Synopsis:
Wyler's lushly romantic fable chronicles an oppressed Princess as she
runs away to have a night on the town in Rome and falls in love with a
cynical reporter, changing his life forever. Hepburn's amazing debut won
her an Academy Award.
Rating:
Critics:
"Of all the wonderful closings in movies, one in particular comes to
mind now. A journalist has just given up, for love, the biggest story of
his life. He has also surrendered the love of his life, all for the sake
of a young woman. A most unlikely situation, a dramatic confectioner's
creation. Reality has no place in this fantasy. Until the ending. And until
now.
The journalist has just left the young woman to her job, which is being
a princess. They will not see each other again. The camera stays with him
as he walks through the sepulchral rooms of some vast Roman palazzo, and
his face shows everything: the loss, the melancholy, the love, the sweetness
of feelings found fleetingly, then lost irretrievably.
This scene, the end of William Wyler's Roman Holiday, is memorable
for reasons that can never be taught in film school. Wyler had a fierce
sense of emotional focus, and he had here a consummate movie star, Gregory
Peck. But this great scene would have been nonsense if Peck did not have
something wonderful and irreplaceable to miss. He had Audrey Hepburn."
- Time
"What Wyler has done is to fashion one of the gayest, most original
and endearing comedies to be credited to Hollywood in recent years" - Newsweek
"This is the picture that made Audrey Hepburn a movie star. Probably
no one could have brought out her skinny, long-necked gamine magic as winningly
as the director William Wyler did: his calm, elegant style prepares the
scenes and builds the character until she has the audience enthralled,
and when she smiles we're all goners." - Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the
Movies
"Amid the rhinestone glitter of Roman Holiday's make-believe, Paramount's
new star sparkles and glows with the fire of a finely cut diamond." - Time
"This is Wyler's first venture into comedy in many years and the switch
from the heavy dramas he has been associated with since 1935 is all to
the good. The aged face of the Eternal City provides a contrast to the
picture's introduction of a new face, Audrey Hepburn, British ingenue who
already has made an impression with legit-goers in Gigi. The young lady
has talent, plus a personality that wears well on film. She has a delightful
affectation in voice and delivery that is controlled just enough to have
charm and serve as a trademark, as well as the looks and poise to make
her role of a princess of a not-too-mythical country come over strongly."-
"Brog.", Variety
Anecdotes:
There was a crucial scene of parting between Peck and Hepburn in which
the actress couldn't simulate emotion - that is, until the demanding Wyler
ran out of patience and brought his star to tears with words of angry exasperation.
In Gregory Peck's words: "It was embarrassing and frightened her and shook
her up, but she did it perfectly the very next time. On screen it looked
like it was because she was parting from me, but actually it was because
Wyler had just scared the wits out of her."
There is another famous moment when Gregory Peck sticks a hand into
an ancient carving (The Mouth of Truth) and pulls back what appears to
be an empty sleeve, jolting his young companion into surprise, anger, and
hilarity, all at the same time. Hepburn wasn't acting in this scene, Peck
revealed - he pulled the joke on Hepburn with the camera rolling, and it
worked so well that the shot was used in the final film.
It's difficult to imagine anyone else as Princess Anne because Audrey
Hepburn played this role as convincingly as anyone imaginably could. This
role had earlier been considered for Elizabeth Taylor, then Jean Simmons,
before Audrey's casting.
In Roman Holiday, Gregory Peck gave Audrey Hepburn her first star billing
in Roman Holiday. As he tells the story to Entertainment Weekly, "I called
my agent after two weeks, and I said, 'George, you've got to change the
billing.' The billing was to be 'Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday.' He said,
'Why? What's the matter with you?' I said, 'Nothing's the matter with me,
but I'm smart enough to know this girl's going to win the Oscar® in
her first picture, and I'm going to look like a damned fool if her name
is not up there on top with mine.'" Hepburn did indeed go on to win the
Academy Award for the role.
Roman Holiday received ten Academy Awards nominations, a phenomenal
number for a comedy. The award for Best Original Story was given to Ian
McLellan Hunter. In 1993, a posthumous Oscar was properly credited and
given to blacklisted Hollywood Ten author Dalton Trumbo, who actually wrote
the marvelous screenplay.
Cast:
Audrey Hepburn: Princess Ann
Gregory Peck: Joe Bradley
Eddie Albert: Irving Radovich
Tulio Carminati: Gen. Provno
Margaret Rawlings: Countess Vereberg
Paolo Carlini: Mario Delani
Hartley Power: Mr Hennessey
Harcout Williams: Ambassador
Claudio Ermelli: Giovanni
Heinz Hindrich: Dr. Bonnachoven
Alfredo Rizzo: Taxi Driver
Credits:
Producer-Director: William Wyler
Associate Producer: Robert Wyler
Screenwriter: Dalton Trumbo (but officially credited to Ian McLellan
Hunter and John Dighton); Based on a story by Dalton Trumbo
Cinematographers: Franz F. Planer and Henri Alekan
Editor: Robert Swink
Art Directors: Hal Pereira and Walter Tyler
Music: Georges Auric
Running Time: 119 minutes
Awards:
Academy
Winners:
Best Actress: Audrey Hepburn
Best Costume Design: Edith Head
Best Original Story: Ian McLellan Hunter
Nominees:
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Albert
Best Editing: Robert E. Swink
Best Original Screenplay: John Digton, Ian McLellan Hunter
Best Director: William Wyler
Best Picture
Best Cinematography: Franz Planer, Henri Alekan
Best Art Direction: Walter Tyler, Hal Pereira
British Academy Awards
Winner:
Best British Actress: Audrey Hepburn
New York Film Critics Circle Award
Winner:
Best Actress: Audrey Hepburn
Nominees:
Best Direction: William Wyler
Best Film
Golden Globe Award
Winner:
Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama: Audrey Hepburn
