ever watched. Rasha and I constantly quote phrases or entire scenes from it, even after so many years. My favourite is "Nobody she comes. Nobody she goes. Absolutely nobody" hahahhaa

I found it very funny at the time, that at the beginning of the film, it said "This film was shot in it's entirety in Rome" something along those lines. Later on, I understood that it was a huge deal back then and that this film was actually the first Hollywood film to be filmed outside the USA.

Gregory Peck suggested that Audrey Hepburn's name come before his in the opening credits because he thought her role might win her an Oscar, and it did. Peck was very down to earth and I think that suggestion was very nice of him and made me love and respect him even more.

For the role of Joe Bradley, Cary Grant was first cast, but he turned it down because he felt that there was a big age gap between him and Audrey. For that reason, he didn't think he could possibly be her love interest. Anyway, Peck was very happy to get the part because he hadn't done comedy films prior.
I love Grant and I think he would've been great for the role but I am also glad Peck took the part because he did it perfectly and I really can't imagine anyone else in his place.

Jean Simmons and Elizabeth Taylor were the first choices for Princess Anna's part but they were busy with other films at the time. Besides, the budget for the film was reduced because the director, William Wyler, prefered to shoot the film on location instead of in Hollywood. It is also the reason why the film was in black and white and not technicolor as it was supposed to be.
Anyway that meant that he had to cast an unknown, enter Audrey Hepburn.

 

I don't think I would've liked it had Simmons taken the role because there was nothing unique about her and I don't think she was leading lady material. On the other hand, if Elizabeth Taylor took the part, I would've loved it. I'm more than satisfied with Hepburn though, because she was extremely talented. Plus she is one of my favourite actresses.

Facts:
The Embassy Ball scene featured real Italian nobility and at the end of the film the reporters were real too.

In the mouth of truth scene, where Joe teases Princess Anna, by pretending his hand was eaten by the mouth, that part wasn't scripted. Infact, it was a prank Peck played on Audrey and had suggested it to Wyler prior filming the scene. So when Audrey screamed, she really did think his hand was eaten. Wyler loved the reaction so much, he decided to keep the scene in the film.

Success and Popularity:
The film's success was mostly due to the fascination, at the time, with British royalty, especially with Princess Margaret because of her relationship with her mother's officer; a commoner just like Joe Bradley. In both cases, the princesses ended the romances, putting their duty to their countries first.

The film surpassed it's budget by over three times the amount and Vespa scooters became popular after the film release. Audrey also gained tremendous popularity in Japan soon after and many Japanese women sported the same hairstyle as Princess Ann's cropped fringe.

Many awards were recieved for the making of this film, amongst them was an award for Best Motion Picture Story. Actually this is the only year where there were two Oscars for the same category and for the same story. Only one was given in 1953 and the second, forty years later.
The actual screenwriter was Dalton Trumbo but since he was blacklisted in Hollywood at the time, his name was replaced by Ian McLellan Hunter who was only responsible for the final screeplay. Although Hunter passed the payment he recieved for the screenplay to Trumbo, he did keep the Oscar for it.
In 1993, and almost twenty years after Trumbo's death, his wife was presented with the second Oscar - they couldn't give her the original Oscar because Hunter's son wouldn't give it back hahaha dramatic

Oscars for Best Actress was given to Audrey Hepburn and Best Costume Design for Black & White was given to Edith Head.

During filming, Peck and Audrey formed a friendship, that lasted their whole lives. For both, this film meant so much more than just success in Hollwood, because they both met their future spouses.

Peck actually introduced Audrey to Mel Ferrer whom she married later that year, as he also met his second wife Veronique while in Italy.

References:
There was a scene on an episode called "Cleaning Up Beaver" in Leave It To Beaver where Beaver decides to sleep in the guest room. The whole scene where he looks at his surroundings while in bed was sort of a parody of Hepburn's scene on her bed at the very beginning. You can watch it below:

I remember in Chibi Maruko-chan, a Japanese animation in the 1990s, there was an episode where one of Maruko-chan's schoolmates, Hanawa, showed off his autographed handkercheif, by Hepburn, infront of the class.

While he talked about Hepburn there was an animation of a scene from Roman Holiday hehehe I was so happy to see something classic even in a cartoon.

This is a very classic Hollywood Prince and Pauper type film - without the pauper - and I think it's a great one to introduce to people who've never seen a classic before.